Romney VP search: free-floating speculation and wish list thread

[milhouse24]

Here are some examples of good VP picks: Al Gore, Joe Biden, GHW Bush, LBJ

Gore and Biden were from swing states/regions, previously ran for president/media vetted, had competence/experience to become president. 

GHWB, LBJ also had competence/experience and helped their tickets secure the southern region.

Mediocre VP picks: Cheney didn't help in any swing states, he had competence/experience, he was non-controversial (in 2000).  Lamar Alexander would have been a better political pick. 

Terrible VP picks: Quayle, Palin, Edwards
None had the competence/experience to be president
They didn't help win any swing states/regions

I think Romney is going to settle for a non-controversial pick that is slightly better than Cheney.  This depends on how he does in the polls and if he has a safe lead ahead of Obama.  While I think there are better options, it appears that his top 2 choices will be Pawlenty and Portman.  Both are seen as competent people.  Pawlenty will be non-controversial but he might look like Quayle, another mild mannered midwesterner who isn't taken seriously by the political experts.  TPaw might also hurt southern voters who feel ignored by the ticket.  Even though Romney wants to play it safe, he really needs a fighter and Americans want to see strong, passionate, and confident tickets. 

[LINCOLN REPUBLICAN]

Millhouse, very interesting categories, which I agree with for the most part.

Question for you.

Yes, GHWB was a very good pick for Reagan, among other things, bringing DC experience with him.

But do you not think that Reagan was going to secure the south regardless?  He was very well liked in the south on his own merits.

I agree that LBJ definitely brought some southern states in for Kennedy, certainly Texas and the Carolinas, helping him to win the election, in fact, probably the last VP pick who made the difference.

[IDS Speaker Ben Kenobi]

See my sig. Christine O'Donnell would be perfect.

[milhouse24]

Unless Jeb wants to be a Senator, I don't see why he would refuse VP and just wait for 2016. 
He can't be scared and run from his name.  He can't be scared of the liberal media "blaming bush" for everything bad in the world.  If he thinks he has the record to run on and win, he needs to do it now.  There are no guarantees for 2016, some hot shot like Rubio may get steam and win like when Obama beat Hillary. 

Hillary also seemed to run from her name, she never emphasized "Clinton" or "Rodham-Clinton", it was always just "Hillary"

Maybe she was scared of Bill's image and Bill's Bimbos.  But voters can sense when a candidate is scared of their own name, and its weak and shows weakness and lack of confidence.  You've got to own up to who you are, 100% of yourself warts and all. 

There's no reason Jeb should be scared of his name.  Haters are gonna hate, but its how you respond to the haters that makes the difference between winning and losing. 

If he runs, the hispanics will go with him. 

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I think Bush would be a solid pick. I just don't think Romney would take the risk. When's the last time he said the name "Bush"?

[Reaganfan]

I really hope he picks Bush. If the con for choosing Bush is that his last name is Bush, he's the best choice. Remember, seven years after 9/11 and five years after the Iraq War began, America overwhelmingly elected a man named Barack Hussein Obama who had pictures wearing Muslim garb.

Nobody cares about that, and nobody cares if his last name is Bush.

[Zioneer]

See my sig. Christine O'Donnell would be perfect.

Hahaha, seriously? Christine O'Donnell, the "I am not a witch" candidate? She'd be mocked to high heaven and her social conservatism isn't as useful in that circumstance as a more "standard" conservative would be.

[豚FLY]

See my sig. Christine O'Donnell would be perfect.

Hahaha, seriously? Christine O'Donnell, the "I am not a witch" candidate? She'd be mocked to high heaven and her social conservatism isn't as useful in that circumstance as a more "standard" conservative would be.

I, for one, would love to see Romney pick O'Donnell as his VP (or maybe Donald Trump).

[Pacific Councillor Big Wiggly Style]

See my sig. Christine O'Donnell would be perfect.

Stop...

[GLPman]

My preferences at this point, in no particular order, are: Portman, Rubio, Jindal, and Burr.

[Emperor SJoyce]

Random idea: why not Mitch McConnell? He's experienced, a GOP leader, a proven conservative, a Southerner, and a boring white guy.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I've been wondering about that myself. And before people pull the age card, I honestly don't think the age of Romney's VP matters much.

I've also been wondering a bit about Gingrich. He's been an okay surrogate, and as much of a grump as he is, he'd be a good adversary for Biden and he sure as hell knows what he's talking about.

[RogueBeaver]

Take a look at past GOP VP picks- the VP is almost (Cheney excepted) always younger and/or of a different generation than the nominee. Plus being from a different wing of the party.

1980: Reagan 69, GHWB 56.
1988: GHWB 64, Quayle 41.
1996: Dole 73, Kemp 61.
2008: McCain 72, Palin 44.

[Mr. Morden]

Take a look at past GOP VP picks- the VP is almost (Cheney excepted) always younger and/or of a different generation than the nominee. Plus being from a different wing of the party.

1980: Reagan 69, GHWB 56.
1988: GHWB 64, Quayle 41.
1996: Dole 73, Kemp 66
2008: McCain 72, Palin 44.

Kemp was 61, not 66.

[RogueBeaver]

Oops, my bad.

[True Federalist]

At this point, I doubt that Romney will announce a choice until mid-July at the earliest.  The principal motivation for announcing early would be to get the running mate on the stump to do fund-raising, but that doesn't look to be a problem for either party this year.  I think Romney is going to wait to allow the decision on Obamacare to percolate thru the public consciousness a couple weeks so that the announcement of a running mate doesn't overlap with that.  Plus, the outcome of that decision could conceivably affect the choice of a running mate depending on how it affects te campaign narriative.

[AmericanNation]

Thine is not bad. I just really can't believe people are choosing Paul Ryan. To me, that is just such an obvious disaster in the making.

He's the "Mr. Big" workhorse on the hill and has complete mastery of perhaps the most important issue of the day... he's 42, awesome on TV, Catholic, and from a swing state.  Mr Big's always have a way of ending up on their party's ticket... maybe next time for him.  He's the guy that you would pick if you were behind, but since it's even you don't risk it (unfortunately).     

[Pacific Councillor Big Wiggly Style]

I think Pat Toomey would be a great pick too.

[IDS Legislator Alfred F. Jones]

complete mastery of perhaps the most important issue of the day

...What?

[AmericanNation]

complete mastery of perhaps the most important issue of the day

...What?

Ok, issues.  Debt, deficit, budget, entitlements, sustainability, economic recovery, taxes, etc.  Basically every reform that needs to be done. 

[Pacific Councillor Big Wiggly Style]

I had a dream last night that Romney picked Bob Corker as his running mate.

[GLPman]

I had a dream last night that Romney picked Bob Corker as his running mate.

I had never even considered Corker. I don't know too much about him, but it seems like he has more pros than several people on this list.

[milhouse24]

Corker is good, but he is also up for re-election.
I like Lamar Alexander, but he is one year older than Biden, but it could be a equal matchup between the 2 of them. 

I like Thune, but it seems like he is too young and doesn't want to be vetted.  He's gonna wait until 2016. 

So, I've decided to choose Burr over Pawlenty, and its only because Burr's name is simpler to say and spell.  Voters are simple and dumb, and they don't pay attention until the last week or month, so the easier name to spell helps appeal to Swing Voters. 

I still believe that overtly ethnic and foreign non-english last names are too complicated for swing voters to handle.  Otherwise, Dukakis would have been president.   

[rbt48]

Random idea: why not Mitch McConnell? He's experienced, a GOP leader, a proven conservative, a Southerner, and a boring white guy.

Another problem with Mitch McConnell, aside from his age, is if Romney won, McConnell would be replaced by a Democrat in the Senate, appointed by Gov Beshear.  Also, except for Virginia, the entire South is looking pretty sure for Romney, making McConnell's strategic value less imposing.

[I Can't Get That Sound You Make, Out Of My Head]

Random idea: why not Mitch McConnell? He's experienced, a GOP leader, a proven conservative, a Southerner, and a boring white guy.

Congress is unpopular for a reason.