Larry J. Sabato:
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR MANIA – From “Fifth Wheel” to Powerhouse (July 30, 2009)
In the mid-nineteenth century, a delegate to a Virginia constitutional convention argued against the office of lieutenant governor, calling it, “the fifth wheel of a wagon, and much more useless.” Worse has been said about the vice presidency over the centuries. Franklin Roosevelt’s first VP, John Nance Garner, declared his position was not worth a pitcher of warm spit. He actually cited another bodily excretion, but the press of the day cleaned up the language.
Gradually, as lieutenant governors and vice presidents succeeded to governorships and the Oval Office–just this week Sean Parnell assumed the top job in Alaska after former Gov. Sarah Palin’s resignation–the occupants of the second-banana, Rodney Dangerfield posts finally began to get some respect.