Not Ev Dirksen but Hugh Scott, who is Catholic, WWC roots and can lock up PA's 32 EV, plus help in the Rust Belt.
Scott is another East Coast liberal Republican. He doesn't provide the ideological or regional balance that Dirksen does. And if Rocky doesn't give the conservative wing of the GOP something he is very likely to provoke a nasty party split. (Especially if passions are running high after a contested nomination battle between Rocky and Goldwater.)
Plus Scott has only been in the Senate for a year by 1960, so he isn't exactly going to reassure people who are worried about Rockefeller's lack of experience. And given that the Catholic vote already leans heavily to the Democrats at this time, do you really think that having a Catholic veep candidate is going to help the GOP any when the Democrats are running a Catholic for president? Dirksen is of humble stock (the son of immigrant farmers), will also run strong in the Rust Belt, and locks down Illinois (27 EVs), and will also help with farmers and the right wing of the party without alienating moderates or black voters.
Goldwater and Rocky is impossible for the same reason as the media's '68 GOP "dream ticket" of Rocky-Reagan: oil and water personally and ideologically.
I agree it's a very unlikely pairing, I just said it was the most logical one from a party unity standpoint. Rocky needs to mollify the conservative wing of the party if he wants any chance of winning the election; which means either a conservative platform (which Rocky won't want) or a conservative Vice President. And it's not exactly unprecedented in American politics for a presidential ticket where the President and Vice President are at odds.
If Rocky picks Scott or some other liberal Republican it will kill all conservative support for the ticket. I don't see Goldwater making his "Grow up, conservatives" speech for such a ticket either. And while I can't imagine Goldwater ever running as a third party candidate, conservative Republicans will very likely stay home or support a fiscally conservative Dixiecrat candidate, if Rocky doesn't give them some skin in the game.
JFK does not win without LBJ on the ticket, period. His selection had little to do with Dixiecrats, who didn't want LBJ pairing up with a Catholic Yankee who was by far his political junior and pro-civil rights.
Afraid you lost me there. How exactly was LBJ essential to JFK's election if not by keeping the South (somewhat) onboard?