I’m changing my vote.
Rufus T. Firefly.
Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Oh! Oh! What about Senator Tankerbell?
Zaphod Beeblebrox
“If there’s anything more important than my ego, I want it caught and shot now.”
“I’m so hip I have trouble seeing past my pelvis.”
[nitpick]
The US Constitution does not require that candidates for President and Vice-President be from different states, as I think you’re implying (in “Mr Smith Goes to Washington” both Smith and Paine are from Montana).
From the US Constitution Online FAQ:
Smith and Paine would risk giving up Montana’s 3 electoral votes if they ran on the same ticket, but since the election is fictional I think we’re allowed to give them a landslide in other states. Cheney “moved” to Wyoming because GWB knew he couldn’t win without the electoral votes from Texas in 2000.
In any case, that’s all about electing Presidents. Paine could take the “Gerald Ford” route to VP in our fictional world. Just like Bill Clinton could theoretically take the “Gerald Ford” route to the Presidency in the future, although he’d undoubtedly be challenged.
A much greater problem is getting non-“natural born” US citizens like Holmes and Watson into the White House — that would take a Constitutional Amendment, or at least an additional backstory involving their parents having US citizenship (plus other residential requirements).
[/nitpick]
Samuel Vimes. He’d probably be coaxed into it by Vetinari, that would remain around as a advisor/grey eminence.