What makes the likelihood of a weak vice president particularly unfortunate is that there are good arguments that a strong veep is exactly what both potential presidents would need. Trump, so unschooled in the ways of Washington, would be in desperate need of a “prime minister” to help him with the business of governing. A President Hillary Clinton would benefit from talking to someone who’s outside her tight ring of insiders (including her husband) and could give her regular reality checks.
None of this means the there’ll be a shortage of veep wannabees. A number of Republicans, especially those without (or soon to be without) an official public role, have already signaled their availability: Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin. And it’s not hard to imagine that any number of Democrats would readily sign up, however challenging the job might be with Bill Clinton shuttling between East and West Wings.
Why? Because if you have any interest in being your party’s nominee for president, getting the veep nomination is a very good steppingstone. Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Bob Dole, Walter Mondale and Al Gore all followed that path.
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