Romney to announce running mate on Saturday @9am ET in Norfolk, VA

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Jindal - interesting...the Natural Born Issue and his poor speaking style are problems.  His access to a powerful ethnic group and lots of money lend to his pick; Louisiana does nothing
to "balance" the ticket geographically where Romney needs balance;

Rubio - great choice by my criteria.  He also has the natural born issue to hurdle;

Baton Rouge and Miami are both in the United States of America.

[Yelnoc]

Jindal - interesting...the Natural Born Issue and his poor speaking style are problems.  His access to a powerful ethnic group and lots of money lend to his pick; Louisiana does nothing
to "balance" the ticket geographically where Romney needs balance;

Rubio - great choice by my criteria.  He also has the natural born issue to hurdle;

Baton Rouge and Miami are both in the United States of America.

They are brown and thus suspicious.

[tpfkaw]

Jindal - interesting...the Natural Born Issue and his poor speaking style are problems.  His access to a powerful ethnic group and lots of money lend to his pick; Louisiana does nothing
to "balance" the ticket geographically where Romney needs balance;

Rubio - great choice by my criteria.  He also has the natural born issue to hurdle;

Baton Rouge and Miami are both in the United States of America.

They are brown and thus suspicious.

Rubio isn't even brown...

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Jindal - interesting...the Natural Born Issue and his poor speaking style are problems.  His access to a powerful ethnic group and lots of money lend to his pick; Louisiana does nothing
to "balance" the ticket geographically where Romney needs balance;

Rubio - great choice by my criteria.  He also has the natural born issue to hurdle;

Baton Rouge and Miami are both in the United States of America.

They are brown and thus suspicious.

Rubio isn't even brown...

But his name is.

[Mr. Morden]

Jindal - interesting...the Natural Born Issue and his poor speaking style are problems.  His access to a powerful ethnic group and lots of money lend to his pick; Louisiana does nothing
to "balance" the ticket geographically where Romney needs balance;

Rubio - great choice by my criteria.  He also has the natural born issue to hurdle;

Baton Rouge and Miami are both in the United States of America.

I think he's alleging that Jindal and Rubio were test tube babies, and thus not naturally born.  Personally, I don't think the voters would hold that against them.

[RogueBeaver]

Portman to NC next week for a roundtable, following Ryan in NC yesterday. Audition Phase II is definitely underway.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/06/08/vp_auditions_phase_2_portman_like_ryan_to_hit_nc_114426.html

[Mr. Morden]

Jindal joins the list of people who refuses to say whether he is being vetted:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/bobby-jindal-vetted-romney-camp/story?id=16528998#.T9QLJY4dkUU

[RogueBeaver]

GOP12 had him on the list a couple of weeks ago. Silence means yes.

[Mr. Morden]

Rand Paul says it would be an honor to be Romney's running mate, but there's no indication that he's being considered:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/08/rand-paul-would-be-an-honor-to-be-romneys-vp/

Kelly Ayotte has been talking to Romney about foreign policy, but it also sounds like she's denying that she's being vetted (though the leadup question isn't quoted here, so it's slightly ambiguous):

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/06/08/could_kelly_ayottes_rapid_rise_lead_to_vp-full.html

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Romney has chosen Cathy McMorris Rodgers as his liaison to the House GOP:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2012/06/romney-taps-mcmorris-rodgers-as-top-house-surrogate-125189.html

Whether you want to count that as an indication that she's more or less likely to be under consideration for VP is up to you.

[All Along The Watchtower]

lol Rand Paul. So much for following in Dad's footsteps.

[Mr. Morden]

Both Huckabee and Santorum say they have not been contacted by the Romney campaign for vetting:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2012/06/santo-no-background-documents-requested-for-veep-slot-125737.html

[rbt48]

Ayotte - good selection;

Christie - I love the guy but too Northeastern; Christie needs to finish what he started in NJ;

Daniels - His wife will kill this possibility;

Haley -  Do not believe she helps the ticket in any way;

Jindal - interesting...the Natural Born Issue and his poor speaking style are problems.  His access to a powerful ethnic group and lots of money lend to his pick; Louisiana does nothing
to "balance" the ticket geographically where Romney needs balance;

McDonnell - no opinion;

McMorris Rodgers - no opinion;

Pawlenty - not a bad choice.  Provides some balance. 

Portman - does nothing for me, but he is geographically located quite well for the ticket;

Rubio - great choice by my criteria.  He also has the natural born issue to hurdle;
 
Ryan - love the man, but his place is in the House.  He is, like I am, a Randian.  Brilliant mind.  Excellent speaker.  His family is his priority and if he becomes the Speaker instead of numb nuts Boehner he will truly help our country.

Thune - OK pick. 

==================
Scott Walker is definitely a possible pick.

More later.

Adam

What is the deal with Mitch Daniels' wife?  Does she have a clouded past?  Is she simply adamant that Mitch become VP? 

I just don't understand what the comments I've read about her being a problem are referring to.  Many thanks.

[milhouse24]

Ayotte - good selection;

Christie - I love the guy but too Northeastern; Christie needs to finish what he started in NJ;

Daniels - His wife will kill this possibility;

Haley -  Do not believe she helps the ticket in any way;

Jindal - interesting...the Natural Born Issue and his poor speaking style are problems.  His access to a powerful ethnic group and lots of money lend to his pick; Louisiana does nothing
to "balance" the ticket geographically where Romney needs balance;

McDonnell - no opinion;

McMorris Rodgers - no opinion;

Pawlenty - not a bad choice.  Provides some balance. 

Portman - does nothing for me, but he is geographically located quite well for the ticket;

Rubio - great choice by my criteria.  He also has the natural born issue to hurdle;
 
Ryan - love the man, but his place is in the House.  He is, like I am, a Randian.  Brilliant mind.  Excellent speaker.  His family is his priority and if he becomes the Speaker instead of numb nuts Boehner he will truly help our country.

Thune - OK pick. 

==================
Scott Walker is definitely a possible pick.

More later.

Adam

What is the deal with Mitch Daniels' wife?  Does she have a clouded past?  Is she simply adamant that Mitch become VP? 

I just don't understand what the comments I've read about her being a problem are referring to.  Many thanks.

Yes, she had an affair with another married man, divorced Mitch and left their 4 children to move to California with the man.  After five years, she moved back to Indiana and re-married Mitch.  Also, the boyfriend's now ex-wife hates Mrs. Daniels for ruining her life and will go nuclear on her in the press. 

[morgieb]

Both Huckabee and Santorum say they have not been contacted by the Romney campaign for vetting:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2012/06/santo-no-background-documents-requested-for-veep-slot-125737.html

Shock horror!

Though Huckster could be an OK choice if Romney feels he has major troubles with working-class voters.

[wan]

I don't think rubio will be selected. Romney won't need him for florida because romney may already have florida in the bag according to most polls in florida.

[BM]

race42012's source says it's down to four - Rubio, Jindal, Pawlenty, and McMorris-Rodgers

http://race42012.com/2012/06/10/the-race-4-2012-rumor-mill-final-four-edition

Who knows how credible or real it is but it's interesting to read nonetheless, and those four do make sense. Always thought Portman was overrated as a choice.

[morgieb]

What's the hype with McMorris-Rogers?

She's a house member, she can't carry her own state, and she just seems inexperienced. Ayotte would've been a much better choice if he desperately wanted a woman.

[milhouse24]

I think Rubio is a reach and a desperate move for such a young person.  The media will see it as a desperate move to win Hispanics. 

It seems that it almost 99% going to be TPaw, and I think Romney will lose the election.  TPaw doesn't help with Virginia.  He might help in Minnesota and Michigan, but that's a real stretch.  I think Thune is way better, but Thune probably doesn't want it and is waiting for his turn in 2016. 

TPaw is super safe, and super forgettable.  He'll be the invisible man who can't hurt but can't help romney at all.  Biden and Obama will go hard at Romney, and TPaw will be shrinking flower. 

[BM]

What's the hype with McMorris-Rogers?

She's a house member, she can't carry her own state, and she just seems inexperienced. Ayotte would've been a much better choice if he desperately wanted a woman.

To be fair, she's not just a random House member. She's been serving longer than Michele Bachmann who for some reason accepted as a major presidential candidate at one point, as well as Geraldine Ferraro. She's also a member of the House Republican leadership and thus used to dealing with the national press and likely to be well-versed in contemporary issues, probably moreso than Kelly Ayotte who is more inexperienced despite her attractive qualities and advantage in possibly bringing NH to the GOP.

And for what it's worth, she kind of has a rags to riches personal story, a military husband, and a young child with Down's syndrome. She could be Sarah Palin with much more knowledge and much less controversy.

Not that she's the frontrunner, but she has some real advantages and would likely be acceptable to the establishment and the base once they get to know her. She's from a definite blue state, but picking running mates to carry swing states is an overrated concept in the modern era anyway.

[RogueBeaver]

NJ's rankings: Portman #1, T-Paw #2, Ryan #3.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/your-favorite-vice-hotline-s-veepstakes-power-rankings-20120610

[ShadowRocket]

It would surprise me if they've already narrowed the list down so far. But I guess it would sense to do that early and then spent the next couple weeks focusing only on the contenders with a legitament shot.

[RogueBeaver]

Dunno if they've narrowed it down, Romney won't make the pick for nearly 2 months. In the meantime- cavity search.

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

What if Romney picks someone boring how does it effect him?

[GLPman]

NJ's rankings: Portman #1, T-Paw #2, Ryan #3.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/your-favorite-vice-hotline-s-veepstakes-power-rankings-20120610

I still fail to see why Pawlenty is better than someone like Thune or Burr. Regardless of what you think of Ryan's recent proposals, the man is too controversial to be Romney's VP pick.

[milhouse24]

NJ's rankings: Portman #1, T-Paw #2, Ryan #3.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/your-favorite-vice-hotline-s-veepstakes-power-rankings-20120610

I still fail to see why Pawlenty is better than someone like Thune or Burr. Regardless of what you think of Ryan's recent proposals, the man is too controversial to be Romney's VP pick.

Does anyone even like Pawlenty?  He has a constituency of zero.  I don't even think evangelicals like him that much.  Maybe I'll just call the Romney campaign and tell them it's an awful idea to pick Pawlenty.  I know Mitt is trying to win through default, just doing barely enough and cautiously enough to win 51% of the vote, but winning with such a weak VP makes Mitt look like a weak president.  Pawlenty is a virtual ghost on the campaign, and that's not because of his skin color, but the lack of excitement or strong stump speech he can generate among swing voters.  Pawlenty will get VP because he's sucking up to Romney and his inner circle, just like Dick Cheney with Dubya. 

Thune is the best pick from the eyes of the average Republican or swing voter.  But it seems that Thune and his advisors are ambivalent about being VP.  So, Romney is going to be an idiot and choose the person sucking up to him the most, instead of going out and convincing better candidates to join his ticket. 

I don't know why Burr is so quiet.  I would think he would be more ambitious and pro-active about getting VP.  He doesn't seem to be talking to any Romney advisors. 

Romney thinks he can be the next Reagan, but Reagan had more passion than 100 mitt bots.  Voters don't vote for resumes, they vote for passionate personality.