Cactus Jack Garner, our nation’s 32nd Vice President, infamously said: “The vice president isn’t worth a bucket of warm spit.”
Alternatively, he said piss instead of spit, and I like that version better, but it amounts to the same thing, which Washington Post reporter Chris Cillizza addressed today: The vice presidential pick is overrated. Here’s why.
Regardless of whether or not the ultimate nominee is Rob Portman, Tim Pawlenty, Marco Rubio, or someone we haven’t even considered yet, they won’t impact the final results on November 6th.
As Mr Cillizza notes, the most common argument for the importance of the Veep is geography, but as he lays out, and as I discussed back in May, geography has not been a significant factor in Presidential elections.
Another argument for the importance of Veep nomination is that it gives some clue into the governing style of the next President, as if the numerous advisors to a campaign couldn’t achieve the same effect if the people surrounding the nominee were an important factor in voter behaviour.
