I disagree about the aspects of the VP being nothing but a title. VP is next in line should the President die, become incapacitated, or removed from office. VP is tasked with implementing many policy initiatives and negotiations behind the scenes. VP is President of the Senate and casts tie-breaking votes. VP has the President's ear in many cases on other matters. The VP is very important...perhaps not as much in the mundane day to day activities of the Executive Branch but certainly mission critical for continuity of government in case something happens to the President.

In my view, it is good to have a VP who has some skill sets that are different from or even better than the President...that way the President has good internal executive leadership and wise council on certain subjects in addition to his cabinet and advisors. So the test for the VP should be either equal to or pretty close (acceptable level) what we want in a President.

In football the backup QB should be ready and capable and leading the team when needed. In basketball, the backup point guard should be ready and capable of that role. In baseball, you need really good backup starters and relivers in the pitching rotation. Next up players gotta be able and ready to do their thing. And that is just sports which are actually non-important when compared to leading the country.