Discussion Forum

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Quote: Jalapenoman

I should also add that some factors play into choosing a vice presidential running mate.

One is geography. For example, eastern liberal democrat JKF chose Texas Moderate Lyndon Johnson. Californian and conservative Ronald Reagan had Moderate Easterner (he wasn't really from Texas) Bush Senior. Politicians pick someone from a different part of the country to try to bring in that vote. Clinton/Gore was an exception as both were from the south.

No where in any of this mix do they ever examine the qualifications of the man to determine who will best support the president and who would be the best leader if he were to die. Those kind of decisions are just not politically sound.

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Also, the Constitution requires that the President and Vice President be from different states; this was put in as a way to protect one end of the country from being ignored by the executive branch. Of course, choosing a running mate from the same state, or even a bordering state, would be political suicide, hence the usual extreme geographic diversity of running mates. A New Yorker choosing a New Jerseyite, or a Alabaman choosing a Mississippian, would probably be disastrous. The Clinton/Gore combo worked because they weren't stereotypical hard-right southerners.