Did Santorum almost call Obama the N word?

[Orphee]

Anyway, it's now more or less irrelevant. Rick has just quit the race.

 

There's still the Vice Presidential candidate to choose. Romney may want some extremist blood and guts to shore up support in the Bible belt.

[callippo]

the importance of the Vice Presidential candidate is overrated. Nobody ever won a Presidential election because of who they chose as a running mate and nobody has ever claimed that they did, but whenever somebody loses one, plenty of people are quick to say that is why they lost. Forget Palin. People said Kerry lost in 2004 because of Edwards, and if he had just chosen someone from the south, he would have won. This is nonsense. Kerry lost because he, Kerry, was useless, not because of Edwards.

 

McCain lost last time, not because of Palin, but because he was too old, and a poor candidate himself - though in 2000, when he ran before, he was a much better candidate and probably would have won had he been nominated. As for Obama, he would have won in 2008 even if Kermit the Frog or the Cookie Monster had been standing next to him. It doesn't matter much.

 

the reason for this is probably when a candidate is defeated, people want to blame somebody for the defeat, but they don't want to blame the candidate himself, at least not straight away - his supporters have just spent months and months talking him up, and are not disposed to straight away change their tune and start talking him down. The running mate is the easy target.

[Harleyman]

A former vice-president whose name is lost to history once described the office as "not worth a bucket of spit"

At that time his remark may have had some justification as the vice-president more often than not played no part in the adminstration except to attend social functions, cut ribbons and go on goodwill tours of foreign countries that no one in the White House could easily locate on a world map.

 

V.P Truman didn't even know about the A Bomb until President Roosevelt suddenly died yet six months later he was faced with the momentous decision whether or not to use it against Japan.

 

V.Ps today play a much more active and important role in the administration which considering that they're literally only a heartbeat away from the Presidency itself makes a lot of sense

[callippo]

VP's are usually pretty poor really especially in recent years, think not just Palin but Edwards and Quayle, also Ford would have had no chance at all of getting elected on his own bat. But Dukkakis' running mate in 1988, the Texan Lloyd Bentsen was a bit unusual. Quite a lot of people said during the campaign how come that guy isn't running for President rather than Dukkakis. He's miles better. Of course this wasn't enough to alter the result or even deliver Bentsen's state, Texas, to Dukkakis. They lost by a landslide.

[Jeffrey Shaw]

Is the Republican National Conference obliged to nominate Romney or can it opt for someone else?

[JFKvsNixon]

VP's are usually pretty poor really especially in recent years, think not just Palin but Edwards and Quayle, also Ford would have had no chance at all of getting elected on his own bat. But Dukkakis' running mate in 1988, the Texan Lloyd Bentsen was a bit unusual. Quite a lot of people said during the campaign how come that guy isn't running for President rather than Dukkakis. He's miles better. Of course this wasn't enough to alter the result or even deliver Bentsen's state, Texas, to Dukkakis. They lost by a landslide.

 

Didn't Ford replace another VP who had to resign due to a financial scandal? I think the last genuine big politician who was VP was LBJ, and that was to cover up JFK's perceived inexperience.

[callippo]

Is the Republican National Conference obliged to nominate Romney or can it opt for someone else?

 

not 100% sure but I think it's possible only if Romney had only a small majority AND wasn't supported by the party bigshots who might be able to turn committed delegates and persuade uncommitted ones to vote for someone else. But he'll have both a large majority AND the support of the bigshots, so it won't happen.

 

Didn't Ford replace another VP who had to resign due to a financial scandal?

 

that would be Spiro T. Agnew who is neck-and-neck in modern times with Danforth Quayle as the most hapless vice presidential candidate ever, but who easily wins the prize for having the silliest name.

 

think the last genuine big politician who was VP was LBJ, and that was to cover up JFK's perceived inexperience.

 

LBJ was a heavyweight for sure, and you are right to call it JFK's perceived inexperience, because he wasn't inexperienced at all - nit they were a little concerned he might come over as being too young and a bit of a superficial, privileged dillettante and LBJ was reckoned to add a bit of gravitas. But LBJ was really on the ticket to secure Texas, which he did, and which in those days was on the cusp of turning from an habitually Democratic state to the habitually Republican one it is today - Eisenhower had just won it twice when the Republicans had only ever won it once before. They needed it, because California was a shoo-in for Nixon, it being his own home state. In fact the choice of LBJ is the best example there is of the choice of running mate really having a substantial, and possibly decisive effect on the poll.

[alternageek]

Anyway, it's now more or less irrelevant. Rick has just quit the race.

 

The only positive from this, is that its inspired a generation of women to find their inner feminist and speak out. A new generation of women finding their voice and speaking out is empowering.

 

The Republicans would rather us be barefoot and pregnant and not speaking out.

[JFKvsNixon]

Is the Republican National Conference obliged to nominate Romney or can it opt for someone else?

 

not 100% sure but I think it's possible only if Romney had only a small majority AND wasn't supported by the party bigshots who might be able to turn committed delegates and persuade uncommitted ones to vote for someone else. But he'll have both a large majority AND the support of the bigshots, so it won't happen.

 

Didn't Ford replace another VP who had to resign due to a financial scandal?

 

that would be Spiro T. Agnew who is neck-and-neck in modern times with Danforth Quayle as the most hapless vice presidential candidate ever, but who easily wins the prize for having the silliest name.

 

think the last genuine big politician who was VP was LBJ, and that was to cover up JFK's perceived inexperience.

 

LBJ was a heavyweight for sure, and you are right to call it JFK's perceived inexperience, because he wasn't inexperienced at all - nit they were a little concerned he might come over as being too young and a bit of a superficial, privileged dillettante and LBJ was reckoned to add a bit of gravitas. But LBJ was really on the ticket to secure Texas, which he did, and which in those days was on the cusp of turning from an habitually Democratic state to the habitually Republican one it is today - Eisenhower had just won it twice when the Republicans had only ever won it once before. They needed it, because California was a shoo-in for Nixon, it being his own home state. In fact the choice of LBJ is the best example there is of the choice of running mate really having a substantial, and possibly decisive effect on the poll.

 

It's my understanding that JFK also need the South to secure victory, and LBJ was the man to bring home those votes.

 

I think that LBJ was a very accomplished politician who had a progressive agenda, but allowed himself to be drawn into Vietnam, for which he'll always be remembered, in an attempt to appease the conservatives to allow him to implement his policies.

[Harleyman]

Didn't Ford replace another VP who had to resign due to a financial scandal? I think the last genuine big politician who was VP was LBJ, and that was to cover up JFK's perceived inexperience.

 

Yes. The VPs name was Spiro Agnew who coined the phrase "Nattering nabobs of negativism" referring to Vietnam war protestors