Who was the worst choice for VP?

[WI_DEM]

Poll question: Who was the worst choice for VP?

Which of the following choices for VP by both major parties caused the most harm, in your opinion?

[OnionPatch]

1. I honestly believe that if Gore hadn't chosen Lieberman

We would not have a Bush presidency right now. That in itself is enough to make it the hands down worst choice ever.

[demnan]

2. You convinced me

and I was going to pick Quayle but picked Lieberman instead.

[calico1]

7. Yes, if he had picked Edwards as running mate

he would have won by a larger margin and the fix in Florida would not have worked. But let's not forget one important thing--Gore still won the popular vote. And even as dull as Lieberman was, had the election not been fixed in FL. he would have gotten the electoral vote too. Its really unfair to blame Lieberman for the stolen election. We should be mad at Jeb Bush and Cruella what's her name!


I picked Spiro Agnew who has got to be the most crooked VP ever. Eagleton was a bad choice too. I was watching on a program the other night on how because they often used to pick the candidates at the convention they did not get properly vetted. When Eagleton was picked he was asked if he had any skeletons in his closet and he said no. It turned out he had been treated for mental illness. Oops. And what about Dan "Potatoe" Quayle? Was there anyone dumber than him? Of course I can understand Bush Sr. picking him. He made him look smart by comparison.

[no name no slogan]

16. Things were way different in 1972

McGovern didn't even know if he'd be the nominee in Miami. And even then, he assumed that Teddy Kennedy (his ONLY VP choice) would be his Veep. Once Teddy said no, his staff had less than 24 hours to pick another VP candidate-- hence the Eagleton selection.

McG picked Eagleton as a consolation to the "machine" Democrats (the Humphrey/Muskie/Daly/George Meany axis) to get them on board with the ticket. Eagleton was a capable Senator, but was an old-time party hack. His selection disappointed a bunch of the McGovern activists, who felt George had sold out.

When Eagleton's medical history came out, McGovern basically gave Eagleton an ultimatum: resign or get dumped. Even though Eagleton "technically" resigned, it still looked bad to McG's supporters, and many were angry that McG would hang Eagleton out to dry that way-- yet another strike against him in the eyes of his original grassroots activists.

Combine these moves with the reluctance of the Humphrey/Muskie/Daly/Meany crowd to support and work for the candidate, the illegal activities of the Nixon campaign, and you've got the makings of an electoral disaster.

[President Jesus]

3. How anyone could *not* choose Quayle in this poll escapes me

There has simply never been a vp so unqualified in American history.

[OnionPatch]

9. Well, I would argue

that the choice of Quayle as VP did not cause as much damage to his party or the country as the choice of Leiberman. I agree Quayle was the least qualified for the job.

[sangh0]

18. And I thought the opposite of you

I don't think that Lieberman helped Gore (except at the beginning. When Gore named Lieberman, he got a bump, but it didn't last) but I also don't think Lieberman hurt Gore at all. Quayle on the other hand definitely hurt GHWB.

[blackcat77]

4. A VP candidate is like a bridesmaid...

...and the bridesmaid should always be uglier than the bride. The greatest exception to that rule was Jack Kemp, who made Bob Dole look just awful by comparison. Those of you who picked Quayle should remember that he made GHWB look quite good by comparison.

[WI_DEM]

5. unless his name is Spiro Agnew

who only had two years experience as a corrupt governor of Maryland behind him.

[Algorem]

6. putting ghw bush within one Hinckleyshot from the presidency was worst

[Doosh]

8. Ferraro

[On the Road]

11. Ferrarro, Ah Yes...

That would deserve a few votes. NOT the right person to break the gender barrier.

[SaveElmer]

10. C'mon it's Dole

He got beat in a debate by Walter Mondale for cryin out loud...I mean, I love Walter Mondale, but he isn't exactly Mr. Charisma!!!

[WI_DEM]

13. Mondale was very good in that debate

as he was in the first debate with Reagan in '84 and in his debate with "Norman" Coleman in '00.

[Zynx]

12. Eagleton hurt McGovern badly, though he wouldn't have won anyway.

[Monument]

14. Quayle!

[ieoeja]

15. Tyler

Or are you still naive enough to believe the amazing coincidence that William Henry Harrison should contract pneumonia during his inaugural address allowing Tyler, who would have never been able to win the general election on his own, to step into the role of president immediately?

:tinfoilhat:

[AntiCoup2K4]

17. Stockdale (Perot's running mate)

Yeah, Holy Joe's boring and Potato-e-head was just plain dumb, but I gotta go with the guy who was best known for the line "What am I doing here?" at a VP debate.

[sangh0]

19. Good one

There's a choice that inarguably hurt the top of the ticket. Perot was doing pretty good until "What am I doing here?"

[no name no slogan]

20. "GRIDLOCK!!!!" "I'M HUNGRY!!!!" "WHERE AM I?"

Hey, did you ever catch the Saturday Night Live skit they did about Perot and Stockdale? Dana Carvey was Perot, and Phil Hartmann was Stockdale, and they were in a car going on a drive in the country.

Stockdale would keep yelling jibberish, and Perot tried to act interested/amused. When Perot stopped the car, he coaxed the Admiral out, too. Then Perot sped off, abandoning the Admiral out in the country like you would a litter of kittens.

Classic sketch. I hope SNL does another election-year special like they have in the past. Those shows are some of their funniest, IMHO.

Or as John Lovits/Dukakis might have said in 1988, "can you believe I'm actually losing to this guy?"

[sangh0]

21. I missed it

I don't watch much TV, and I gave up on SNL long before Dana Carvey joined it.

[Cuban_Liberal]

22. Oh for pity's sake, get REAL, people!

Joe Lieberman shouldn't even be finishing in the top 3 among these choices; he has an admirably progressive record on TONS of issues. Some of y'all just need to let it go and GROW UP!

:grr:

[dolstein]

23. One guy resigned, another withdrew, another couldn't spell potato

Spiro Agnew had to resign to office after he plead nolo contendre to bribery charges.

Thomas Eagleton was quickly dropped from the ticket after it was revealed that he had been hospitalized for nervous exhaustion and had received shock treatments.

Dan Quayle became a national joke after he proved he couldn't spell potato, and he was dogged by questions regarding his national service.

Geraldine Ferraro was dogged by questions regarding her husbands finances.

The Lieberman selection, on the other hand, generated the most favorable press coverage Gore received during the campaign. He didn't produce any major gaffes on the campaign trail. All the criticism of the Lieberman selection appears to be based on the fact that (1) he didn't destroy Cheney in the VP debate and (2) statements he made AFTER the election regarding the counting of military ballots. It's hard to take these complaints seriously when you consider Gore's own debate performance, which became the butt of SNL jokes, as well as the fact that Gore has never repudiated Lieberman's position on the military ballots.

I can think of several obvious reasons why Gore wasn't sworn in as president, but the selection of Joe Lieberman to be his running mate isn't one of them.

[DaveSZ]

24. Holy Joe

If Gore had picked Kerry, he'd have won.

[Cuban_Liberal]

25. If he'd chosen someone besides Donna Brazille to run his campaign, ...

... he'd probably have won, too.

:shrug:

[IronLionZion]

26. Quayle is most incompetent, Cheney is most evil

and I actually like Holy Joe except for a few issues like Iraq. Gore won that election in spite of Joe and Ralph and Clinton's penis and all those bullshit factors. It's not Joe's fault they didn't let blacks vote

[wuushew]

27. Florida was not absolutely necessary

Bush barely won New Hampshire and with the sizable 4% Green vote we should have won. Lieberman is like mosquito repellent for independents.

[IronLionZion]

29. There was disenfranchisement in a lot of places

especially the South and poor urban areas. and yeah, Gore only needed like 1/3 of Nader's votes in New Hampshire.

Hopefully, this time around those folks will know better. It may be a good thing that the media keeps saying Kerry is so damn liberal.

[TedsGarage]

28. Bush in '80

Had there been no Vice President George H.W. Bush, there would be no President George W. Bush.