Researchers say it’s pos­si­ble a Repub­li­can Pres­i­dent Mitt Rom­ney and Demo­c­rat Vice Pres­i­dent Joe Biden could serve in the White House, but it’s improb­a­ble. Polit­i­cal Sci­ence Pro­fes­sors Michael V. Hasel­swerdt, a Demo­c­rat, and Kevin R. Hard­wick, a Repub­li­can, said the odds of hav­ing a pres­i­dent and vice pres­i­dent of oppo­site par­ties serv­ing at the same time are slim, but much greater this elec­tion year. With the elec­tion here, the pres­i­den­tial can­di­dates could split the elec­toral votes evenly at 269–269 – 270 elec­toral votes are required to elect the pres­i­dent. “If that hap­pens, the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives, which I believe will retain the Repub­li­can major­ity, would decide the pres­i­dent,” Hard­wick said. “The Sen­ate, which should retain the Demo­c­ra­tic major­ity, would decide the vice pres­i­dent. That means that Joe Biden would be vice pres­i­dent for the next four years under Pres­i­dent Mitt Rom­ney. We would have the ‘Odd Cou­ple’ on steroids.” The House has decided the pres­i­dent three times in his­tory. In 1800 it broke an elec­toral tie between Thomas Jef­fer­son and Aaron Burr, and Jef­fer­son won.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (ver­sion 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Down­load the lat­est ver­sion here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.