Editing Ticket balance (section)

==Ideological balance==
Ideological balance is achieved when a candidate chooses a running mate from a different ideological strain to provide more widespread appeal. For example, a liberal candidate might want to choose a moderate or even a conservative running mate rather than another liberal in order to appeal to a broader base of the electorate. When liberal Democrat [[Michael Dukakis]] ran for president in 1988 he chose [[Lloyd Bentsen]], a moderate, as his running mate, and the same applied in 2000 when [[Al Gore]] a liberal, chose [[Joe Lieberman]], a moderate Democrat. Similarly, [[John McCain]]'s choice of [[Sarah Palin]] as his running mate in 2008 allowed McCain, who many perceived as a moderate,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Ftemplates%2Fstory%2Fstory.php%3FstoryId%3D18664285 |title=NPR Cookie Consent and Choices |access-date=2018-06-08 |archive-date=2018-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141138/https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Ftemplates%2Fstory%2Fstory.php%3FstoryId%3D18664285 |url-status=live }}</ref> to appeal to more conservative sectors of the Republican Party. Another example was in 2020 when [[Joe Biden]], who was perceived as a moderate-liberal Democrat, selected [[Kamala Harris]], who was perceived as more liberal and progressive than Biden.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26010055 | title=Obama chooses Biden as running mate | website=[[NBC News]] | date=23 August 2008 }}</ref> A running mate may be chosen from a separate party to appeal to swing voters or voters of the other party, creating a [[unity ticket]].