You're forgetting that Ford ran in 1976 as the incumbent President, not an "8-year VP." And in both of the cases in the last 50 years where an "8-year VP" was pretty much automatically given the nomination, it was for the election where they ran for President while serving as the sitting VP.
That would have applied to Biden in 2016, but this is four years later. If anything, a rational voter would certainly ask himself: If this guy was presidential material, then why didn't he run in 2016 before he began losing his dentures and babbling like a senile idiot?
What is wrong with you and Zephyr?