Can Pres. Clinton be Kerry's VP?

[minionofmidas]

I believe all tied candidates would be on the ballot.

[dunn]

I believe all tied candidates would be on the ballot.

I do so too

[Nym90]

But the Constitution explicitly says "not exceeding three", doesn't it?

Though for the Senate's choice of VP, it says "from the two highest numbers". So maybe there could be 3 choices for VP, but not 4 for President.

[minionofmidas]

Looking at the text again, I guess you're right. Two parties tied for second place would thus mean that House and Senate could each choose among three candidates.
But what if three parties tie for second place?
Say-
Rep 268
Dem 90
Green 90
Moore (ind) 90
Then they'd have to vote for Bush for president but would have four options for VP!?

[dunn]

Looking at the text again, I guess you're right. Two parties tied for second place would thus mean that House and Senate could each choose among three candidates.
But what if three parties tie for second place?
Say-
Rep 268
Dem 90
Green 90
Moore (ind) 90
Then they'd have to vote for Bush for president but would have four options for VP!?

good point.
and there could be (not today with 538 but in the 19th century) a situation with 4 candidated getting the same amount of ev
ie: 1872 with 352 electors could have gone 89 each. what's then?

[Nym90]

I guess the writers of Constitution and its Amendments considered such scenarios so far fetched as to be nearly impossible. Which they are, of course (especially with 2 parties being so dominant, what are the chances of a 4 way tie?). But, any well written legal document has to consider all possibilities, no matter how far fetched. One of the biggest problems with Florida in 2000 was that no one ever thought an election could be that close for it to matter if the voting methods were a little inaccurate or if the recount methods weren't clearly defined. Hopefully we have learned our lesson and will now cover all of our bases in advance.

[dunn]

when the constitution was written there was still no 2-party system

in 19 elections 1789-1860
8 times there were 4 or more ev winners
2 times three

so they didn't do that good work on that clause


 

[MAS117]

this is a very interseting topic... im not sure if he can be... someone should write there congressman lol

[Huckleberry Finn]

Kerry/Carter 2004?

[zachman]

I've changed my opinion on this issue. I haven't reread this thread, so if this has already been mentioned I'm sorry:
From Amendment 22
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.

As VP Clinton would not be elected to the office of President so I believe he would be elgible.

[Blerpiez]

The supreme court would propbably not rule in favor of Kerry/Clinton because they want to keep out Clinton

[mr_president]

Bill Clinton is now ineligible for the vice presidency. The vice president must be a person to whom can assume the presidency at any moment. Constitutionally, Clinton can’t even act as president any more and hence can't be vice president.

[zorkpolitics]

One should always have a copy fo the Constituion handy, a careful reading reveals that:
Yes Clinton can run as a VP, be elected as a VP, and even serve as President again.

Article II specifies who is eligible for the Office of the President:
You must be a natural born citizen,  be at least 35 yrs. old, and resided in the US for at least 14 yrs.  Amendment XII adds one more requirement: the Presidential and Vice President may not reside in the same state.  Clearly Clinton meets these requirements and is therefor eligible to serve as President.  Amendment XII also adds a limitation for the VP, no one constitutionally ineligible for the office of President may serve as Vice President, this means the VP must meet the same criteria above as the President, which Clinton would so he can serve as a VP

Amendment XXII puts limitations on who can be elected to the Presidency, but does not change who is eligible to be President.  The only limitation for election is that no Person can be elected to the Presidency more than twice.  Thus Clinton can not be elected to the Presidency again.  But this amendment places no limitation on the times once can serve as President.

In addition to running as Kerry's VP and eventually serving again as President, if Kerry left office, Clinton could also be appointed to the VP if that office became vacant and then ascend to the Presidency (like Ford), or Clinton could run for Congress, become Speaker, and then become President if both the President and VP left office.

[dunn]

exectly. Tell that to the guys in the other thread

[Gustaf]

One should always have a copy fo the Constituion handy, a careful reading reveals that:
Yes Clinton can run as a VP, be elected as a VP, and even serve as President again.

Article II specifies who is eligible for the Office of the President:
You must be a natural born citizen,  be at least 35 yrs. old, and resided in the US for at least 14 yrs.  Amendment XII adds one more requirement: the Presidential and Vice President may not reside in the same state.  Clearly Clinton meets these requirements and is therefor eligible to serve as President.  Amendment XII also adds a limitation for the VP, no one constitutionally ineligible for the office of President may serve as Vice President, this means the VP must meet the same criteria above as the President, which Clinton would so he can serve as a VP

Amendment XXII puts limitations on who can be elected to the Presidency, but does not change who is eligible to be President.  The only limitation for election is that no Person can be elected to the Presidency more than twice.  Thus Clinton can not be elected to the Presidency again.  But this amendment places no limitation on the times once can serve as President.

In addition to running as Kerry's VP and eventually serving again as President, if Kerry left office, Clinton could also be appointed to the VP if that office became vacant and then ascend to the Presidency (like Ford), or Clinton could run for Congress, become Speaker, and then become President if both the President and VP left office.

That's kind of a loophole, no? Someone popular could just run as VP time after time, and have the number one person resign directly after inauguration day. Someone who's really popular could almost certainly pull this off.

[muon2]

One should always have a copy fo the Constituion handy, a careful reading reveals that:
Yes Clinton can run as a VP, be elected as a VP, and even serve as President again.

Article II specifies who is eligible for the Office of the President:
You must be a natural born citizen,  be at least 35 yrs. old, and resided in the US for at least 14 yrs.  Amendment XII adds one more requirement: the Presidential and Vice President may not reside in the same state.  Clearly Clinton meets these requirements and is therefor eligible to serve as President.  Amendment XII also adds a limitation for the VP, no one constitutionally ineligible for the office of President may serve as Vice President, this means the VP must meet the same criteria above as the President, which Clinton would so he can serve as a VP

Amendment XXII puts limitations on who can be elected to the Presidency, but does not change who is eligible to be President.  The only limitation for election is that no Person can be elected to the Presidency more than twice.  Thus Clinton can not be elected to the Presidency again.  But this amendment places no limitation on the times once can serve as President.

In addition to running as Kerry's VP and eventually serving again as President, if Kerry left office, Clinton could also be appointed to the VP if that office became vacant and then ascend to the Presidency (like Ford), or Clinton could run for Congress, become Speaker, and then become President if both the President and VP left office.

That's kind of a loophole, no? Someone popular could just run as VP time after time, and have the number one person resign directly after inauguration day. Someone who's really popular could almost certainly pull this off.

And expect a backlash at the next election.

In the early 1970's Minnesota had a fantastically popular governor named Wendell Anderson. He won reelection overwhelmingly in 1974 and graced the cover of Time in fishing gear as a person to watch on the national stage. In 1976 Sen. Mondale became VP and completely by the book Anderson resigned the governorship and his successor, Lt. Gov. Perpich, appointed him to the open Senate seat.

Minnesotans were so taken aback by this that in 1978, Anderson could not even win the Democratic primary to hold the Senate seat. In a stunning turnaround, reliably Democratic Minnesota elected a Republican Governor (Quie) and two Republican Senators (Durenburger and Boschwitz). The second Seamte opening was due to the 1977 death of Hubert Humphrey and appointment of his wife Muriel to the open seat.

A politician must consider more than the merely lawful, but also what the public perceives is the proper path to a particular office.

[Gustaf]

One should always have a copy fo the Constituion handy, a careful reading reveals that:
Yes Clinton can run as a VP, be elected as a VP, and even serve as President again.

Article II specifies who is eligible for the Office of the President:
You must be a natural born citizen,  be at least 35 yrs. old, and resided in the US for at least 14 yrs.  Amendment XII adds one more requirement: the Presidential and Vice President may not reside in the same state.  Clearly Clinton meets these requirements and is therefor eligible to serve as President.  Amendment XII also adds a limitation for the VP, no one constitutionally ineligible for the office of President may serve as Vice President, this means the VP must meet the same criteria above as the President, which Clinton would so he can serve as a VP

Amendment XXII puts limitations on who can be elected to the Presidency, but does not change who is eligible to be President.  The only limitation for election is that no Person can be elected to the Presidency more than twice.  Thus Clinton can not be elected to the Presidency again.  But this amendment places no limitation on the times once can serve as President.

In addition to running as Kerry's VP and eventually serving again as President, if Kerry left office, Clinton could also be appointed to the VP if that office became vacant and then ascend to the Presidency (like Ford), or Clinton could run for Congress, become Speaker, and then become President if both the President and VP left office.

That's kind of a loophole, no? Someone popular could just run as VP time after time, and have the number one person resign directly after inauguration day. Someone who's really popular could almost certainly pull this off.

And expect a backlash at the next election.

In the early 1970's Minnesota had a fantastically popular governor named Wendell Anderson. He won reelection overwhelmingly in 1974 and graced the cover of Time in fishing gear as a person to watch on the national stage. In 1976 Sen. Mondale became VP and completely by the book Anderson resigned the governorship and his successor, Lt. Gov. Perpich, appointed him to the open Senate seat.

Minnesotans were so taken aback by this that in 1978, Anderson could not even win the Democratic primary to hold the Senate seat. In a stunning turnaround, reliably Democratic Minnesota elected a Republican Governor (Quie) and two Republican Senators (Durenburger and Boschwitz). The second Seamte opening was due to the 1977 death of Hubert Humphrey and appointment of his wife Muriel to the open seat.

A politician must consider more than the merely lawful, but also what the public perceives is the proper path to a particular office.

Yeah, maybe you're right. Though disillusionment with politicians is making this effect smaller and smaller I think. And also, that's why I said 'really popular'. But that is certainly the big risk, I agree with that.

[Rev. Matthew]

lets say during the middle of Clinton's second term he died. Gore becomes president for the remaining two years of Clinton's term. Gore runs for the first time and wins in 2000. So Gore is president for 6 years but only runs and wins 1 term of 4 years. Would he be able to run again in 2004  even if it meant he would end up being president for a total of 10 years?

[nclib]

Gore could only run if he would end up serving less than 10 years total.

[dunn]

If he became president after 1/20/1999 (midlle of thr term) he can

[Emsworth]

lets say during the middle of Clinton's second term he died. Gore becomes president for the remaining two years of Clinton's term. Gore runs for the first time and wins in 2000. So Gore is president for 6 years but only runs and wins 1 term of 4 years. Would he be able to run again in 2004  even if it meant he would end up being president for a total of 10 years?

Amdt XXII: "no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once."

[Demrepdan]

For the record, KDS (you have my initials!), a vice-president has to be eligible to serve as president, and since clinton served 2 terms, he is not eligible to be president.

We've been over this 1,000 times in other threads....and Dunn is right when he quotes that Amendent.

It says no one constitutional ineligble to serve as President shall serve as VP. HOW IS SERVING TWO TERMS AS PRESIDENT (and not being able to serve anymore) MAKE YOU INELIGBLE TO SERVE AS VP?!

You have MET all requirements....it says....."No one shall be ELECTED the office more than twice." Just think about it....

If it were to say "No one shall SERVE the office more than twice." Then yes......Clinton couldn't be elected VP....since Kerry may die...making HIM President....and that would be unconstitutional.

[Demrepdan]

And the courts couldn't do a damn thing about it...there's nothing Unconstitutional about it.

[Chiahead]

I don't want to even imagine more Clinton

[ShapeShifter]

What could be more fun then having Bill Clinton in a position with hardly any responsibility and lots of free time?

I would be scared if I was an intern if that was to happen.