Blah blah blah,This is 2014 and politics doesn’t give a hoot about history in the least.It’s a nasty business and the wrong way to run a nation.
Here is why we pick the guy who is next.
First, experience is a good teacher and VP’s usually have a good look at how things work in DC and have a decent grasp of policy, issues, and foreign affairs.
Second, the runner up in a primary (or a VP or candidate for VP) has demonstrated the ability to get votes, has been vetted and no skeletons found, has had practice in debates, has a core group of volunteers and donors to get a head start on the next campaign.
This is why the next guy has huge advantages over the guy who is not next.
As an example, let’s look at Palin running for president in 2008 vs. Palin running in 2012. Palin in 2008 would have no name recognition, no volunteers, no donors, no debate experience, little knowledge of issues or of foreign policy and would not know how to run a campaign.
In 2012, as next in line, all the above problems would have been minimized or disappeared.
So, get used to it. The next candidate will be Santorum, Bush, Romney or Ryan.
They can all raise money, they have the experienced staffers, they will have volunteers from all 50 states, they know the issues, they have been vetted.