The vice presidency of the United States has often been held by some of the more obscure and forgettable politicians in American history -- including the likes of George M. Dallas, Garrett Hobart and James Sunny Jim Sherman.
Even some of the men who held that office have recognized the pitfalls of being a heartbeat away from the presidency. Thomas Marshall, the Indiana politician who served as vice president under Woodrow Wilson, noted, Once there were two brothers: one ran away to sea, the other was elected vice president -- and nothing was ever heard from either of them again.
In recent decades, the vice presidency has grown in stature and the post has been filled by congressional leaders, former Cabinet secretaries and defeated presidential candidates. Still, as Mitt Romney, the de facto Republican presidential nominee, begins his search for a running mate, a new poll offers a reminder of how many Americans remain in the dark about some of the leading contenders for the position.
A national poll unveiled by Quinnipiac University on Thursday finds that some of the Republicans in the mix to end up on the ticket with Romney remain largely unknown with voters in general.
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey ranks as one of the more colorful politicians currently on the national stage -- but the poll finds that 49 percent of those surveyed have no opinion of him while 31 percent think he would make a good choice for Romney; 18 percent think he would make a poor running mate. Even with Republicans, Christie remains largely unknown. While 44 percent of the Republicans surveyed think Christie would make a good running mate for Romney, the same percentage did not know enough about the governor of the Garden State to have an opinion.
Despite those numbers, Christie is the best known of the seven vice presidential contenders that were included in the poll. Two other potential running mates for Romney are unknown to almost 60 percent of those polled.
Marco Rubio may have electrified conservatives and Republicans with his win over then-Gov. Charlie Crist in the 2010 U.S. Senate contest in Florida, but the poll finds that many voters do not know much about him. A majority of those surveyed -- 58 percent -- do not know enough about Rubio to say if he would make a good understudy for Romney, while 24 percent think he would be a good vice presidential candidate and 14 percent say he would be a bad one. Even 50 percent of the Republicans surveyed are not sure about Rubio, though 40 percent think he would make a good addition to the GOP ticket.
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan may have been in the headlines in recent months for leading the fight for the Republican budget proposal, but the poll finds he is also largely unknown. The poll shows 58 percent unsure about Ryan while 23 percent think he would make a good running mate for Romney and 17 percent a bad one. Ryan is also largely unknown to Republicans, with 54 percent not sure about him while 34 percent think he would make a good vice presidential candidate.
Other contenders to end up on the ticket with Romney are even more unknown.
Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana may have enjoyed a taste of the national limelight when he offered the Republican response to Barack Obamas State of the Union address in 2009, but he remains a mystery to most voters, with 64 percent of them -- and 58 percent of Republicans -- saying they are unsure if he would be a good addition to the ticket.
More than two-thirds of voters -- 68 percent -- are unsure if Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico would be a good running mate for Romney. The same percentage of Republicans say the same thing. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is in the same boat -- with 76 percent of those surveyed and the same percentage of Republicans unsure if he would make a good addition to the ticket.
The poll finds that U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio is the most unknown of the seven Republican vice presidential contenders included in the survey -- despite Portman coming from a large state, his tenure of 12 years in the U.S. House and his service as U.S. trade representative and director of the Office of Management and Budget under then-President George W. Bush. Almost four-fifths of those surveyed -- 79 percent -- do not know enough about Portman to have an opinion of him. Portman is better known to Republicans but only slightly, since 77 percent of them do not have an opinion of the senator from Ohio.
"Governor Christopher Christie evokes a 'no opinion' from half the electorate, with Ryan and Rubio even more so, said Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, on Thursday. Other potential running mates who did not rate as highly as the three leaders are quite unknown. At this point Christie, who recently said he would not rule out running with Romney, has an edge with the public, but the vice presidency goes to the winner of an election with one voter -- Mitt Romney."
The poll of 2,577 registered voters was taken April 11-17 and had a margin of error of +/- 1.9 percent.
While some recent vice presidential picks have included defeated presidential candidates like Joe Biden, John Edwards, Jack Kemp and George H.W. Bush, and former Cabinet officials like Kemp and Cheney, there have been largely unknown vice presidential picks as well like Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle and Geraldine Ferraro.
Still, history shows that even an obscure vice presidential pick can be important. Despite his tenure as one of the most powerful leaders in the Senates history, Lyndon B. Johnson was so unfamiliar during his tenure as vice president under John F. Kennedy that the show "Candid Camera" asked Americans who he was -- and nobody could give the correct answer. Johnson was still important to Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election, helping keep most of the South behind the Democrat ticket, and would rise to the presidency after JFKs assassination.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
