Do the vice presidential candidates have much sway over who gets elected?
A.The vice president selection is seen as a sign of judgment on the part of the presidential candidates, but in general, the vice president doesn’t really help. You might pick up a state, but the vice president doesn’t usually swing an election. In this election cycle I’m sure the media will rerun lots of tapes of John McCain saying the vice president’s job is to call every morning to check on the president’s health and to attend the funeral of Third World dictators, and that neither of these things interest him. Q.There is a lot of emphasis that Biden and Palin are a ‘heartbeat’ away from the presidency. Did similar rhetoric happen in previous elections? A.The job of the vice president has gotten bigger over the years, and they’ve gotten more power. Dick Cheney is a very close adviser to President Bush and has a lot of power in the administration. Al Gore had the same for Bill Clinton’s administration. Vice presidents have more influence, so in that sense there’s been growth. Historic
