Brendan Nyhan

Who would want to be Hillary’s VP?

According to CNN’s Candy Crowley, Joe Biden made an interesting point when asked if he would serve as Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential nominee (mp3 from CNN’s Race to ’08 podcast):

DICK ULIANO [CNN]: [W]ould [Biden] accept a vice presidential slot, say, on a Hillary Clinton ticket or Barack Obama?

CROWLEY: I believe the answer — the quote was absolutely not. But it was a definitive no from him. Interestingly, he said, when I asked him why not, he said Bill Clinton in the White House. Basically vice president would be a ceremonial job.

It makes perfect sense. Most vice presidents are irrelevant, so why would a prominent Democrat want to have even less power than a normal VP?