Why on earth do this before you get the nomination?
If Ronald Reagan had not done that in ‘76 he likely would have been president instead of Carter.
Thank you. The Republican convention is AFTER the Dems, we need to wait and seee who they pick as their team, BEFORE we put our team on the field.
McCain said until he had the nomination, he wouldn’t be doing it.
The Schweiker pick did wrest a few delegates away from Ford — obviously not enough though. Now if Ford had picked Schweiker instead of Dole he might have had a chance...
Also Ford had informally promised the VP to a number of others so if he had been forced to name the choice before the Presidential ballot, then who knows what would have happened.
Reagan did it in ‘76 as a last ditch effort to win the nomination from Ford. It did not work.