Originally Posted By: Giacomo_Vacari
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.