Bush-Baker 2000

George W Bush wanted a distinguished statesman-type as his running mate in 2000 to compensate for his own relative youth, so he picked his father's defense secretary Dick Cheney.

What if George Bush had picked James Baker as his running mate? He'd have experience from being Chief of Staff to two presidents, Secretary of State, and Secretary of the Treasury, and Undersecretary of Commerce. The only prospective downside is they're both from Texas, but Baker's been a national figure so long that I'm not sure that'd be much of an issue.
 

Deleted member 113134

Bush or any candidate would never pick a running mate from the state.
 
Bush or any candidate would never pick a running mate from the state.
And to add to that, while he had executive experience through appointments, he lacked the name recognition and electoral history to bring anything to the ticket (Cheney was at least a Representative from Wyoming).
 

Philip

Donor
The only prospective downside is they're both from Texas, but Baker's been a national figure so long that I'm not sure that'd be much of an issue.

He would have been 70 at the of inauguration. That may not be a deal-breaker given that he was still probably in better health than Cheney.
 
Well with Baker you'd lose Florida and therefore the Presidency, all things kept equal elsewhere. The Jewish vote would be hovering around 5% if Mr. "F*** the Jews, they don't vote for us" was on the ticket. And this might make fundraising from the neoconservative wing of the party more difficult for Bush, not to mention post election staffing.

Cheney was a credit to the ticket as he did well in the debates (both in 2000 and 2004) and didn't especially annoy anyone come election time.

I suppose Baker might help Bush do even better among rich people in the Houston area. Not that massive of a benefit in my view.
 
Bush or any candidate would never pick a running mate from the state.

Could never, more like. Bush/Baker wouldn't make it through the EC, as electors cannot vote for a POTUS and VP from the same state. The only way you could get them in those respective jobs at the same time would be to have Chaney (or whoever) resign and get Baker confirmed by Congress. Even then, he wouldn't be a viable running mate for Bush's '04 reelection campaign.
 
Top