It was a great shame that Stockdale became an object of such ridicule considering he was one of the greatest war heroes to run for Prez/VP (as was George McGovern). It is true that he had no business being in the debate, however.
Ironic that as of late, our acclaimed war hero candidates (McGovern, McCain, Dole, Stockdale, Kerry, etc.) don't make much traction come Election Day and (except for McGovern) lose to the antiwar/"draft dodger" candidate...
Kerry is a bit mixed since he was wayyy to weak in defending his record against the swiftboaters while on the meantime he couldn't do much against Bush when he surged in the polls after the Osama tape released just before the 2004 election.
Stockdale sadly was pretty much ridiculed actually for the right reasons since he was chosen by the Perot and never wanted to be VP and had only a week to prepare before the VP debate.
There was also Al Gore who went to Vietnam (yes he was a Stars and Stripes reporter there, but as anyone who watched Full Metal Jacket knows, the reporters are assigned to their position, they don't get to choose to be one, they are often sent to the frontline (such as one existed in Vietnam) and they carry the same weapons as the assigned soldiers) who 'lost' to George W Bush a de facto draft dodger.
Admiral Stockdale was never meant to be anything more than a placeholder name to be replaced once Perot succeeded in getting his first choice for Vice President on the ticket (I believe he wanted Marcy Kaptur) but first Kaptur turned him down and then Perot dropped out and by the time he reentered the race it was too late to replace Stockdale on the ballot.
