Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


 OPINION 
0

The Vice Presidency Must Go

Founding fathers created institution in very different context

Share

(Newser) – Few countries have vice presidents, and the US shouldn’t either, Bruce Ackerman writes in the LA Times. The founding fathers established the office as a consolation prize, the Yale law and political science professor explains, and it's morphed into a ticket-balancing slot. "This isn't a question on which the founders deserve any deference," he writes. "They designed their system for a very different political world."

McKinley's and Lincoln's VPs turned out to be the political opposites of their assassinated bosses. To take a more relevant example, "John McCain's surprising choice should lead us to think again,” Ackerman writes. "We should designate the secretary of state to be in charge until a special election can be held to replace a president."

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accompanied by his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speaks at a rally in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, Sept. 29, 2008.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accompanied by his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speaks at a rally in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, Sept. 29, 2008.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
"Sarah Palin is the product of a design flaw -- the unintended consequence of the founders' decision to create the vice presidency," Bruce Ackerman writes.   (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)
Vice President Dick Cheney ponders a reporter's question during a briefing at the White House in this June 29, 2001 file photo.
Vice President Dick Cheney ponders a reporter's question during a briefing at the White House in this June 29, 2001 file photo.   (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert, FILE)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., speaks at a rally in front of the Detroit Public Library in Detroit, Mich. Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., speaks at a rally in front of the Detroit Public Library in Detroit, Mich. Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Cheney and Bush are ideologically identical, but historically VPs can differ radically from their presidents, Bruce Ackerman writes.
Cheney and Bush are ideologically identical, but historically VPs can differ radically from their presidents, Bruce Ackerman writes.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

However the race turns out, we should recognize that the founders didn't have the slightest idea that the vice presidency would episodically explode in our face, and it's about time we fixed it. - Bruce Ackerman

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
11.19.09
Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

286 Stories

Richard Cohen

We Need an Institute to Study Sarah Palin

And George W. Bush should be the
one to build it

Nov 17, 09 12:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Dear George W. Bush: Instead of setting up some boring policy institute—there are already about 3,000 of them—why not spend your money on something important, like studying Sarah Palin. Set up the Institute for the Study of Sarah Palin, and “my check is in the mail,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • Richard Cohen • George W. Bush • Sarah Palin

Going Rogue: What Reviewers Are Saying 

Same old Sarah: 'ever optimistic, weirdly ungrammatical'

Nov 17, 09 11:22 AM CST
(Newser) - Most reviewers agree Sarah Palin's Going Rogue is intriguing—mostly for the swipes at the McCain campaign and what Palin writes about her life off the political stage. Some takes:
  • The book is "a crackling read of grudges recalled, and settled, in her favor, a rewriting of the
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • memoir • book reviews • Election 2008 • Sarah Palin • Going Rogue • Sarah Palin book review • Going Rogue review • Sarah Palin Going Rogue

Her friends, foes, frenemies

 A Guide to Going Rogue 

Find out who gets bloodied in Palin's book

Nov 17, 09 10:09 AM CST
(Newser) - It's the read all of Washington has been waiting for, but, alas, it has no index. Lest Sarah Palin's friends, foes, and frenemies be forced to read it all the way through to see how they made out, Politico's Jonathan Martin and Andy Barr offer a guide: Friends
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • Katie Couric • Joe Lieberman • memoir • McCain 2008 • Sarah Palin • Steve Schmidt • McCain-Palin • Politico • Going Rogue

286 Stories


A viewer's guide to tonight's debate
USA Today

Biden and Palin in their own words
Associated Press

A roundup of pundits' questions for tonight's combatants
New York Times


Opinion  •  Politics 
TwitterFollow @NewserOpinion on Twitter

 
John McCain • political reform • vice president • electoral reform • Sarah Palin • Office of the Vice President

from our news partners