Tony had him as a successor, he was potentially the Underboss, he was well liked by the families Capo's and the Soldier's so if Tony had been indicted would Bobby have been good in the big chair?

No way. Janice would have fucked that up right away. Plus wasn't vito's kid wearing black lipstick his problem too

First and foremost,I don't think Bobby would want the job. He had a decent life,no aggravation,and was happy to stay put. Having said that,I don't see Bobby as holding on to the top spot if he were to get it. No question he was loyal and a good earner,a good husband and father,and one of the most mentally stable guys in the Family,but not Boss material.
Bobby had a soft side,and was a decent human being,and these things,while admirable in our world,are considered birth defects in the OC world. I know that Bobby did commit some violent acts,but I feel that it was only because of orders,and if it were up to him,he wouldn't have.
Bottom line,I think that he would have been perceived as weak both inside and outside the Family. New York would give him the illusion of respect,but would have him dancing on puppet strings,and his own guys would probably get away with chiseling him on their kick-ups way more than they would have under Tony.
Good earner,great guy,bad Boss.

Bobby was too reserved and shy to be a boss even though hi did have exposure to real mob guys in his earlier life

It seems like Bobby went from a complete moron in the first several seasons to a pretty decent mobster. Still seemed too weak and not smart enough to be a decent boss.

Did Bobby really have a reputation as being a good earner? Not sure about the accuracy of Wiki, but here is what was written about him....

"Tony had recently stepped up his expectations of Bobby, whom he felt was taking their brother-in-law relationship as an excuse not to earn at a competitive level, compared to other members of the family. Bobby rose to the occasion by supplementing his income with $7000 he received for shooting a rapper he met at the hospital, while Tony was in the ICU, in order to raise the rapper's profile."

In addition, in one scene at the doctor's office, Junior was complaining to Tony to get additional funds to pay for his high priced lawyer. Tony advised Junior to get his shy in order if he wanted to make more money. I think Bobby may have been in charge of running that for Junior, and if so, he wasn't doing a very good job.

I don't know if bobby was ever stupid, in the early season's he was always very quiet and deferential to his superiors (tony, junior). He actually seemed pretty savvy in how he acted in the life having grown up in it with his dad.

I think bobby would have been a smarter boss than he let on, but I don't think he would have ever been fierce enough to command the respect of the heavy hitters. Bobby had a sensitive side and we saw how those guys reacted to johnny sac crying at his daughter's wedding. I don't think guys like paulie would have listened to bobby

the one thing that really bothered me about bobby was the hit his dad did to the guy who messed up vito spatafore's brother. Bobby's all messed up about his sick dad having to do the hit but his dad has to do it because he's the only guy that can get close to the kid.
Why doesn't bobby just go with? His dad is sick and bobby is his son, it's reasonable that bobby would go with him to see his godson. I thought it was ridiculous that the show made it an either or plot and made a big issue out of something that seemed really simple to resolve. Bobby goes with his dad and everyone is happy.

In my opinion Bobby would have become a good boss. He showed that he was able to go toe to toe with Tony and handle himself, although we would have to take into account Tony was a little drunk. He also showed he was able to get his hands dirty with the hit that he was tasked with carrying out. Bobby also spent a lot of time around Uncle Junior and would have picked up a few things from him as well as his father who was a well established hit-man for the DiMeo family back in his day. Bobby is also a like-able guy and towards the end of the series his ruthless side begins to develop a lot. Overall Bobby would have been able to transition well into the role of boss.

I agree, Bobby would have made a good boss. Tony always talked about how whacking guys could hurt the family and how he wanted to run the family as a business but he was always the first to lose his temper and violate his or LCN rules. It's what made Tony a great CHARACTER but not that great a boss. I think back to when Tony called Chris to the bakery parking lot at night to tell Chris that he would be giving orders through him and Silvio. Tony spoke of bringing the family into the 21st Century to which Chris replied "we're already in the 21st Century". To me that summed up Tony's management style - two steps forward one step back.
I think Bobby would have really brought about changes that would help to reduce the familys presence on FBI radar and he would have been less focused on petty BS and more on the bottom line. Bobby wasn't scared to use violence but I think he knew it should be reserved as a last resort. When it was confirmed that Vito was gay it was Bobby who was hesitant about taking any permanent action suggesting that he be banned from the "social club". Also Bobby never got involved with a goomar which left him more clear headed than Tony. The other thing that impressed me about Bobby was his patience. He'd put up with Uncle Junior and Tony with all their snide remarks - it might have pissed him off and he'd mutter something under his breath but he knew how to pick his battles. Finally, Bobby would have been a tough competitor against New York and Phil knew that hence ordering the hit on him instead of Paulie.
"I suppose. Who the fuck really knows? Still, it's nice to think that"

Bobby was very patient. Uncle Jun was pretty out of it by the time Bobby became his caretaker so I'm not sure how much info he would have been able to pass along to Bobby, the most unfortunate thing that happened to Bobby was he lost his wife. I think if he had his wife and his kids to support he would have been a more hardcore earner. It almost seems like he was humbled after his wife's death. Janice actually seemed to get in the way and held back Bobby's progress, made him stay home, not take care of his uncle, and caused problems/tensions between he and Tony, so I don't think Bobby would have been a good boss. Paulie would have been decent if he wasn't so obsessed about his mom not really being his real mother and actually his aunt, that seemed to make him an even bigger psycho

surprised to see so many of you think bobby would be a good boss. he was hardly respected in NJ and barely even recognized in NY. people would be shorting him all day long and idk if he would be iron-fisted enough to deal with it without losing the spot eventually.

One way to look at it... maybe the people that think Bobby would be a good boss are thinking that if he was the boss organized crime wouldn't exist, because unless I'm just forgetting, can anyone remind me of any scenes in any of the season's or episodes that showed Bobby doing anything that would make him serve serious prison time?? (Murder/hits/huge scores???)

I don't see the cops going crazy about him shooting the gangster rapper in the leg... a lot of the cops/feds/ prob secretly wanted bobby to whack the negro and wouldn't care if he robbed him in the process

No, Bobby was not strong enough to hold that title if he got it, unless he made a deal with the New York crime families, to be a puppet boss.

That's a good point and maybe this should be another thread but I think in many ways Tony was a "puppet boss". On more than one occasion the Soprano Family was referred to as a "glorified crew" especially by Carmine Sr. and Phil. It seems to me that without the protection of the Lupertazzi Family the Sopranos would have been targets for the other four New York Families. The series doesn't go into great detail about how the Sopranos worked with any other New York factions (probably to keep things simple) so it seems that the Sopranos were the New Jersey arm of the Lupertazzis and were off limits to any hostile takeovers by the other four Families.
When Johnny Sac contracted Tony to whack Carmine Sr. it was mentioned that a relative of Johnnys (cousin, brother in law - I can't remember) was a boss or other high ranking member of another (unnamed) New York Family. This would indicate that two out of five would have probably supported the move and that there would be no repercussions. If the Sopranos were independent wouldn't Tony need the approval of the other Families if not the Commission?
The other situation that makes me think that Tony was a puppet was when Phil went to war and took out Sil and Bobby there was no concern about what the other Families would do. To me it points to this being treated as an internal situation within a Family as opposed to two separate Families going to war.
I think that Tony (and Uncle Jun, Jackie etc...) were given the title of Boss based on geography and being the largest Lupertazzi crew.

Junior told Tony to get someone else to do the hit, Tony didn't listen. Bobby didn't find out that his dad actually did the hit until after he died on the way back. Junior, as well.

That's wrong. Maybe early in the series when he was first introduced, however around the time the show was coming to a close it was Bobby that Tony was taking with him to meetings in NY. And as mentioned, Phil specifically ordered the hit on Bobby instead of Paulie because Bobby had become more powerful than Paulie, he rose quicker and surpassed him, part of it was definitely because of his relationship with Tony, which also may have factored into Phil's decision because if you hit the boss, who's the first to retaliate other than the one who was closest to him? And that became Bobby. So, Bobby was definitely recognized in NY and respected in Jersey.

I can't imagine him being taken seriously by Phil Leotardo, or anyone else from the New York faction. Paulie Walnuts and others might not have accepted orders from him either.

Lol over the idea that Janice would have been the first lady in the north Jersey underworld.

Bacala had the, uh, stomach for lots of things, but to be boss? Never.

that's why i used the word "barely". that same scene where phil was considering who to hit, all the NY guys were amused at the fact bobby even made it so far in the administration, and it was clear they had very little, if any, actual respect for him. i believe they referred to him as a mortadell lol.

He may have been respected but he wasn't feared as a mobster and i think you need that top be a good boss. So i so no he wouldn't have made a good boss.

In all actuality Bobby Jr. was not meant for that life. He was thrust into the mob solely off the reputation of his father.

I wonder if part of what David Chase was doing was showing that Bobby, while growing up in the life, didn't have the sociopathic tendencies that the other bosses had. Tony, Johnny Sack, Phil, even their soldiers had the sociopathic streak (taking joy in some of their kills, enjoying the notoriety of being a known killer, mistreating women) that seemed necessary to instill fear and keep the soldiers in line. But Bobby doesn't even want to threaten a union rep, doesn't want to do the murder Tony sends him to do, really just wants to play with trains and raise his kids.

But right after that guy who ended up shooting Silvio said "That mortadell is number three? He used to be Junior Soprano's driver" Albie straightens him out by saying "And you used to sell laser printers out the back your Crown Vic." Lol.

Yes

Bobby was the typical son that followed his father in the mob when the mob was still the top dog.For the reputation you must think that the 5 families watch from the top to bottom every family out NY.And after the short and destructive reign of tony what the family real needs is a quiet don that rebuilt the family.The heavy hitters could complain but if you can easly kill a guy this doesn't means that you can run a family.

I might be the in the minority but I didnt feel bad about Bobby. Sure he was nice compared to the other nutjobs in that circle but he was by no means an innocent. Especially in Season 6 he became much more ruthless. I remember when he killed that french dude the guy was gasping for air and he reached onto Bobby and he coldly swatted his hand away

imo he is too much nice and lack of brain and charisma.
i think that he is more of a no 3 or a soldier then a capo or a boss or in any other leading position...