The Influence of Individual Vice Presidential Candidates on Voter Behavior

Abstract

The vice presidential selection process is considered to be a significant decision for presidential nominees but not much is known about the effects this selection has on voters. This research focuses on presidential elections from 1968 to the most recent election of 2008 and is designed to answer the question, do feelings towards individual vice presidential candidates influence voters' decisions when voting in the general election? Throughout the past forty years, I find that the 1980, 1988, 2000, and 2008 presidential elections were all examples of elections in which one vice presidential candidate was a significant influence on voters while the same was not true for their counterpart. When treated as a combined variable in each of these elections, the vice presidents were both considered influential. Additionally, I graphically display the influence of individual candidates from the 1984, 1992, and 2008 elections to show the variability amongst influential candidates.