Rubio VP: More or less conservative than himself

[Bismarck]

Would it make more sense for Rubio to pick a moderate to help with independents or a conservative to help draw the base? Obviously there are regional and personality and age factors that are important, but assuming everything else was equal, should he pick someone more conservative or more moderate?

[Suburbia]

A little bit more conservative maybe. John Thune is more conservative than him. A Midwesterner and a Southerner. A safe choice. A Rubio/Thune ticket would be the most handsome ticket since Clinton/Gore in 92/96.

[Kingpoleon]

Very Slight Tilt Less.

I'm predicting Kasich, Christie, Ernst, Thune, and Pawlenty all make the shortlist. Dave Brat would be a good "shocker" choice.

[RosettaStoned]

  Senator Rubio should select Carly Fiorina as his running mate. Fiorina would neutralize Clinton.

[OSR stands with Israel]

He should pick Kasich

[bagelman]

Less Con, he won't disrupt the Obama collation with red meat. The fact that his opponent will be either Hillary or a socialist will drive out the base well enough.

[Mercenary]

Less. I doubt he will have too much of a problem with the base.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

I would say less, but there really isn't anyone on his left that comes to mind as strong VP material.

The candidate must be at least as conservative as Rubio with regard to illegal immigration but not so far right as to push away swing voters. Other than that, Rubio is probably safe to look a little bit to his left for a VP as long as that VP opposes Obamacare.

Rubio represents the mainstream Republican as well as anyone, so the ideal candidate would be ideologically similar to Rubio himself.

[Mister Mets]

Less or the same.

He's pretty conservative.

Anyone noticably to the right is probably too independent to be a good running mate.

[GLPman]

 Senator Rubio should select Carly Fiorina as his running mate. Fiorina would neutralize Clinton.

Except that Fiorina is crazy. There are better female candidates for VP.

[Lincoln Republican]

A woman who is less conservative but a woman who is at the same time Presidential material.

[hurricanehink]

A woman who is less conservative but a woman who is at the same time Presidential material.

Lisa Murkowski?

[Lief 🗽]

he'll probably want to pick someone who opposes amnesty, unless he wants a TRUMP third party run on his hands

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

He should not be obtuse by thinking about ideology and home state advantages and whatnot. Having someone awesome in the 2 spot (a la Joe Biden) is much more important than having someone of a particular ideology. But the point is moot because Rubes himself is not quite good enough to take the top spot. #EmptySuit

If he picks someone like Kasich, he automatically loses the election under whatever absurd scenario forces the party to choose him.

 Senator Rubio should select Carly Fiorina as his running mate. Fiorina would neutralize Clinton.

Nothing against you as a poster, but this is one of the worst things I have read on this site recently. And someone suggested noted idiot Dave Brat in this very thread. How exactly does it neutralize Hillary in the slightest? The GOP is still the anti-woman party. Carly is still shrill and annoying not to mention incompetent and makes Hillary look warm and friendly. This is how you lose elections.


Not that I think these are even good choices, but Bill Haslam and John Thune are better choices than most everything said so far.

[I support Sanders]

Less. I am looking at John Kasich, George Pataki, Lindsey Graham, Rick Perry, or Rob Portman.

[/]

Any GOP nominee who doesn't choose Susana Martinez or Condi Rice is kind of silly, tbh.

[Clark Kent]

I've seen Rubio/Haley as a potential ticket.

[Blair]

I saw a good piece saying Rubio, much like Obama in 2008 has managed to hide his ideology with an impressive backstory

[dudeabides]

[mencken]

He would need an inoffensive elder states(wo)man, preferably a governor. That would imply someone less conservative, but that is not a necessity. Rubio/Martinez or Rubio/Haley would fit this description.

[Maxwell]

Any GOP nominee who doesn't choose Susana Martinez or Condi Rice is kind of silly, tbh.

Martinez is under investigation for corruption and Condi Rice is from 100 years ago and is pro-choice. Unless you are attempting humor again.

[Blair]

Also as others have said a VP isn't just as we see it (an electoral tool) it's someone you have to spend 4/8 years with, working constantly and basically you have to get on with them. The reason that Obama/Clinton didn't happen is because the Clinton's would have been awful in the White House (state kept her flying around)

[The_Doctor]

Joni Ernst should be the Republican Vice Presidential nominee. The governor of Iowa is a Republican, so no matter what, her seat would be safe. She's a woman, a military record that is strong, and hails from the Midwest, and a swing state we need to capture the White House.

ANY nominee should pick Ernst for Vice President. She'd be amazing.

[Simfan34]

Do we think that Kasich can deliver Ohio? If so, then picking him would seem less of a bad idea that I feel like it is (despite the fact I quite like Kasich, I don't see him adding much to a ticket on his own) and instead seem a very, very good one. If a Rubio nomination, barring extreme circumstances, can lock down Florida for the GOP (considering how close it was in 2012, I think it would), and Kasich could lock down Ohio, this would be a very formidable ticket, at least in terms of the electoral calculus, if not necessarily popular appeal. Kasich is not going to excite anyone, no, but that doesn't matter if he can win Ohio.

Indeed, the more I think about it, the better an idea Rubio/Kasich seems. It would give the GOP a genuine fighting chance in 2016, which I've generally been assuming we didn't actually have. If they could take of their home states, it would leave only VA and CO to be dealt with. Seriously-- imagine how thoroughly the terrain would change if FL and OH were, for the most part, neutralised as battleground states (again, I'm not sure just how much this would really be the case with a Rubio/Kasich ticket)-- beyond having those electoral votes, it would mean a truly immense amount of resources could be shifted from FL and OH to elsewhere. If thing were to play out this way, I'd consider this a very plausible map:

[°Leprechaun]

Will he pick a woman? Maybe, maybe not.