DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - It's offical. Paul Ryan is Romneys VP Pick

**chujwduperjadzi** · 08-12-2012, 12:55 AM

I'll give it the old college try. Lodge, '60: a halfhearted campaigner who went rogue on racial issues, unilaterally deciding Nixon would be an integrationist candidate (Southern white voters were less than pleased). Nixon, furious, had to rein him in and re-burnish the ticket's impressive racist credentials (Southern black voters were less than pleased). They ended up losing four southern states, worth 53 electoral votes, by two points or less (including Texas, even though LBJ had supposedly "balanced" the Kennedy ticket).

Giving the benefit of the doubt that it may have cost him the election (which I would argue it didn't since Nixon was pro-civil rights himself and he would have had to sweep the south to get the 50 extra electoral votes he needed, which was even tougher since Byrd took 14. In addition, Lodge was a highly respected and competent politician.), we're still talking 1 election in 52 years and the first election in what I would consider the "modern era" of Presidential elections (I use the first televised debate as a watermark). Plus, it wouldn't have been his background and history and experience that was the controversial point, but a comment on a policy issue during the campaign.

Which is more so the point. You want a VP that doesn't screw something up, can stay on message and is a team player.

There have been far worse running mates since then—Eagleton (grand prize), Ferraro, Stockdale, Palin—but they were all on tickets that would have lost anyway. Correct.

08-12-2012, 12:55 AM	#34
chujwduperjadzi Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 438 Senior Member	I'll give it the old college try. Lodge, '60: a halfhearted campaigner who went rogue on racial issues, unilaterally deciding Nixon would be an integrationist candidate (Southern white voters were less than pleased). Nixon, furious, had to rein him in and re-burnish the ticket's impressive racist credentials (Southern black voters were less than pleased). They ended up losing four southern states, worth 53 electoral votes, by two points or less (including Texas, even though LBJ had supposedly "balanced" the Kennedy ticket). Giving the benefit of the doubt that it may have cost him the election (which I would argue it didn't since Nixon was pro-civil rights himself and he would have had to sweep the south to get the 50 extra electoral votes he needed, which was even tougher since Byrd took 14. In addition, Lodge was a highly respected and competent politician.), we're still talking 1 election in 52 years and the first election in what I would consider the "modern era" of Presidential elections (I use the first televised debate as a watermark). Plus, it wouldn't have been his background and history and experience that was the controversial point, but a comment on a policy issue during the campaign. Which is more so the point. You want a VP that doesn't screw something up, can stay on message and is a team player. There have been far worse running mates since then—Eagleton (grand prize), Ferraro, Stockdale, Palin—but they were all on tickets that would have lost anyway. Correct.
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