Electoral History
Aug. 29th, 2008 02:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteGenerally non-partisan thoughts...
Surprised that Obama selected Biden? Every Democratic VP candidate going back to Harry Truman (1944) was a seated United States senator with the exceptions of Rep. Geraldine Ferraro (with Walter Mondale) and Sargent Shriver (who replaced Sen. Thomas Eagleton as George McGovern's running mater after Eagleton was forced to withdraw). I have no idea why, but senators usually have some kind of track record on a variety of issues.
By comparison, the Republicans are more all over the place. Aside from Senators Nixon, Dole and Quayle, the GOP has had governors, former cabinet officers, ambassadors, and the totally forgotten Rep. William G. Miller (who ran with Goldwater). Palin is the first governor since Spiro Agnew, though. Again, I don't know why this is, but the only seated senator whose name even came up in discussion of McCain's running mate was Lieberman. Everyone else was or is a governor.
The thing that surprises me the most is that the next president will be a seated US senator. We haven't seen that since JFK. Yes, LBJ and Nixon had served in the Senate, but the route to the White House tends to be through a governor's mansion these days. We went from Carter to Reagan, and then after Bush I essentially ran on Reagan's record, we got Clinton and Dubya. I was sure that the trend would continue to some degree, with Romney and Huckabee being at least likely to be the nominee and with Richardson perhaps getting someplace from the Democratic side. (Boy, was I wrong about Richardson.) That both nominees are senators is something we haven't seen in a very long time. So long ago that I can't say when. Again, I am not sure that this means anything, but it's interesting to me.
Surprised that Obama selected Biden? Every Democratic VP candidate going back to Harry Truman (1944) was a seated United States senator with the exceptions of Rep. Geraldine Ferraro (with Walter Mondale) and Sargent Shriver (who replaced Sen. Thomas Eagleton as George McGovern's running mater after Eagleton was forced to withdraw). I have no idea why, but senators usually have some kind of track record on a variety of issues.
By comparison, the Republicans are more all over the place. Aside from Senators Nixon, Dole and Quayle, the GOP has had governors, former cabinet officers, ambassadors, and the totally forgotten Rep. William G. Miller (who ran with Goldwater). Palin is the first governor since Spiro Agnew, though. Again, I don't know why this is, but the only seated senator whose name even came up in discussion of McCain's running mate was Lieberman. Everyone else was or is a governor.
The thing that surprises me the most is that the next president will be a seated US senator. We haven't seen that since JFK. Yes, LBJ and Nixon had served in the Senate, but the route to the White House tends to be through a governor's mansion these days. We went from Carter to Reagan, and then after Bush I essentially ran on Reagan's record, we got Clinton and Dubya. I was sure that the trend would continue to some degree, with Romney and Huckabee being at least likely to be the nominee and with Richardson perhaps getting someplace from the Democratic side. (Boy, was I wrong about Richardson.) That both nominees are senators is something we haven't seen in a very long time. So long ago that I can't say when. Again, I am not sure that this means anything, but it's interesting to me.
