Running Mates

Amidst the War on Terror, President George W. Bush and his VP, Dick Cheney, are up for reelection against Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. In what turns into a presidential contest over their respective military records, patriotism, and foreign policy credentials, Kerry chooses, and later would regret having done so, North Carolina Senator John Edwards as his running mate.

In the part two of our 2000 election episode, Lars and Michael discuss who Democratic candidate Al Gore should have put on the ticket instead of Joe Lieberman. They conclude with a broad analysis of the 2000 election, the direction of the parties and decisions they made at this point, and set the stage for the prevailing partisan trends in the 21st century.

In the part one of our 2000 election episode, the impeached president Bill Clinton's Vice President Al Gore runs for the presidency and picks Joe Lieberman to try and distance himself from Clinton. Meanwhile, Republicans seek a compassionate conservative and land on George W. Bush, who tasks Dick Cheney with finding a vice presidential candidate for him, but Bush ultimately decides on Cheney himself. Two running mates who offer relatively little strength in the one state that matters: Florida.

President Bill Clinton and his vice president, Al Gore, are up for reelection and after a bruising midterm two years prior, Democrats have moved decisively to the center. Republicans face a crisis of confidence and their candidate, Bob Dole chooses throwback Jack Kemp as his running mate to try and remind Republicans of their past, while Clinton and Gore look to the future.

The Cold War has ended and President George H.W. Bush and his vice president, Dan Quayle, are running for reelection in a tough economy. Republicans push Bush to drop Quayle from the ticket but he stays the course to take on Bill Clinton, who makes the unusual choice of naming neighboring southern Senator Al Gore as his running mate.

The Reagan years are coming to an end and his vice president, George H.W. Bush is running for president himself against Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis. Lars and Michael discuss Bush's pick of young Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate and Dukakis' selection of the more mature Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen in what proves to be a showdown over smarts, experience, and who knew Jack Kennedy.

Walter Mondale figures he needs a game changing vice presidential pick to have any chance against the Reagan-Bush reelection in 1984. Lars and Michael discuss how Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman on a major party presidential ticket, holds up as a running mate, and the long odds Mondale faced regardless of his vice presidential pick.

With Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale up for reelection, Lars and Michael discuss the foreign policy and economic crises that perpetuate a strong challenge from Ronald Reagan, who placates establishment Republicans by putting George H.W. Bush on the ticket.

Lars and Michael discuss the first post-Watergate presidential election and how Gerald Ford fails to excite or unite his party by picking Bob Dole as his running mate, while Jimmy Carter manages to capture optimism and credibility with Walter Mondale.

Lars and Michael discuss Richard Nixon's deliberation over whether or not to keep his vice president, Spiro Agnew, on the ticket and take a deep dive into the bleak prospects for the Democratic nominee George McGovern and his struggle to even find a running mate in the first place.