Clinton VP news LATEST: Podesta now calling the losers to tell them its not them

[Mr. Morden]

“A senior Trump campaign source” says that the early favorites are Martinez, Haley, and Portman:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/04/politics/donald-trump-vice-president-search/

The only problem with that is that, as the story notes, all three of them have ruled it out.  Martinez says she’s not even sure if she’ll vote for Trump, let alone agree to appear on the same stage as him:

http://kfoxtv.com/news/local/nm-governor-says-she-isnt-interested-in-serving-as-vice-president

[Mr. Morden]

Rick Scott says no:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/04/politics/donald-trump-vice-president-search/

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Ernst dodges the question, and does it in a way that makes it sound like she's open to it:

http://www.ketv.com/news/sen-joni-ernst-responds-to-rumors-of-vice-president-nod/39379074

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[Mr. Morden]

The latest "I'm not ruling anything out" from Christie:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/christie_chronicles/Christie-Not-expecting-but-not-ruling-out-Trump-VP-pick.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Fallin says that she would be "honored" to receive a call from Trump



https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/728001689291243520

Can I just say that this has to be the most desperate plea for a spot on the VP short list that I've ever seen?  "I'd be honored if you'd call me."  Lol.

[Mr. Morden]

New Mexico isn't in the West Coast and Martinez has publicly spoken out against Trump. She doesn't want her name associated with him.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/19/new-mexico-gov-susana-martinez-makes-sharp-critique-of-trump-at-rga-donor-event/

Yes, Martinez may find it difficult to be Trump's second, but I don't think their relationship would be as contentious as, say, LBJ and Kennedy. Is she really out of the question?

If she doesn't want to do it, then she doesn't want to do it.  I don't think she's going to be convinced by someone telling her "But other vice presidents hated their presidents too."

[Mr. Morden]

I forget if this was already posted, but Portman says he won’t do it, because he’s busy with his reelection campaign:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/05/rob-portman-no-trump-vice-president-222848

Meanwhile, Trump estimated the chances of him picking one of his former rivals for the nomination as VP at “probably a 40 percent chance”:

http://www.politico.com/trump-vice-president-pick

[Mr. Morden]

Trump reiterates that he’s aiming to pick someone who’ll help him pass things in Congress:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/05/05/trump-on-vp-search-looking-for-candidate-with-congressional-ties.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Despite Carson's claims to the contrary, Trump says he definitely won't pick a Democrat as his running mate:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-no-democrat-vice-president-222885

[Mr. Morden]

Bill Nelson is asked about the NYT story that suggested his name was among those in consideration for Clinton’s veep.  He deflects the question, by saying that it’s “too premature” to talk about veep candidates:

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2016/05/05/nelson-talks-sanders-and-zika/83981612/

Thune responds to the veep question anew:

http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/columnists/stu-whitney/2016/05/05/john-thune-senator-south-dakota-trump-stu-whitney-president/83973994/

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[Mr. Morden]

Gingrich:

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278801-gingrich-odds-are-1000-to-1-ill-be-trumps-vp

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Sessions:

http://www.westernjournalism.com/southern-senator-bows-out-of-contention-for-trumps-vp-pick/

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[The headline calls the above Sessions “bowing out” of veep contention.  But that’s obviously not a Sherman-esque denial…]

Perez:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/labor-secretary-perez-jobs-report-212900118.html

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Warner:

http://wjhl.com/2016/05/06/va-u-s-senator-mark-warner-supporting-clinton-says-race-is-unpredictable/

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[Mr. Morden]

Palin is asked if Trump wanted to talk to her about picking her as his running mate, what would she do:

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/729298775601258496

She doesn’t exactly give a Shermanesque denial, but does say that she’s “realistic” enough to realize that she might be a burden on the ticket and “doesn’t want to be a burden”.

[Mr. Morden]

Sanders doesn't rule out accepting an offer to be Clinton's running mate...at the end of a contentious convention:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/06/politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-vice-president/

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[Mr. Morden]

Jan Brewer would be happy to be Trump's running mate:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/09/trump-s-veep-volunteers-could-fill-a-clown-car.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Jan Brewer would be happy to be Trump's running mate:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/09/trump-s-veep-volunteers-could-fill-a-clown-car.html

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LOL, I doubt the Trumpster picks her. She's 72, and the Donald is almost 70.

And yet a lot of people are talking about Newt Gingrich for some reason, even though he's also 72 (will be 73 by election day).

[Mr. Morden]

What does Gingrich add to the ticket?

Trump said one of the most important considerations for him is who can help him get things passed through Congress, so I guess that translates to a former House Speaker?  Not saying that this makes sense, given the significant liabilities Gingrich has, but it's the kind of weird logic that Trump might use.

I guess Dennis Hastert is out the question? 

[Mr. Morden]

Gingrich:

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/politics/newt-gingrich-i-would-listen-carefully-if-trump-called-about-vp/263262795

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Le Page deflects the VP question (“We’re too much alike”).  But he does say he’d be up for some kind of job in a Trump administration:

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/05/04/lepage-says-job-in-a-trump-administration-would-interest-him/

[Mr. Morden]

IMO, he should go for a southern woman.

No problem.  One of them has already volunteered:

[Mr. Morden]

This is from last week, but I just noticed it now.  As already noted early in the thread, Tim Scott didn’t rule out accepting a VP offer from Trump when he was asked about it a few weeks ago.  However, last week, Scott offered a rather tepid endorsement of Trump that suggested he wasn’t really interested in doing much to assist Trump’s campaign:

http://www.postandcourier.com/20160504/160509724/haley-not-interested-in-being-trumps-vice-presidential-pick

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So, OK, he hasn’t ruled out accepting a running mate offer, but he sure doesn’t sound as enthusiastic about it as some of the others.

[Mr. Morden]

Castro says “That’s not going to happen” when asked about being Clinton’s running mate.  But as with many other denials, that seems more like a prediction than a promise.  He also says that he hasn’t been contacted about vetting (yet):

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/10/politics/julian-castro-vice-president-hillary-clinton/

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[Mr. Morden]

Trump indicating that the list is down to 5 or 6 people is interesting.  Do the people who are on the list know they’re on the list yet?  At some point, if vetting progresses further, they’ll presumably have discussions with the Trump people about it, and then their names could leak.  Are the short listers all likely to be people who’ve already endorsed Trump, or is he holding out hope on some of the higher profile Undecideds?

Both Bloomberg and the Columbus Dispatch paint a picture of Trump staffers (if not Trump himself) interested in Kasich as a potential running mate, while Kasich himself is adamantly opposed to the idea….and not even sure if he’s going to vote for Trump:

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-10/kasich-remains-cool-to-prospect-of-joining-trump-ticket
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/05/10/ohio-politics-now-trump-campaign-reportedly-still-interested-in-kasich-for-running-mate.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Newsmax claims that “a close confidante of Trump” has told them that Gingrich is on Trump’s short list, and that he is in fact “the leading candidate”:

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/newt-gingrich-tops-trump-vp/2016/05/10/id/728194/

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Newsmax claims that they contacted Gingrich to see if he’d talked to the Trump campaign about being veep, and he said no.

Anyway, it’s Newsmax.  Take the whole thing with the appropriate grain of salt.

[Mr. Morden]

Tom Cotton doesn’t rule himself out of or into the veep talk:

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-11/12-questions-for-tom-cotton

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[Mr. Morden]

trump just told fox news that fallin and brewer are on shortist

Here’s the video:

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/index.html#/v/4889359173001

It does sound like he’s saying that Brewer and Fallin are both on the list, but it’s a bit ambiguous.  He’s praising them (especially Brewer), but I’m not sure if that counts as airtight confirmation that they’re on the list.  He definitely confirms that there are women on the list though.

He also said that the list was 5 or 6 or 7 names.

[Mr. Morden]

Bloomberg News says that “multiple people” familiar with the Trump campaign’s deliberations have told them Gingrich is on Trump’s short list:

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/videos/2016-05-11/with-all-due-respect-05-11-16

So maybe Newsmax isn’t crazy after all?

[Mr. Morden]

Gingrich:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-gingrich-idUSKCN0Y307N

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