What should voters look for into a Vice President?

JOSEPH LEWIS / ELECTION 2020: 

Hello!  It is a big day for Vice President Mike Pence and California Senator Kamala Harris as they will face off each other in their first and only vice president debate.

What is so important for having a Vice President?  The Vice President is probably best known as being “a heartbeat away from the presidency”, meaning that if a sitting President dies or is impeached, the Vice President takes over.

As the President of the Senate, the Vice President votes on legislation or other motions only when Senators are deadlocked 50-50. 

The only other formally recognized duty of the Vice President is to preside over and certify the tally of electoral college votes after a Presidential election has taken place.  The Vice President role also brings with it many visible, informal responsibilities, such as making public appearances representing the President, performing ceremonial duties in place of the President, acting as an adviser to the President, and meeting with leaders of other countries.

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For both Trump and Biden, the single biggest asset that a Vice President can bring to the table is that he or she can influence voters’ opinions of the presidential candidate and whether they are likely to vote for either Trump or Biden.

Data from 2016 shows that Vice President Pence did not increase Donald Trump’s support among evangelical Christians, conservatives or Midwesterners.  

For Biden, Senator Harris probably will not win Biden additional votes among women. This is because data also shows that neither of the two previous female running mates — Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 or Republican Sarah Palin in 2008 — steered more female voters to their respective ticket.

Of course, we can only speculate about Harris’s likely effect on Black voters, because no major party ever has nominated a Black vice-presidential candidate.

That’s all for now.   I will see you next time.