AHC: Two non-Protestants on US Presidential ticket

Get to it ladies and gentlemen, although a) I'm honestly not sure what year would be best though obviously post-JFK without a big POD, b) there's a dearth of Presidential candidates that aren't Protestant.

(My theories revolve around a Catholic and I dunno... Buddhist maybe? Or perhaps one of the Native American beliefs?)
 
Some say Mormons aren't Protestant. Some say Obama is a closet atheist. So 2012 OTL of one agrees with either of those views, since Biden and Ryan are Catholic.

I could very easily see a Catholic-Catholic ticket starting in the '90s though. Jerry Brown / Mario Cuomo for example. Gingrich / Ryan.
 
Well, OTL you have the 2012 Republican ticket of Mitt Romney (Mormon) and Paul Ryan (Catholic).

I think the earliest time would be the 1990s
 
Some say Mormons aren't Protestant. Some say Obama is a closet atheist. So 2012 OTL of one agrees with either of those views, since Biden and Ryan are Catholic.
Some say Obama's a closet Muslim, so I don't place much credence in rumors claiming the President is lying about being Christian.
 
Some say Obama's a closet Muslim, so I don't place much credence in rumors claiming the President is lying about being Christian.

I mean just multiply the amount of college educated people skeptical of religion by their rate in Congress, then add further disillusionment by having them constantly manipulate religious beliefs for political ends. It's a taboo subject, but a few dozen congressmen—from both parties—are closet atheists according to people I worked with on the Hill. Obama was supposedly one of them. Nobody wants to dox their colleagues because it won't stop—hell, I heard that Karl Rove is an atheist.
 
Some say Mormons aren't Protestant. Some say Obama is a closet atheist. So 2012 OTL of one agrees with either of those views, since Biden and Ryan are Catholic.

I'll accept Mormons as non-Protestants because of the way they're viewed by the rest of the US sure, Obama being a secret atheist is unprovable so I'd say no, lol :), despite agreeing with your broader point of politicians pretending to be religious because well, America.

Well, OTL you have the 2012 Republican ticket of Mitt Romney (Mormon) and Paul Ryan (Catholic).

You're right, my bad on not being clearer :). Let's say earliest/most plausible before then.

I think the earliest time would be the 1990s
I could very easily see a Catholic-Catholic ticket starting in the '90s though. Jerry Brown / Mario Cuomo for example. Gingrich / Ryan.

I doubt Cuomo would take VP under anybody (he specifically told Clinton to rule him out IOTL), but sure double Catholics in the 1990s seems the most likely. But let's flex our collective US political knowledge. Perhaps Ben Nighthorse Campbell works re: my Native American thought bubble if he adopts his father's religion instead of his mother's?
 
Another option: Joe Lieberman was on the Democratic ticket in 2000 and he is Jewish. Getting a Jew on the bottom half of a Catholic ticket wouldn't be impossible, especially if it added geographic diversity. Such as a Bill Richardson/Chuck Schumer ticket in some really strange alt-2008.
 
I could very easily see a Catholic-Catholic ticket starting in the '90s though. Jerry Brown / Mario Cuomo for example. Gingrich / Ryan.


Back in the 1970s I heard a ticket suggested (probably tongue in cheek) of Edward Kennedy and Senator Harold Hughes of Iowa. Besides both being RCs, Hughes was also a reformed alcoholic, and their campaign slogan was to be "You drink, I'll drive".
 
Another option: Joe Lieberman was on the Democratic ticket in 2000 and he is Jewish. Getting a Jew on the bottom half of a Catholic ticket wouldn't be impossible, especially if it added geographic diversity. Such as a Bill Richardson/Chuck Schumer ticket in some really strange alt-2008.

A Jewish-Catholic joint ticket seems plausible with the Democrats. If you'd mix 2000 and 2004, you could make it John Kerry/Joe Lieberman.
 
You could get one as far back as 1988. Have Jerry Brown run for the Democratic nomination and end up either at the top of the ticket or selected as VP alongside Michael Dukakis. Jerry Brown is a practising Buddhist, while Dukakis is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.
 
You could get one as far back as 1988. Have Jerry Brown run for the Democratic nomination and end up either at the top of the ticket or selected as VP alongside Michael Dukakis. Jerry Brown is a practising Buddhist, while Dukakis is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Brown has studied Buddhism, but he's Catholic. But yeah, there are a few Orthodox Christians who might have a shot. In terms of Mormons, Mo Udall had a decent shot at the Democratic nomination in 1976. Maybe he chooses Ted Kennedy as a running mate? Or you could have Kennedy in 1980 tapping Udall.
 
In 2016 if we wanted to have an all non-Protestant ticket on both sides then we simply need to have a pairing like this:

Biden/Sanders vs. Rubio/Cao
 
I can imagine a situation where Lieberman wins the nomination in 2004 with Kerry pulling out a strong and close second and being tapped as VP.

Also, Joe Biden is not a completely outside-the-box VP for Dukakis in 1988. Yes, that's an unbalanced Northeastern ticket. But give him a stronger showing- no plagiarism scandal or embolism- and perhaps Dukakis might have to deal with him. Or vice versa?
 
I can imagine a situation where Lieberman wins the nomination in 2004 with Kerry pulling out a strong and close second and being tapped as VP.

Also, Joe Biden is not a completely outside-the-box VP for Dukakis in 1988. Yes, that's an unbalanced Northeastern ticket. But give him a stronger showing- no plagiarism scandal or embolism- and perhaps Dukakis might have to deal with him. Or vice versa?
Bruce Babbit is a Catholic. What about Biden/Babbit or Dukakis/Babbit?
 
What about Ed Rendell (Democrat, Jewish, well-liked governor of Pennsylvania) versus Mitt Romney in 2012 ?
You'd have to change 2008 so either a Republican or a one-term Democrat wins.
 
Bruce Babbit is a Catholic. What about Biden/Babbit or Dukakis/Babbit?

Yeah, if you could alter the 1988 electorate to get a DLC nominee in, that could work. He's a bit "tainted" by association with Carter, but not that much.

I think demographically, the US would be ready to tolerate it by the 1980s.
 
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