Vice Presidental Nominees: Ready On “Day One” Or Not?

It has often been said that Presidential nominees do not think of their Vice Presidential nominees as replacing them in office, because of death. No one likes to think about that unpleasant, potential possibility.

But Presidential nominees NEED to think about that, because it should be the most important factor involved in selection of a running mate.

When one looks at Presidential elections since 1960, it is clear that Vice Presidential nominees fit into two categories: those ready on “Day One” to take over the Presidency, and those NOT ready on “Day One” to take over the Presidency.

Those Ready on “Day One” (15)–10 Democrats and 5 Republicans

Henry Cabot Lodge
Lyndon B. Johnson
Hubert H. Humphrey
Edmund Muskie
Sargent Shriver
Walter Mondale
Bob Dole
George H. W. Bush
Lloyd Bentsen
Al Gore
Jack Kemp
Dick Cheney
Joe Lieberman
John Edwards
Joe Biden

Those NOT ready on “Day One” (6)–1 Democrat and 5 Republicans

William E. Miller
Spiro Agnew
Geraldine Ferraro
Dan Quayle
Sarah Palin
Paul Ryan

The selection of the Vice Presidential nominee is the first, and in many ways, the most crucial decision a Presidential candidate makes. In that regard, the Democrats have been dramatically more careful than the Republicans!

8 comments on “Vice Presidental Nominees: Ready On “Day One” Or Not?

  1. Gustavo August 16, 2012 1:41 pm

    Joe Biden? Seriously?? The guys a ticking time bomb with his mouth! I really think he’s starting to have mental issues.Al Gore? The guy who said he invented the internet? Screw loose! John Edwards? Why????

  2. Ronald August 16, 2012 4:08 pm

    All of these Vice Presidential candidates had serious career backgrounds and qualifications to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

    They are all imperfect, as you and I are, but they were QUALIFIED!

    Biden makes gaffes, YES, but he also has had a brilliant Senate career, and has been an important behind the scenes figure. His expertise on foreign policy and constitutional matters cannot easily be matched.

    Gore NEVER said what you claim he said–that is a massive distortion–and he was a great Vice President, and would have made a great President, in an election in which he actually won, but the Supreme Court, Illegally, intervened, to fix the result in Florida by preventing a full recount.

    John Edwards has had a checkered career with his sex scandal, but he was qualified if he had been Vice President by his legal career and his six years in the Senate.

    I know, of course, you will totally disagree, but to compare them to Miller, Ferraro, Quayle, and Palin is a mockery of the truth.

    Ryan has had more background, yes, but being only a Congressman from one district does not qualify him in my mind as safe to have a heartbeat away from the Presidency! Cheney, as much as I disliked him, had a solid career outside of just Congress, and Jack Kemp had a distinguished career in the House, which Ryan could not possibly match. Polls already show lack of support for Ryan, even as compared to Palin and Quayle!

    Again, we will have to agree to disagree!

  3. Gustavo August 16, 2012 8:11 pm

    You do realize that the current President has far less experience that Ryan, or even Biden , don’t you? Also the SCOTUS did not illegal intervene, Gore was the one that , as a sore loser, took the election to the courts. And it was the Supreme Court of Florida that unconstitutionally rewrote the Florida electoral law , and did away with all the legal deadlines the law imposed.

  4. Ronald August 16, 2012 8:43 pm

    Obama had TWELVE years in office when he ran for President, and we should not say state office is unimportant, as for instance, Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, TR, and FDR all served in state legislatures.

    So, technically, YES, Ryan has FOURTEEN years in office, but remember Romney has only FOUR! So together, Obama and Biden had 48 years, while Romney and Ryan this year have 18 years!

    We can agree to disagree, as it is clear that the Florida vote was manipulated by Jeb Bush, at the demand of Barbara Bush, to help her “boy”, a story well known, and the Court decided this on purely partisan grounds, not one of their greatest moments, to say the least! 🙁

  5. Gustavo August 16, 2012 10:00 pm

    Of the Presidents you mentioned only one can be qualified as a bigger than life figure, Lincoln. He stands together with Washington and the founders. Carter, failure, TR , did more harm than good, and FDR, well all the damage he did to the economy will be forgiven becuase of his actions in WWII. But FDR implemented the terrible NRA with General Johnson heading it and FDR not only continued implementing Hoover’s disasterous interventionist policies, but went even futher thus being responsible for the lost decade of 1930. Finally the Bush v Gore vote on the SCOTUS was 7-2, hardly partisan. Please read the opinion.

  6. Ronald August 16, 2012 10:26 pm

    You are amazing, attacking TR and FDR as poor Presidents, so you must follow a different version of history, the Glenn Beck version, I suspect! 🙁

    And now we have Lincoln being attacked as a Marxist by some nutty conservative spokesmen, and of course, Southern conservatives still hate him, even today. By the way, Lincoln would never be a Republican today, and would be ashamed of what the party has become, a disgrace to the Radical Republicans of the Civil War era and the Progressive Republicans of the TR era! And the only good thing about Hoover is that he finally got off his butt and did something in 1932, after two years of sitting on his hands! Had he intervened sooner, he might have stopped the constant downturn of the economy, which led to his defeat in 1932!

    Sorry, but Bush V Gore was 5-4, not 7-2, with Souter, Stevens, Breyer and Ginsberg in opposition! At least two Republicans were decent and honest enough to back Gore–Stevens and Souter! Breyer and Souter agreed on one aspect with the majority, but wanted the case remanded to the Florida Supreme Court to decide, not the Supreme Court! So to say the decision was 7-2, not 5-4, is incorrect!

  7. Gustavo August 16, 2012 11:56 pm

    Who is Glenn Beck? People keep mentioning him like they are obsessed. And by the way the destructive Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act was passed in June of 1930 (this truly boosted the debacle) and the The Reconstruction Finance Corporation, succesor to the National Credit Corporation, was created in January 1932. Then that year he put in place a typical big government idea, tax increases, the biggest in ever seen till then, 25% to 63%! And Roosevelt ran againts that policy of increasing taxes!!! Good grief!

  8. Ronald August 17, 2012 12:00 am

    Yes, Hoover screwed up on the tariff, and yes, FDR ran against high taxes in 1932.

    What did you expect from a politician of any party? LOL 🙂

    Good night! 🙂

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