Reply #7: Would it be a shock to discover

[aquart]

That POTUS and VEEP are rarely friendly? It's strictly a marriage of political convenience. The Veep job is to preside over the Senate and wait for the POTUS to die. That just doesn't encourage close communication. In fact, the secret service kinda prefers if the two aren't in the same place at the same time.

Also, if the nominee is considered too liberal or conservative on an issue, an attempt is made to balance him/her with a Veep choice that leans the other way...so they walk in as people who don't agree on most things.

The focus that Al Gore got was extraordinary. He was given real work to do and did it well. It set the precedent for Cheney's insane seizure of power. Because other Veeps mostly went to funerals.

You shouldn't have slept in American History, dull though they do make it.