Tom Angleberger

The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?

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• And the answers just keep on coming
• Help me answer readers' questions

Q: How is the candidate for president chosen by a political party if, after being nominated at the convention, and prior to the election in November, the original candidate becomes unsuitable? For instance the original candidate might become gravely ill or commit a felony.

-- Susan Adams, Roanoke

A: Before you read my answer, see if you can remember a time when something very similar to this happened. I'll give you two hints. It was a vice-presidential candidate who was replaced and it happened between World War II and the present.

I didn't have the foggiest idea on this question, of course. So I turned to Charles Walcott, a political science professor at Virginia Tech and the co-editor of "Congress and the Presidency," a biannual scholarly journal about doings in Washington, D.C.

Walcott told me that in a case such as you described, the national committee of whichever party involved would select a replacement. One can hardly imagine the amount of media frenzy, public tears and backroom negotiating that would go into such a decision today.

But when the Democratic National Committee had to find a new vice-presidential candidate in 1972, the hardest part may have been finding anyone to say yes.

"The Democrats nominated Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as George McGovern's running mate," Walcott said. "It was soon revealed that Eagleton had earlier undergone electric shock treatment for nervous exhaustion. In those days, that seemed to many like a disqualifying circumstance. After a relatively brief media flap that included phony charges of drunkenness and an unfortunate promise by McGovern to stand by Eagleton '1,000 percent,' Eagleton was compelled to withdraw."

According to a 1972 Washington Post article, McGovern then turned to Ted Kennedy, who had refused the VP slot before the election. He again refused. As did Hubert Humphrey, Edmund Muskie and others.

Here's another chance to test your knowledge. Who did the Democrats finally select to replace Eagleton on the doomed McGovern ticket? The answer appears at the end of this column.

Q: I live at Friendship Manor. We have garden plots here, but have awful trouble with deer. Does anyone have plans to cull these deer?

-- James Warren, Roanoke

A: Ah, spring! The season when the gardener's heart fills with blood lust.

It's not just that the deer are long-legged pigs. It's that they will walk over acres of perfectly good grass to get to your garden. Then they'll munch and munch and munch.

And when you find those terrible stripped stalks the next morning, you're ready to open fire -- or at least to have duly appointed public servants open fire.

Roanoke has done so before, removing hundreds of deer from the local population with the help of retired police officers and federal sharpshooters. But the city won't be doing so this year. Nor will Roanoke County.

"There is no money allotted for deer culling in the city's current budget [fiscal year 2007-2008]," Roanoke government spokeswoman Melinda Mayo said in an e-mail. "However, city council has asked that city staff consider including funding for deer culling in the fiscal year 2008-2009 budget."

Without help from the government, you may need to fall back on folk wisdom. I'm sure you've heard of anti-deer tactics such as placing dog hair around your garden or tacking up pie pans. I've tried some of these things myself. Does anyone out there have a deer-proofing method that really, truly works?

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Spring is also time for my next Ask the Readers segment. So, if you've got one of those questions that can only be answered by the combined knowledge of 100,000 of your neighbors, send it in now.

I've got some good stuff lined up already, so don't miss out. Send your questions about local history, hard-to-find merchandise, beloved recipes, mysterious smells or anything else.

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Answer on the 1972 ticket: McGovern's second running mate was Sargent Shriver.

If you've got questions, answers or anything else on your mind, send them in to tomangleberger@yahoo.com or leave them on my voice mail at 777-6476 (please be sure to speak clearly and spell your name). I'll need your name, location and phone number or e-mail address.

Folks, don't make me get snippy: make sure your name and location are clear.

Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Mondays.