If Romney Chooses A Female VP

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Two words.  All will scream at me for them, but I could give a rats ass.  Joe.  Lieberman.

SecState: BRING BACK CONDI!

LOL, a Romney/Lieberman ticket would go down in flames.

[Cobbler]

This is Texas, remember. She's a pro-abort. Same with Perry FWIW.

Had Perry been as prolife as Cain, this nomination would have been very, very different.

You believe that the reason Perry failed was because he wasn't pro-life enough?

[Wisconsin+17]

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It's why Cain beat him out. He had all the advantages that Romney had including money all put together, but wasn't prolife and was on the record of supporting abortion. In a crowded field it pushed him into no-man's land. If you wanted a progressive member of the establishment, your man was Romney. If you wanted a prolifer - your man was Cain. When Cain dropped, it's why they eventually went to Santorum, not Perry.

A prolife Perry would have established himself as the anti-Romney back last July and stayed there.

[morgieb]

No, Perry lost because he was an idiot.

[AmericanNation]

Kay Bailey Hutchison? Pro-choice, but a Southerner. Lots of experience, but maybe too old.

KBH is not pro-choice. I'll never understand where this misconception developed.

She's called herself pro-choice in the past, and her most recent statements on the issue are incoherent.  However, she does have a pro-life voting record.

A "pro-life voting record" just means that you vote for various restrictions on abortion.  You can think that abortion should basically be legal, but also support various restrictions on it, like parental consent for minors and banning partial birth abortion.  I'd still call someone like that "pro-choice", because they still think that abortion should basically be legal.

The question of whether abortion should be legal or not in the generic case is something which can't be reflected in one's voting record, because Roe vs. Wade means that Congress is unable to weigh in on it.

Well sure, but in practice only a few people in Congress who call themselves pro-choice vote with NARAL less than a majority of the time.  
Meanwhile "pro-life" Harry Reid votes with NARAL consistently. I can't figure that one out.

It is relative.  
If, you oppose militant pro abortionists, you are pro life.
If, you oppose militant pro lifers, you are pro choice.
If, you generally want to restrict and discourage abortion, pro life
Nothing above has anything to do with legalizing/outlawing.
if you went buy that standard I guess I'm pro-choice than, despite siding with pro-lifers on just about every restriction on abortion.  Odd thought.        

[Badger]

Christine O'Donnell would be all shades of awesome.

Do it Mitt!

[Wisconsin+17]

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Which is why Perry flipflopped on this issue in December? The tea leaves were pretty clear by then.

[Cobbler]

Perry was leading the primary before Cain was until people saw his debate performances. It had nothing to do with him not being prolife enough for the base.

[Frodo]

Perry was leading the primary before Cain was until people saw his debate performances. It had nothing to do with him not being prolife enough for the base.

How about his apparent failure to suck up to the CARLHAYDENs of the GOP?  Many are suggesting that it wasn't so much his lackluster performance in the debates that did him in, but his position on immigration -in particular, the DREAM Act.  

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Well, Mitt did a good job framing Perry's immigration stances in exactly the way he needed them to be framed.

[Minnesota Mike]

Mitt should go with Christine. She'd be everything his campaign needs. Bright, telegenic, and attractive.

Batsh*t crazy, unelectable, polarizing, gaffe-prone...

She's basically the offspring of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.

Wait, Republicans don't believe in homosexual reproduction.

To be fair nobody really does.

I'm gonna start a religion centered around the belief that homosexuals can reproduce.

Makes as much sense as a religion based on a virgin birth.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I think Condoleeza Rice would be a good choice, to give the ticket some foreign policy credentials.

One of the main architects of GWB's disaster in foreign relations? WTF LOL...

Nikki Haley? Young, charismatic, a minority. She's said she wouldn't do it, but the cardinal rule of running for Vice President is to act like you're not running for VP.

She's a damaged good after failing miserably to deliver SC to Mitt during primaries.


If Romney wants a Governor, relatively fresh in national politics, still popular in home state and, most importantly, not an idiot like Sarah Palin, then Martinez is an obvious answer.

[TJ in Oregon]

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It's why Cain beat him out. He had all the advantages that Romney had including money all put together, but wasn't prolife and was on the record of supporting abortion. In a crowded field it pushed him into no-man's land. If you wanted a progressive member of the establishment, your man was Romney. If you wanted a prolifer - your man was Cain. When Cain dropped, it's why they eventually went to Santorum, not Perry.

A prolife Perry would have established himself as the anti-Romney back last July and stayed there.

Perry would not have stayed there, not because of abortion, but because he is a truly awful speaker. He lost steam because he sounded clueless, drunk, and forgot which three departments he wanted to cut in mid-sentence during a debate. It was only a matter of time before he would have imploded.

[TJ in Oregon]

And to the original point of this thread, Romney cannot choose a female VP this year because doing so would be a blatant pander after the Sarah Palin fiasco. And it really was a fiasco in every way.

[they don't love you like i love you]

And to the original point of this thread, Romney cannot choose a female VP this year because doing so would be a blatant pander after the Sarah Palin fiasco. And it really was a fiasco in every way.

Yeah pretty much what I said earlier. No woman will be a viable VP nominee until Sarah Palin fades from the public spotlight (a real shame actually).

[TJ in Oregon]

And to the original point of this thread, Romney cannot choose a female VP this year because doing so would be a blatant pander after the Sarah Palin fiasco. And it really was a fiasco in every way.

Yeah pretty much what I said earlier. No woman will be a viable VP nominee until Sarah Palin fades from the public spotlight (a real shame actually).

I mean there could be a female VP chosen if there was a truly prominent female figure in the GOP, but there really isn't one right now. Perhaps by 2016 someone like Susana Martinez or Nikki Haley could be ready for national primetime but anyone they choose this year would be a reach. In order for it to work, the GOP needs to pick a woman that looks like the best candidate rather than just picking her because she's a woman.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Should Beth Myers be added to the list of possible female veeps?  Romney named her to head up his veep search, and it would be keeping with precedent for her to name herself.

[TheGlobalizer]

Won't be a woman.  They'll try to find a Latino or really anyone who is less-whitebread than Romney.  Not sure they'll succeed, though, since they've been going gangbusters for the white paranoia vote for the past year.

[GLPman]

Examining the topic from a different angle, what women are we sure WON'T be picked? I agree with all the comments above about why Nikki Haley would be a bad choice. She failed to deliver SC to Romney, she's not well-liked in South Carolina, and she doesn't really bring much.

Palin won't be chosen for obvious reasons. Whitman wouldn't bring anything significant and there are much better candidates. Bachmann would be political suicide. I baffled why anyone would think Christine O'Donnell would be qualified to be VP.

The argument for Rice isn't a bad one, but I think she reminds voters too much of Bush. Even if Bush's image has improved in recent years, it hasn't recovered. I think Rice would come off as more of a moderate, too, which would hurt Romney.

Kay Bailey Hutchison and Susana Martinez are two other picks. KBH seems a little old and I can't really see her energizing voters. Martinez has the exact opposite problem - she can energize voters but she's only served as governor for a year. I'm not sure if I would categorize either of these two women as "out," though.

Aside from KBH, the other GOP women in the Senate are Ayotte, Collins, Murkowski, and Snowe. Collins, Murkowski, and Snowe are all out. Ayotte is definitely not a bad choice, but I wonder how some members of the party, particularly those in the South, would respond to a ticket of a former MA governor and a NH senator.

There are other women governors aside from Martinez, too. Fallin of Oklahoma and Brewer of Arizona. Brewer won't be chosen because she's too polarizing of a figure and will send Hispanics running for Obama. Fallin has some weird affair accusations, but she could provide the comfort that the GOP base needs, so I won't completely discard her.

Finally, I suppose Romney could select a woman from the House. The only two women in the House that would serve as somewhat reasonable picks would be Marsha Blackburn and Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Meh. Nothing impressive.

At the end, we have something that looks like this:

OUT: Haley, Whitman, Bachmann, Palin, O'Donnell, Rice, Collins, Murkowski, Snowe, Brewer

MAYBE: KBH, Martinez

LONG SHOT/RISKY: Ayotte, Fallin, Blackburn, McMorris Rodgers

[BaldEagle1991]

John Cornyn is more likely going to be VP candidate than KBH.

If any female VP mate, I think Suzana is the only way. Especially considering the GOP needs minorities this election year if they want to beat Obama.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I hate that the media will now condemn any game-change pick thanks to Sarah Palin. The problem wasn't that McCain chose a game changer--the problem was that he chose the WRONG game changer.

If Palin hadn't opened her big fat mouth, the lack of experience wouldn't have been that big a deal.

[hopper]

And to the original point of this thread, Romney cannot choose a female VP this year because doing so would be a blatant pander after the Sarah Palin fiasco. And it really was a fiasco in every way.

Yeah pretty much what I said earlier. No woman will be a viable VP nominee until Sarah Palin fades from the public spotlight (a real shame actually).

Not even a Dem woman could be VP in 2016 you think?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Gillibrand would probably be celebrated.

There's a double standard, of course. "Gasp, how can you be a woman and be pro-life! For shame, for shame."

[hopper]

Examining the topic from a different angle, what women are we sure WON'T be picked? I agree with all the comments above about why Nikki Haley would be a bad choice. She failed to deliver SC to Romney, she's not well-liked in South Carolina, and she doesn't really bring much.

Palin won't be chosen for obvious reasons. Whitman wouldn't bring anything significant and there are much better candidates. Bachmann would be political suicide. I baffled why anyone would think Christine O'Donnell would be qualified to be VP.

The argument for Rice isn't a bad one, but I think she reminds voters too much of Bush. Even if Bush's image has improved in recent years, it hasn't recovered. I think Rice would come off as more of a moderate, too, which would hurt Romney.

Kay Bailey Hutchison and Susana Martinez are two other picks. KBH seems a little old and I can't really see her energizing voters. Martinez has the exact opposite problem - she can energize voters but she's only served as governor for a year. I'm not sure if I would categorize either of these two women as "out," though.

Aside from KBH, the other GOP women in the Senate are Ayotte, Collins, Murkowski, and Snowe. Collins, Murkowski, and Snowe are all out. Ayotte is definitely not a bad choice, but I wonder how some members of the party, particularly those in the South, would respond to a ticket of a former MA governor and a NH senator.

There are other women governors aside from Martinez, too. Fallin of Oklahoma and Brewer of Arizona. Brewer won't be chosen because she's too polarizing of a figure and will send Hispanics running for Obama. Fallin has some weird affair accusations, but she could provide the comfort that the GOP base needs, so I won't completely discard her.

Finally, I suppose Romney could select a woman from the House. The only two women in the House that would serve as somewhat reasonable picks would be Marsha Blackburn and Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Meh. Nothing impressive.

At the end, we have something that looks like this:

OUT: Haley, Whitman, Bachmann, Palin, O'Donnell, Rice, Collins, Murkowski, Snowe, Brewer

MAYBE: KBH, Martinez

LONG SHOT/RISKY: Ayotte, Fallin, Blackburn, McMorris Rodgers

Fallin would be interesting. She has alot more political exprience than Martinez in formely being a member of the US House and LT. Governor of Oklahoma as well as her short stint(so far) as Governor of Oklahoma. I guess if you are Romney you go for the best VP candidate possible that you can get and if thats Fallin so be it.

Blackburn: Maybe.

Rice: I  like her but she is a moderate. No that that bothers me but the religious right it would probably bother.

Haley: she has low approval ratings in a ruby red state.

McMorris-Rodgers- she has no prescence to her.

Martinez -she would be the preffered choice.