Explainer: Who are 'running mates' in US Presidential elections; what is their role?

Former President Donald Trump has chosen 39-year-old Senator JD Vance of Ohio, a millennial, as his running mate. A fierce critic turned loyal ally, Vance, who rose to fame with his 2016 memoir 'Hillybilly Elegy', was elected to the United States Senate in 2022 and has now become one of the staunchest champions of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.

So, who is a running mate in American elections, and what is his or her role?

Who is known as a running mate?

In an election campaign, a candidate’s running mate is the person the former selects to help him or her in the election. If the candidate wins, the running mate  becomes the second-most important person after the winner.

In the USA, which goes to the polls in November, Americans will vote for their preferred presidential candidate and the person’s running mate as a team. The running mate will then automatically become the vice-president.

Under the current system, the presidential candidate for each of the two major parties, the Democratic and the Republican party, chooses a vice-presidential running mate. In short, the running mate is simply the vice-presidential candidate. 

Do other countries also have running mates?

Yes, countries like Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, Indonesia and Palau, have running mates for the presidential candidates, who automatically become vice-presidents.

How are running mates chosen?

In the US, from the late 1960s, the principal presidential candidate would announce their preferred choice of running mate at their political party's national convention. 

Presidential candidates pick their own running mates who then get officially nominated at their party’s convention.

What is the process?

It's an exhaustive process and for a reason. Candidates usually narrow down their choice from a long list of candidates after rounds of interviews and background checks.

Their tax records, personal relationships, medical records are checked, and interviews are also done with the people who have worked with the candidates and with their family members so as to avoid any nasty surprises and skeletons tumbling out. According to a 2012 NPR news report, when 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern was pitted against against Richard Nixon, he named Thomas Eagleton as running mate. Soon after, McGovern’s office began getting anonymous reports suggesting that Eagleton had a “complicated medical background”.

Further investigation by the office into the matter revealed that Eagleton had also been hospitalised for depression and subsequent treatment. And, he had to withdraw from the race.

What's the role of a running mate, on what basis are they chosen?

Running mates help the president to win the election. They have to help drive the message of the President’s campaign forward and not hurt their candidacy, and help them govern, if elected. 

They also have to help with so-called ticket-balancing and broaden the election campaign's appeal.

For example, Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine in the 2016 presidential campaign was supposed to help the Democratic ticket appeal to Latino voters because he spoke fluent Spanish. He was also meant to help her win votes in his home state of Virginia. Donald Trump’s earlier running mate Mike Pence was meant to serve as an emissary to Midwestern and Conservatives.

In essence, running mates should compensate for weaknesses in image or policy. Though, Trump has picked a white conservative like himself this time he  said about his running mate choice, Vance: “He will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.”

Several of those Midwestern states are expected to play a critical role in November’s election.

Who are the well-known examples of running mates?

When John F Kennedy ran for president, his running mate was Lyndon Johnson, who later went on to become US president.

Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate and VP, while Barack Obama, a first-term senator at the time, chose Biden, who had been in the Senate for 35 years.

What is the vice-president's role?

It helps if they are good “attack dogs” who can effectively rebuke opponents.

The vice-president once elected has a “very limited set of responsibilities” according to the US Constitution.

The big deal will be when the VP takes over from the president if something dramatic happens – a death, resignation or even in case of temporary incapacity.

The vice-president also casts the tie-breaking vote in the Senate – something that Harris did regularly in the first two years of Biden’s presidency, when there was a 50-50 split between Republicans and Democrats in the chamber.

Vice-presidents also act as presidential advisers and have some role in foreign policy like meeting foreign heads of states or doing diplomatic missions, attending funerals and the like. 

How significant is the post of an American vice-president?

Dick Cheney, especially during George W Bush’s first term, played a significant role, while Mike Pence, Trump’s former VP was low-profile.

According to America's first vice president, John Adams, the post is “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.”

Lyndon Johnson, who served for nearly three years as John Kennedy’s vice president, said of his tenure: “I detested every minute of it”.

Gerald Ford, who briefly served as Richard Nixon’s vice president, reportedly described it as “the worst eight months of [my] life, while John McCain had once said, “The vice-president has two duties: “One is to enquire daily as to the health of the president, and the other is to attend the funerals of third world dictators. And neither of those do I find an enjoyable exercise."

Many expert feel that the significance of the vice-president depends on the president and how he uses him or her.