Posted on 05/02/2005 1:31:49 PM PDT by GOPGuide
If memory serves, I think JFK & Harding were the only two senators elected to POTUS in the 20th century. Of course Nixon, LBJ & Truman were former senators who became VP then POTUS
VP is not an executive position, and only two sitting VPs have been elected to the presidency (three if you count John Adams, who was elected VP under pre-12th Amendment rules). VP is, post-12th Amendment, the elected POTUS' designated political heir. And accordingly the only two sitting VPs to win election were heirs of strong presidents - Andrew Jackson and Ronald W. Reagan.But POTUS is the ultimate executive position, and you want someone with a reputation as an executive and experience as a successful vote-geter as your nominee - which is why winning POTUS candidates tend to be former governors. And although Allen is a sitting senator, he is also a former Governor of Virginia.
Accordingly he is on my short list. The only other person on that list is the signally strong vote-getting Governor of Florida - who I am sure resents any implication that his name and lineage disqualify him from any position whatsoever.
Allen/Rice or Allen/Franks in 08
LOL
Woodrow Wilson has been the only flop of the bunch.
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