A presidential candidate can choose a vice president from the opposite party, but it is unlikely due to party unity and succession concerns. A mixed ticket could cause issues with party control and the line of succession. It was more common in the past, but rare now. It could work if both candidates were moderates, but it is seen as a risky experiment.
From a constitutional point of view, nothing would prevent a presidential candidate of one party from choosing a vice president of the opposite party. A vice presidential candidate must meet the age, residency, and nationality requirements of a president, and cannot legally reside in the same state as the president. There is nothing that would disqualify a Republican presidential candidate from choosing a Democratic candidate or vice versa.
The political reality, however, is that both the Democratic and Republican parties prefer to manage party tickets directly for the sake of unity and succession. A party’s presidential candidate often looks for a vice presidential candidate who “balances” the country’s demographics. This balancing act may include a conservative/liberal aspect, but to date has not included a Democratic/Republican element. Each political party seeks control and influence over Congress and the eventual nomination process for a new Supreme Court justice. A mixed presidential ticket might not send a definite message of partisan control, as each party would have a highly influential leader heading the executive branch.
Another reason a mixed presidential ticket could prove problematic is the line of succession. If a Democratic president were to die in office, a number of party loyalists could feel disenfranchised if a Republican is allowed to take office without an election. However moderate a running mate of the opposing party may be, he would still be seen by many as a registered member of that party. Some social programs or economic stimulus packages approved by a former president may not survive under the new president’s leadership.
Originally, the president and vice president did not run together as part of a combined ticket. Prior to 1804, when the 12th Amendment was ratified, the presidential candidate with the second most votes from the electoral college became vice president. John Adams, a Federalist, was running mate for Thomas Jefferson, a Democrat-Republican. Even after this, some candidates ran with fellow runners from other parties; for his second term, Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, selected Democrat Andrew Johnson as his running mate. However, the practice of a mixed ticket is very rare.
In modern politics, a mixed presidential ticket could survive voter scrutiny if both candidates were seen as moderates in their respective parties. In previous elections there was talk of a moderate Republican being approached by a moderate to liberal Democratic presidential candidate, but to date, nothing has moved beyond the discussion stage. While a mixed presidential ticket might be seen by the voting public as a sincere effort to bridge the gap between political parties, it might also be seen by party loyalists on both sides as a failure to produce a satisfactory same-party ticket or as little more than a noble but risky political experiment.
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