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How important is the VP candidate in your Presidential election decisions?

How important is the VP candidate in your Presidential election decisions?

  • Very important.

    Votes: 4 14.3%

  • Somewhat important.

    Votes: 10 35.7%

  • Usually not important, unless the VP is a total bonehead.

    Votes: 9 32.1%

  • Not importantl.

    Votes: 3 10.7%

  • Other (please clarify).

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • Total voters
    28
radcen

radcen

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How important is the VP candidate in your Presidential election decisions?

The question probably applies more to independents and moderates, and not so much the extremes of either side, as they would tend to vote their party regardless.
 
radcen said:
How important is the VP candidate in your Presidential election decisions?

The question probably applies more to independents and moderates, and not so much the extremes of either side, as they would tend to vote their party regardless.
Click to expand...

i would never vote for someone who had a sarah palin on their ticket. :mrgreen:
 
Though I know know it is always a potential, I don't put much stock into the "heartbeat away from the Presidency" angle. For the most part I don't think it is important, except maybe to gauge the Presidential candidate's ability to choose and make decisions wisely.
 
radcen said:
How important is the VP candidate in your Presidential election decisions?

The question probably applies more to independents and moderates, and not so much the extremes of either side, as they would tend to vote their party regardless.
Click to expand...

Well, it depends on the President, really.

I was more worried about Sarah Palin being McCain's VP pick than was worried about Joe Biden being Obama's VP pick. After all, McCain suffers from some health problems and he is quite elderly, so it wouldn't be surprising for Palin to become President should his health fail. On the other hand, Obama is relatively young and in good health, and so Biden as the VP pick isn't as important.

But, truth be told, I always consider the VP pick in my presidential election decisions. After all, we vote for whoever that is just as much as we vote for the President, and I don't think that should be dismissed easily.
 
It can add a bit or subtract a bit depending on how it plays out. Palin cost McCain in the last weeks of the campaign. Somebody like Rubio could help Romney. I think if Obama switched Biden with Clinton, that would help him also.
 
haymarket said:
It can add a bit or subtract a bit depending on how it plays out. Palin cost McCain in the last weeks of the campaign.
Click to expand...
oh, hell no
mccain could not draw a crowd in a grocery store (literally) until he selected palin to be his running mate
had he not insisted 'the fundamentals of the economy are sound' as the economy was melting down, he - AND she - would have won the '08 election
palin made that election mccain's to lose ... and he lost it

Somebody like Rubio could help Romney. I think if Obama switched Biden with Clinton, that would help him also.
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the only chance romney has against Obama is to select christie as his running mate
(ok, photographic evidence of a gay man in Obama's bed would also work to romney's advantage, but that ain't gonna happen)
 
There is no doubt that McCain got an initital bump from Palin - both in terms of crowds and enthusiasm. But there is also ltitle doubt that she cost him votes in November.

http://themoderatevoice.com/23984/cnn-poll-palin-may-be-costing-mccain-support/

A new national poll suggests that Sarah Palin may be hurting John McCainz more than she’s helping him. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Sunday indicates that McCain’s running mate is growing less popular among voters and may be costing the Republican presidential nominee a few crucial percentage points in the race for the White House. Fifty-seven percent of likely voters questioned in the poll say that Palin does not have the personal qualities a president should have. That’s up eight points since September. Fifty-three percent say that she does not agree with them on important issues. That’s also higher than in September.

“Just after the GOP convention in early September, 53 percent said they would vote for Palin over Joe Bidenz if there were a separate vote for vice-president. Now, Biden would beat Palin by 12 points if the running mates were chosen in a separate vote,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
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the more they saw her, the less they liked her.
 
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Very important. The VP is the replacement for the president if something happens to the president.
 
radcen said:
How important is the VP candidate in your Presidential election decisions?

The question probably applies more to independents and moderates, and not so much the extremes of either side, as they would tend to vote their party regardless.
Click to expand...
It's somewhat important if only as evidenced by Sarah Palin. Picking her was a slap in the fact to smart people. Joe Biden is respected by Dems and Republicans for his experience with foreign policy which certainly helped Obama with accusations of being inexperienced. So yeah, somewhat important.
 
I answered other because it is always going to vary for me depending on the president and depending on the Vice president.

SOmetimes it will be VERY important, sometimes not so much.

Like many have already mentioned Palin was a TERRIBLE choice and while she could RALLY masses nobody really wanted her in the white house in large numbers. I had many friends back off od Cain because of her and what a joke that was.

I think its was BRILLIANT for the Reps to pick a woman for VP they just picked the wrong one or rather, they let her talk to much before election day.

A very interesting move would have been to select Condalisa Rice
 
Very important. A few years ago I would have voted "somewhat important", then Sarah Palin happened. 'Nuff said.
 
A good VP pick would be the only thing that could possibly see me vote for Romney.
 
Typically, it's not very important to me, although I did specifically vote against McCain just to keep Palin away from the White House. She was blatant pandering to the religious right and any candidate who picks such a VP will lose my vote immediately.
 
Extremely unimportant. The VP has no power, and the chances that they will replace the President are negligible.

As for those who are saying that Sarah Palin hurt McCain - you are vastly underestimating how reluctant conservatives were to vote for the man. If it weren't for Palin, many Republicans would have stayed home. Ultimately, she helped him more than hurt him - most of the people who hated her would have voted for Obama either way. McCain's poll numbers greatly rose when he picked her, and did not subside until the financial crisis (after that, any Republican candidate would have been a sacrificial lamb, even one as moderate as McCain).
 
Dav said:
Extremely unimportant. The VP has no power, and the chances that they will replace the President are negligible.

As for those who are saying that Sarah Palin hurt McCain - you are vastly underestimating how reluctant conservatives were to vote for the man. If it weren't for Palin, many Republicans would have stayed home. Ultimately, she helped him more than hurt him - most of the people who hated her would have voted for Obama either way. McCain's poll numbers greatly rose when he picked her, and did not subside until the financial crisis (after that, any Republican candidate would have been a sacrificial lamb, even one as moderate as McCain).
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Only speaking for myself, but Palin was the deciding factor in me voting Libertarian. I was leaning McCain prior to that.

I've always liked McCain, and feel that for the most part he has been a fine Senator, but wasn't quite convinced that the Presidency was suited for him (or visa versa).
 
It varies greatly with the situation. A weak candidate with a strong VP choice, it would matter a good deal. A strong candidate and it becomes irrelevant. I think it matters in direct relation to how good(or bad) the presidential candidate was.


Dav said:
Extremely unimportant. The VP has no power, and the chances that they will replace the President are negligible.
Click to expand...

The VP has very little enumerated power, but can and at times does wield significant influence and can at times get things done that the president can't. Biden and his friend McConnell where the chief architects of the deal to raise the debt ceiling as one example of just how much a VP can do. Cheney was a major player in US policy during the Bush years. Gore did a ton of work for Clinton. And so on.

As for those who are saying that Sarah Palin hurt McCain - you are vastly underestimating how reluctant conservatives were to vote for the man. If it weren't for Palin, many Republicans would have stayed home. Ultimately, she helped him more than hurt him - most of the people who hated her would have voted for Obama either way. McCain's poll numbers greatly rose when he picked her, and did not subside until the financial crisis (after that, any Republican candidate would have been a sacrificial lamb, even one as moderate as McCain).
Click to expand...

I suspect you are right here. Where McCain needed the most support was where Palin was the strongest, the far right of the party.
 
Seems the only time the VP gets attention is when hes a dink...like Dan Quayle or a Biden.
 
lpast said:
Seems the only time the VP gets attention is when hes a dink...like Dan Quayle or a Biden.
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In an odd way, I liked Quayle. He was not a bad guy. In his political career, the worst thing I ever heard said about him was he was not all that bright. No scandals I can think of, never did anything I really can find fault with. I disagree with his position on issues, but that is not something I consider a negative about him personally.
 
justabubba said:
oh, hell no
mccain could not draw a crowd in a grocery store (literally) until he selected palin to be his running mate
had he not insisted 'the fundamentals of the economy are sound' as the economy was melting down, he - AND she - would have won the '08 election
palin made that election mccain's to lose ... and he lost it
Click to expand...

Actually, McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as his VP helped me decide not to vote for him.
 
Redress said:
The VP has very little enumerated power, but can and at times does wield significant influence and can at times get things done that the president can't. Biden and his friend McConnell where the chief architects of the deal to raise the debt ceiling as one example of just how much a VP can do. Cheney was a major player in US policy during the Bush years. Gore did a ton of work for Clinton. And so on.
Click to expand...
Cheney was atypical, I think. His influence was substantial by (Bush's) choice.
 
radcen said:
Cheney was atypical, I think. His influence was substantial by (Bush's) choice.
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I absolutely cannot prove this, but I think Cheney was atypical in that it was reported how much influence he had. I think VPs have more influence than we think, if just by being close to the president so much.
 
Dav said:
Extremely unimportant. The VP has no power, and the chances that they will replace the President are negligible.
Click to expand...

Not quite true, as the President can bestow on the VP powers to represent him. This means that the VP has whatever executive powers the President gives him.

After all, Dick Cheney was a very active VP under GWB. Also, the VP is also the President of the Senate. Dick Cheney took advantage of that for procedural issues in the Senate despite times when the Democrats had a majority.
 
Redress said:
I absolutely cannot prove this, but I think Cheney was atypical in that it was reported how much influence he had. I think VPs have more influence than we think, if just by being close to the president so much.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be surprised if that's true. At the least, Cheney certainly was more public and vocal about his job.
 
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