Talk Elections

What do you think? It seems fitting that Santorum gets a thread for this, considering that he may actually be leading in a national poll.

I think Santorum-Huntsman would be good.

Errant speculation:

- Bobby Jindal
- Rick Perry
- Bob McDonnell
- Rob Portman
- Susan Martinez
- Mike Huckabee
- John Thune
- Jon Huntsman

Phil I disargree- Huntsman was terrible as a candidate but I agree some one more moderate with executive experience is a good idea- a John Danforth type

But Clarence, doesn't Huntsman fit the mold of recent VPs? That is to say: Flawed individuals with strengths that complement a candidate's weaknesses (e.g. Palin, Biden, Edwards, Cheney, Lieberman... you need to go back decades to find someone who doesn't fit this mold).

I'm thinking probably not a Catholic.  Perhaps Romney, Bob McDonnell, Mitch Daniels, John Thune, or Pawlenty.

Congrats Phil! :D

I love this thread. Portman would be a solid choice.

Rob Portman, Mitch Daniels, or Jon Huntsman would be good choices.

I don't see the point of getting a guy like Huckabee, Thune or McDonnell on this ticket.  Santorum might do better than Bush with value voters, if that was even possible.  The side guy needs to be somewhat moderate and mainly focused on either the budget or foreign policy.  

Nonsense. The side guy needs to be an imaginable President and someone who won't "go rogue" on the campaign trail. That's it. Presidential and risk-averse.

In retrospect, Daniels belongs on my list and Huntsman doesn't. I guess I left him out because I'm used to assuming that Daniels is overrated.

Daniels

Bob McDonnell
Mitch Daniels
Jeb Bush
Rob Portman
Susan Martinez
John Thune
Jon Huntsman (maybe)
Cathy Rodgers

Santorum/Daniels doesn't seem too bad, actually. Any damage that has been done by Daniels' "truce" is mitigated by Santorum's unflinching social conservatism. Daniels could probably help out with uneasy fiscal conservatives, as well as bring Indiana back into the Republican fold.

I think he'd probably need someone known primarily for their fiscal conservatism, to try and offset the perception of him being only a social issues candidate.

So I'd agree that Huntsman, Daniels, and Portman would be his best bets.  

VP of what? Newt Gingrich's Moon Colony?

In all seriousness...You know, it's hard to be super tough on Santorum. He did endorse Romney back in 2008. Even he did not see himself succeeding like this. Even Phil could not have predicted this. And Santorum's more likable now than he was six months ago. If he makes a decent run of this, and gets Gingrich out of the picture relatively soon, I think there is a phenomenal chance of Romney picking Santorum to be his running mate. That is, assuming that Santorum does not participate in ganging-up on Romney in any remaining debates with Gingrich as his tag team partner. Santorum is clearly able to connect with social conservatives in a way that Romney is not. And Santorum already has a history of supporting Romney, as he did so in 2008. Plus, Santorum is good-looking and somewhat youthful looking, but not so good-looking/youthful as to overshadow Romney on the ticket. The biggest downside is making the ticket an all-northeast combo...

Marco Rubio would be my 1st choice for anyone who gets the GOP nomination.
But the more I see interviews with him, the more I suspect he would rather stay a Senator while he waits his turn to run for President.
I think Rick Perry would be a good choice. Santorum may need help in the South, and Perry could help with organization and money. And he will help with Hispanic voters.
Susana Martinez might be a good pick, but she would have to be well vetted first.
It could be another repeat of the whole Sarah Palin thing, but then again, that could be a plus.
There may be a backlash once and for all against the opposing party bashing a women, seemingly just because she is a woman.
Huntsman? He is the poster child for China taking our jobs away. I don't know what all this talk is about Huntsman. He was not popular as a candidate, how will he help Santorum? No way!!

What?

If Republicans need Daniels to bring Indiana back to the GOP, they'll be in huge trouble...

Anyway, he'd still be a good pick, just like Huntsman. Executive experience will be important for his pick.

I know geographical balance is not as popular anymore.

But I still see a Westerner or a Southerner being key. Thus no needs for Santorum to be vp, less Romney is desperate during conventioning time.

Westerner for the all important arizona-colorado-new mexico-Nevada. One needs to come home. A Southerner...well, the South doesn't seem to like good ol' Mitt very much... And I suspect even Santorum has the problem of being really a Yankee.

It would have to be a B-lister eager for attention. Anyone with a solid career would turn down the career hit of running alongside a sure loser like Rick.

Maybe Scott Brown if he saw himself losing his senate race? A house member looking for a Palin-like boost to the big leagues?

The pissyness is rushing back to the surface!

Perry is an embarrassing gaffe machine who will never get out of Texas again, and whose epic fail of a presidential campaign was so bad that it put his day job in jeopardy. Also, the last thing Santorum (or Romney for that matter) needs is a VP who reminds people of Dubya or Palin, and Perry combines the worst characteristics of both.

I'd take Dubya in a heartbeat over this crop of candidates, except maybe Mittens only because I think he has a clue at fixing the economy.

The best candidate would be a Republican from California, possibly an actor who is Republican. Gary Sinise comes to mind.

I wouldn't put it quite like this, but I think Santorum is rightly perceived as something other than a top-tier candidate and no otherwise top tier candidate would want to be on a ticket playing second fiddle to him.

I think it'd actually be some second-tier senator or representative, someone respected and with long service, conservative credentials.

A moderate. Scott Brown, Jon Huntsman, or Mitch Daniels.

If he wants to lose, but pick someone close to his values, I would pick my Congressman, Allen West.

Tom Coburn or Mike Huckabee.

I don't think he would be able to get an A-lister to hitch their wagon to him.  at least Rubio or Christie would not.

I don't think Bob McDonnell will take that risk as well - he'd prefer to wait and see if Mark Warner will run for the governorship in 2013, vacating a Senate seat.

why would Warner leave the Senate?  his refusal to be vetted by Obama (or run for pres) in 08 suggests that he isn't going to pursue national politics and will try to ascend the seniority ranks...

Larry Sabato suggested this week that the rumor in Virginia is that he's disgusted with the Senate and wants to move back to his home state.

Really, I'm not trying to be wise with this remark, but aren't most VPs gaffe machines?
And maybe that is by design to make the guy at the top of the ticket look good?
Look at either the VPs that were actually in office, or were just on a ticket in the last 40 years.
Quite a bunch of controversial characters.

I thought of Allen West also, I see him on FOX news a lot but do not know much about him.
Santorum was a contributor on FOX news for the last few years. So I wouldn't be surprised if it would be someone who is also on FOX news often. (Maybe Ann Coulter.....HA HA HA).

Well, if you want a Southerner- Santorum/Cain.

Did anyone know who were the closest friends of Santorum in Congress? Maybe he choose one of them to be his running-mate.

John Ensign was Santorum's best friend is the Senate. Er...next...

Yeah, maybe he can choose Arlen Specter, a man he stood with more times than anybody can count. And Santorum has the nerve to question Romney's conservative credentials? Romney has never defended Specter and hobnobbed with union stooges, unlike Santorum.

I disagree. Specter wouldn't be a good choice, but Romney would be even worse. Specter doesn't have the baggage that Romney has, and generally speaking he's not unpredictable. Why would any sane candidate add someone as gaffe-prone as Romney to the ticket?

Believe me, I'm sure there are plenty of Romney supporters who, like you, would love nothing more than a Santorum-Romney ticket... but Santorum needs to be careful lest he spoil his chances of winning, however tempted he may be to excite the base by adding Romney to the ticket.

I like this argument! "Romney never defended Specter! He's just horrible himself!"

I would LOVE a Santorum/Bush ticket but Jeb would never go for it.

Rubio (if he's smart), Portman, Romney, or (dare I say it) the Grinch, the latter as a ploy more for the nomination rather than the general.

And with that, I smell a new thread topic coming....

Rick Santorum/Dick Armey 2012

Jeanine Pirro, former District Attorney for Westchester County, NY.

it may be tough to drag her away from her Judge Judy show.

Sonny Perdue? One of the Texas statewide officials with nowhere to go because of competition? How about Mary Fallin?

Jon Huntsman seems like a good choice for VP. (As much as i dislike Huntsman... I gotta admit it)
Bill Haslam of Tennessee would be good too. He's a generic conservative who doesnt piss off moderates.

A moderate from the South or West with executive experience. 

I think that Mitch Daniels would be the best. 

I was skeptical of Jon Huntsman wanting to take on this responsibility, but if you consider it an express ticket to the front of the line for the 2016 nomination no matter how badly the ticket loses, it makes more sense.

If Sarah Palin had been a cannier, more disciplined politician she would have easily been the front runner despite the '08 loss.

Rick and John would be a very odd couple ticket. Among other things, John has a rather calm and realistic view of America's role in the world, and what it is prudent for it to do, and not do, and Rick wants to go to war with Iran ASAP as it were. Huntsman is also a free trader, and Ricks wants to get tough with anyone who takes away American manufacturing jobs, and as part of an "industrialization" policy, give special tax breaks to rust belt manufacturing. John is more of an IT guy, for whom it is time to just recognize that America's economy has changed forever, and Dorothy isn't in Kansas anymore, and in this case, won't ever be going home again, and that Chinese bashing is not going to accomplish anything positive, other than perhaps as therapy for America's bruised ego.

But it is a strange year, where predictions including mine are more often wrong than right.

Geographic balance was thrown out the window with Clinton-Gore (two Southerners), Bush-Cheney (two Westerners) and now Obama-Biden (two Yankees; there's really nothing Midwestern about Obama). People aren't as parochial as they used to be.

It's also worth mentioning that the Republican Party has never put a Southerner on its ticket, either for president or VP. The closest you get are the two Bushes, but there's nothing Southern about being from West Texas by way of New England.

So would about 25-30% of the US population.  The remainder would scream a collective "Hell no".