Has there been a president that lost an election due to their running mate?

I really onlyi know about the most recent decades – I don’t know much about what happened in the early part of the 1900s or the 1800s. In recent decades, I feel (just my opinion) that Sarah Palin really hurt John McCain’s campaign. I remember when the announcement came out about who his running mate would be, it was like “who?” Most people had never heard of Sarah Palin from Alaska. Then I saw her speak at the Republican Convention on TV, and she did really well, made a good impression. I’m not a Republican but I did watch that part to hear what she had to say. Then, after that, it turned out she seemed not to have a brain in her head. She didn’t know much about much, couldn’t answer reporters’ questions, said she c ould see Russia from her porch – it was just stupid. John McCain was a POW and really was a great guy, but he chose badly when he chose her.

McCain – Sarah Palin

Humphrey – Eagleton (Eagleton had psychological issues and had some electric shock treatment which was used to smear him.)

George Wallace – Curtis LeMay. Wallace (the bigot) was going to lose anyway, but LeMay was an ex-airforce general (or higher) who was a complete warmonger. People were afraid of him.

First one I thought of was McCain.

I remember my aunt couldn’t believe Bush won with Quail as is running mate, but I guess the Republicans liked him enough.

Tina Fey single-handedly destroyed Palin.

At the time, my plan was to vote for McCain. His people convinced him that he needed Palin mainly because she would bring in the female vote. Boy was that a HUGE mistake!!! Within the first week or 2, my plans changed completely & he lost my support!!!

With Bush/Quail…the joke around town was that Bush chose Quail because he felt confident that nobody would be shooting at him because nobody wanted Quail to replace him.

@gondwanalon “Tina Fey single-handedly destroyed Palin.”

I’d say it was Katie Couric with her “goctcha” question:

”...what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this—to stay informed and to understand the world?” (source)

@gorillapaws I think that that interview gave the comedians inspiration for their relentless humor.

I agree with Sarah Palin.

Hillary Clinton didn’t do herself any favors by choosing white toast Tim Kaine.

McGovern/Eagleton suffered from the breaking news about Eagleton having electro shock therapy. He was then replaced with Sargent Shriver, but the damage was done, though I suspect McGovern would have lost regardless.

The above posts list some bad running mates, but honestly, did any of them LOSE the election for the top of the ticket? I doubt it.

Nobody was going to beat Obama. I could run LITERAL JESUS against Obama and he’d have lost. Obama was practically the perfect candidate. Palin wasn’t a good running mate, but she wasn’t the reason McCain lost.

I think VP candidates just don’t move the needle that much. They can hurt a bit or help a bit…but only so much. And most races aren’t really that close, and few swing voters are going to base their decisions on the VP. Like Adams said of the job: ”...the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.” And I think the voters mostly understand that.

At that time, I was on the fence between Obama and McCain. Sarah Palin tipped my vote to Obama.

MaCain / Palin

Agreed
Sarah Palin.