Veepstakes and Party Government: How Vice Presidential Selections Impact Parties

• In Event: The Presidency and Electoral Connections

Abstract

To what extent does running mate selection impact political parties? The existing literature on vice presidential choices focuses primarily on the reasons behind particular selections (such as geographic or ideological balance) or the effect those selections have on electoral outcomes. This paper, by contrast, examines cases in which a running mate choice reflected a changing dynamic within a party or led the party to change internally. These dynamics may also reflect distinct party patterns in vice presidential selection as each party has particular priorities that have shifted as the party system evolved.

In particular, this paper will examine the selections of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 (representing Democrats as a party of interests); Sarah Palin in 2008 (turning Republicans toward a populist style); Paul Ryan in 2012 (as Republicans lean in to a conservative economic agenda and begin a strategy of appealing to voters in the upper Midwest); and Mike Pence in 2016 (solidifying Republicans as the party of conservative evangelicals).

Authors

• William D. Adler, Northeastern Illinois University

• Julia Rezazadeh Azari, Marquette University