Republican Party Picks for Vice President -- Why are They so Bad?

Bob Dole, who had been picked as a VP candidate earlier by Ford, picked Jack Kemp, the former football quarterback and proponent of fringe economic policy views.
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Why does the republican party often give us such disastrous picks for Vice President? Ike gave us Nixon, twice. As President, Nixon twice chose Spiro Agnew. George H. W. Bush, who was a reasonable choice for VP picked by Reagan to reassure us, returned the favor by twice choosing Dan Quayle. In 1996, Bob Dole, who had been picked as a VP candidate earlier by Jerry Ford, picked Jack Kemp, the former football quarterback and proponent of fringe economic policy views. George W. Bush has twice given us Dick Cheney. Now John McCain has picked Sarah Palin. There is nothing that Democrats have done that compares to Nixon, Agnew, Quayle, Kemp, Cheney and Palin.

2008-09-28-nixon06_thumb.jpg2008-09-28-spiroagnew.jpg2008-09-28-quayle_bush_waving.jpg2008-09-28-kemp_dole_atbp7406.jpg2008-09-28-225pxRichard_Cheney_2005_official_portrait.jpg2008-09-28-sarahpalin1.jpg

These are the Democrat VP candidates, since 1952

1952 - Alabama Senator John Sparkman
1956 - Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver
1960 - Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson
1964 - Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey
1968 - Maine Senator Edmund Muskie
1972 - Former Ambassador Sargent Shriver
1976 - Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale
1980 - Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale
1984 - New York Congresswoman Geraldine A. Ferraro
1988 - Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen
1992 - Tennessee Senator Al Gore
1996 - Tennessee Senator Al Gore
2000 - Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman
2004 - North Carolina Senator John Edwards
2008 - Delaware Senator Joe Biden

These are the Republican VP candidates, since 1952

1952 - California Senator Richard Nixon
1956 - California Senator Richard Nixon
1960 - Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
1964 - New York Congressman William E. Miller
1968 - Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew
1972 - Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew
1976 - Kansas Senator Bob Dole
1980 - Former CIA Director George H. W. Bush
1984 - Former CIA Director George H. W. Bush
1988 - Indiana Senator Dan Quayle
1992 - Indiana Senator Dan Quayle
1996 - Former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp
2000 - Former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney
2004 - Former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney
2008 - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

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