I guess to refine my question, does the VP have the same influence, persuasion, and strongarm like the Speaker of the House? We always make fun of the VP, but have never thought about the overreaching influence in the Senate. It is a body where all 100 think they are President.
the Vice President of the United States is the president of the Senate. It is his only constitutional duty.
No, they pretty much just hang around in case the Pres. drops dead. Or, if they are Joe Biden, they are sent places the Pres. doesn’t want to go where they can screw up as little as possible. I think we can all see why they might want to keep Joe on a tight leash. LOL!
Substantivley, I think Dick Cheney played a pretty big role as an advisor while he was VP, but it varies from one adminstration to the next. Doesn’t seem to be any set agenda for V.P., but I would bet Palin would be one of the more involved and active ones ever. She would, for sure get her foreign policy creds.
I have heard that Newt definitely would have her, at the very least, heading up the Dept. of Energy.