One thing a VP can be is a useful lieutenant and advisor. I honestly think that's one of the larger reasons Trump picked Vance: someone who largely agrees with his priorities and can help run the Executive Branch *during* his term. I suspect Trump cares way more about the next 4 years than he does about anything after that.
This is a uniquely important role for Trump, because he couldn't manage to run the White House very well and there was both high turnover and dubious loyalties among his staff. Pence ran a much tighter ship.
Yes, you could always name "that guy" to your Administration in another capacity, but as VP, he gets more staff and budget than most of your appointees. And maybe you get the assistance and loyalty of a sitting politician who would be reluctant to quit for a lesser job than VP.
Cheney might have been the most extreme example of the "administrator VP". Cheney is remembered poorly, but I think this is mostly for the policies he advocated, and the concern that at times he was overshadowing the President (a risk when you're significantly older and more experienced), but not his administrative role in helping bring those policies to fruition, per se.
I also suspect that Romney's choice of Paul Ryan, who had a (now-diminished) reputation as a policy wonk and dealmaker, was based on the hope that Ryan would be a lieutenant who could help him enact his policies.
The Democrats don't seem to choose this model. My sense is that their VPs almost always are highly ceremonial and don't come across as having a very close working relationship with the President. More like the elected equivalent of a second- or third-tier British royal.
I suppose you could go back to 1992, where Bill Clinton surprised people by picking a fellow younger Southerner, Al Gore, as his running mate. Though the Clinton-Gore relationship later deteriorated…
Yes, valid. I think both Clinton and Gore were intellectually curious guys with a lot of interest in policy and Clinton saw Gore as someone he could talk to substantively about policy and liked that about him. In this way, perhaps somewhat similar to Romney-Ryan dynamic (without the age gap).
One thing a VP can be is a useful lieutenant and advisor. I honestly think that's one of the larger reasons Trump picked Vance: someone who largely agrees with his priorities and can help run the Executive Branch *during* his term. I suspect Trump cares way more about the next 4 years than he does about anything after that.
This is a uniquely important role for Trump, because he couldn't manage to run the White House very well and there was both high turnover and dubious loyalties among his staff. Pence ran a much tighter ship.
Yes, you could always name "that guy" to your Administration in another capacity, but as VP, he gets more staff and budget than most of your appointees. And maybe you get the assistance and loyalty of a sitting politician who would be reluctant to quit for a lesser job than VP.
Cheney might have been the most extreme example of the "administrator VP". Cheney is remembered poorly, but I think this is mostly for the policies he advocated, and the concern that at times he was overshadowing the President (a risk when you're significantly older and more experienced), but not his administrative role in helping bring those policies to fruition, per se.
I also suspect that Romney's choice of Paul Ryan, who had a (now-diminished) reputation as a policy wonk and dealmaker, was based on the hope that Ryan would be a lieutenant who could help him enact his policies.
The Democrats don't seem to choose this model. My sense is that their VPs almost always are highly ceremonial and don't come across as having a very close working relationship with the President. More like the elected equivalent of a second- or third-tier British royal.
I suppose you could go back to 1992, where Bill Clinton surprised people by picking a fellow younger Southerner, Al Gore, as his running mate. Though the Clinton-Gore relationship later deteriorated…
Yes, valid. I think both Clinton and Gore were intellectually curious guys with a lot of interest in policy and Clinton saw Gore as someone he could talk to substantively about policy and liked that about him. In this way, perhaps somewhat similar to Romney-Ryan dynamic (without the age gap).
> such as Pete Buttigieg (who’s been popular on YouTube lately)
And elsewhere!
I think Pete Buttigieg is great! If I were Harris, I would probably pick him…