rules change that would have required Ford to publicly announce his running mate before the presidential balloting. Reagan's managers hoped that when Ford announced his choice for vice president, it would anger one of the two factions of the party and thus help Reagan. Ford's supporters derisively described the proposed rules change as the "misery loves company" amendment. The proposed rules change was defeated by a vote of 1180 to 1069, and Ford gained the momentum he needed to win the presidential nomination. The balloting was still close, however, as Ford won with 1187 votes to 1070 votes for Reagan (and one for Elliot L. Richardson of Massachusetts). Conservatives succeeded in inserting several key planks into the party platform, some of which were implicitly critical of the President's own policies. Reagan and North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms successfully had a "moral foreign policy" plank inserted. In light of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the 1976 Republican platform became the first to advocate a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution, despite the fact the Roe v. Wade was a 7–2 decision, and 5 of the 7 (Burger, Stewart, Brennan, Blackmun, and Powell) had been appointed to the Supreme Court by Republican presidents. Balloting Presidential Vice Presidential Ford selected Kansas Senator Robert J. Dole as his running mate, as unelected incumbent Vice President Rockefeller had announced the previous fall that he would not be a candidate for a full term in 1976. After Ronald Reagan lost the presidential ballot to incumbent Gerald Ford, 103 of his delegates walked out of the convention, and the remainder decided to scatter their votes among 30 people. Bob Dole prevailed by an overwhelming margin. Bob Dole – 1,921 (85.04%) Jesse Helms – 103 (4.56%) Ronald Reagan – 27 (1.20%) Phil Crane – 23 (1.02%) John Grady – 19 (0.84%) Louis Frey – 9 (0.40%) Anne Armstrong – 6 (0.27%) Howard Baker – 6 (0.27%) William F. Buckley – 4 (0.18%) John B. Connally – 4 (0.18%) David C. Treen – 4 (0.18%) Alan Steelman – 3 (0.13%) Bob Bauman – 2 (0.09%) Bill Brock – 2 (0.09%) Paul Laxalt – 2 (0.09%) Elliot Richardson – 2 (0.09%) Richard Schweiker – 2 (0.09%) William E. Simon – 2 (0.09%) Jack Wellborn – 2 (0.09%) James Allen – 1 (0.04%) Ray Barnhardt – 1 (0.04%) George H. W. Bush – 1 (0.04%) Pete Domenici – 1 (0.04%)