The quadrennial season of Survivor: Veepstakes is in its final throes of gossip and suspense. But what will it mean in the end? Does a running mate even matter?
The selection of Geraldine Ferraro by the Democrats in 1984 was seen as one of the most exciting political moments ever, but the Mondale-Ferraro ticket carried just one state and the District of Columbia that November. When Republican Dan Quayle was picked four years later, the choice was widely mocked and ridiculed. Yet when all was said and done, the Bush-Quayle ticket carried 40 out of 50 states.
That's not to say that the VP pick is inconsequential. True, it's hard to imagine anyone paying attention to the person who becomes Donald Trump's number two; The Donald just sucks up all the oxygen wherever he appears. (Though it would be fun to see a Trump-Newt Gingrich ticket, and its combined six current and former wives). But a lot may be riding on Hillary Clinton's choice. Does she hope to win a state with her pick? Send a signal to Bernie Sanders supporters? Make history by choosing another woman?
Here are my picks for five best and five worst vice-presidential selections of the last 60 years. Let's see if you agree.
Top Five:
1. Lyndon Johnson (Democrat, 1960). If there's one running mate who may have swung an election, it's Johnson. The Senate majority leader at the time, his selection arguably allowed John F. Kennedy to win Texas, much of the South, and ultimately the White House.
2. Tied for second: Dick Cheney (Republican, 2000) and Joe Biden (Democrat, 2008). Both gave the top of the ticket exactly what they needed: gravitas and experience. Neither George W. Bush nor Barack Obama had foreign policy chops or allies in Washington. Cheney and Biden supplied both.
4. George H.W. Bush (Republican, 1980). Ronald Reagan was portrayed by the Democrats that year as a right-wing extremist. By choosing Bush, Reagan showed his pragmatic side and silenced the doubters. The move united the party and the ticket swept to a landslide victory in November.
5. Al Gore (Democrat, 1992). This selection seemed to violate every bit of conventional wisdom. Rather than seek any kind of geographical, ideological or demographic balance, Bill Clinton instead chose someone very similar to himself. There were differences, of course; while Clinton had the reputation of being a draft-dodging womanizer, Gore served in Vietnam, and his wife Tipper was a strong promoter of "family values."
Worst five:
1. Spiro Agnew (Republican, 1968). This selection was done at a time when vetting potential VP picks was unheard of. But had anyone done even a cursory investigation of Agnew, the governor of Maryland, they would have learned he spent years steeped in corruption, taking bribes. Nixon clearly liked Agnew's red-meat rhetoric, which served him well…until his past caught up with him and he was forced to resign.
2. Sarah Palin (Republican, 2008). With outgoing President Bush unpopular and the Republican brand in trouble, John McCain needed to shake up the election. At the time of her selection, Palin was a highly popular governor with a reputation for taking on corruption and politics-as-usual in Alaska. It wasn't until some ill-fated interviews with the national media — notably Katie Couric — that the Republicans realized they had a nominee who was in way over her head.
3. William Miller (Republican, 1964). In fairness, no No. 2 would have been able to help Barry Goldwater defeat Johnson, the incumbent. But when asked why he picked Miller, a New York congressman who was head of House GOP campaign committee — and a leading Johnson critic — Goldwater said, "He drove LBJ nuts." That's one way to pick a running mate.
4. Thomas Eagleton (Democrat, 1972). As with Goldwater, no running mate was going to help McGovern defeat President Nixon that year. But the process by which he selected Eagleton, after so many other Democrats said no, was an embarrassment. And it didn't help that within days of naming Eagleton to the ticket, McGovern learned that the Missouri senator was treated with electro-shock therapy for depression. Eagleton was forced off the ticket after just 18 days.
5. Bob Dole (Republican, 1976). President Gerald Ford needed a take-no-prisoners right-winger who would appeal to supporters of Ronald Reagan, who had challenged Ford for the nomination and lost. But Dole was widely perceived as little more than a hatchet man, and his performance in the VP debate with Walter Mondale — when he labeled the two World Wars, Korea and Vietnam as "Democrat wars" — was seen as a disaster.
Ken Rudin, the former political editor at NPR, is the host of Ken Rudin's Political Junkie radio program. Follow him on Twitter: @kenrudin
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