I take it seriously. The VP SHOULD meet Coach Bryant's criteria for an assistant - "I don't need a coach who isn't smarter than I am."As an old geezer, I take the veep seriously.
In my lifetime LBJ and Ford assumed office, and Bush was within an inch because of the Reagan assassination attempt. Pense may be sitting pretty.
My parents saw 3: Truman, LBJ, and Ford.
My grandparents saw 3: T Roosevelt, Truman, and LBJ.
The previous generation saw A Johnson and T Roosevelt.
I agree who is chosen as the veep candidate makes very little difference as to who wins the election.
The pols basically want to fill in the blanks with "what state will I get that will help me win the election" or "how will I get votes I cannot get on my own?"
Bizarrely enough......at least one of the candidates in 2016 DID pick someone more qualified than he is. And one could plausibly argue that Hillary did as well.
TBF - most of the VP nominees we've chosen in the last 50 years HAVE been qualified to take over if tragedy occurred.
The only genuine exceptions were Agnew, Ferraro, Quayle, and Palin.