Immediately
upon the news that Paul Ryan had been selected, I quizzed folks here
and on social media whether we'd ever had a major presidential ticket
without a Protestant. There was a lot of pondering, particularly on
whether Quakers (Richard Nixon) are considered Protestants. The
National Journal apparently doesn't think so.
In
1928, New York Governor Al Smith, a Democrat, was the first Catholic to
sit atop a major party ticket, but his nomination was balanced by
Arkansas Sen. Joseph Taylor Robinson, a Protestant who was outspoken
against anti-Catholic bigotry. They lost in a landslide to Republican
Herbert Hoover. Since then, John Kennedy was the only non-Protestant to
ever win at the top of the ticket. Other than Romney, the only other
recent non-Protestants to head a presidential ticket were Sen. John
Kerry, D-Mass., in 2004 and another Massachusetts governor --1988
Democratic nominee Mike Dukakis is Greek Orthodox. Before Ryan's pick,
Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y. and current Vice President Joe Biden were
the only Catholic politicians ever selected for the number-two slot. Al
Gore picked Sen. Joe Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, as his running mate in
2000.
So far I've seen little grousing about this
from the teavangelicals, but give it time. And of course, the Tea Party
has long claimed that there are no Protestants on the Obama/Biden
ticket.
Reposted from Joe
Immediately
upon the news that Paul Ryan had been selected, I quizzed folks here
and on social media whether we'd ever had a major presidential ticket
without a Protestant. There was a lot of pondering, particularly on
whether Quakers (Richard Nixon) are considered Protestants. The National Journal apparently doesn't think so.
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