Selection of a VP candidate can make or break a presidential campaign (Kans City Star)

[Muttocracy]

http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/731468.html

...
What are the rules for picking a veep?

None, really. Some think the second spot should at least bring the nominee’s home state, but even that doesn’t always happen.

Joel Goldstein: “I think the most important thing is this person must be a plausible president, somebody people could see being in the Oval Office.”

Help with the home state? Overblown. In 1960, Lyndon Johnson was picked to help John F. Kennedy in Texas and he did; 28 years later Lloyd Bentsen couldn’t do the same for Michael Dukakis.

Does the choice make a difference?

Perhaps not. “People vote for president, not vice president,” former White House man Stu Spencer told Al Hunt of Bloomberg.com in May. Exhibit A? Dan Quayle didn’t hurt George H.W. Bush all that much in 1988.

Yes, LBJ helped Kennedy. And Bill Clinton wallowed in third place in most polls in 1992 until he chose Al Gore.

But Joe Lieberman, Geraldine Ferraro, John Sparkman? Not much.

The best guess: The veep pick helps voters understand a presidential nominee’s thinking and can sometimes help in a close race.
...

[thewiseguy]

1. VP will be either Bayh or Biden

[gateley]

2. At this point, I just want the nominee's thinking to reflect who will help

him WIN in November.

[Muttocracy]

3. realized after I posted that the article title doesn't really match the content

they argue more that it doesn't make a tremendous difference or huge help. I wonder if the author wrote the headline.

[DFLforever]

4. This is the most interesting article I've read on VP's.

They claim that Walter Mondale added 3% nationally to Carter's vote total in 1976.

They also make a very good argument as to why the VP should be picked ahead of time - referring to the choices of Eagleton (and Quale) as examples of VP's where problems might have been avoided or lessened if announced preceding the convention.

[Muttocracy]

5. I do like the actual data as opposed to speculation!

And they are pretty good at putting to rest the one-state obsession. Who votes for president based on the state the VP was born in or lives in? :shrug: