The Republican Vice-Presidential Spectulation Thread.

[retromike22]

I think it's Sam Brownback. He is:

1. Sufficiently economically and socially conservative (to ease the worries of the conservatives with Romney, a la Palin with McCain)
2. Catholic (A plus in Ohio and Pennsylvania, possibly Florida)
3. 14 years as a Senator, but currently a Governor. (He has long Washington experience but is currently "outside" of Washington. This can frame the choice as the GOP Governors vs. the Democratic Washington insiders)
4. He's not old. (currently 55)
5. Rejects evolution (Boo science!)

Edit: I changed the title to reflect the discussion over which candidate would be the perfect vp choice. I think it's a better discussion anyway.

2nd Edit: I'm going to rename this thread (yet again), since it seems to have the longest discussion of vice presidential nominees.

[retromike22]

Marco Rubio has been a Senator for 14 MONTHS! 22 Months by November. I would disqualify everyone who hasn't held office for at least 4 years, or going on 4 years come next January. So if they're in office now, they should have been elected by 2008 at the latest.

Remember, Romney's only a one term Governor. Shouldn't he be looking for someone with more experience to back him up on some issue he has limited experience with? Such as foreign policy?

[retromike22]

PPP just tweeted:

"Portman would do little to nothing for Romney in Ohio and generally would be a bizarre VP choice. Much better known in DC"

[retromike22]

Let's go through the current Senators and see which ones we can disqualify and which ones are possibilities.

Two Rules:
1. They must have been in office by 2009 at the latest.
2. They cannot be older than 60.

I'm going to go from youngest to oldest.
1. David Vitter, 51, 2005- (LA). Nope. DC Madam Prostitute Scandal.
2. John Thune, 51, 2005- (SD) Yes.
3. Lisa Murkowski, 55, 2002- (AK) Nope. Pro-choice.
4. Richard Burr, 57, 2005- (NC) Yes.
5. Lindsey Graham, 57, 2003- (GA) Yes.

And that's about it. There are a few that are 60. John Cornyn (TX), Bob Corker (TN), John Barrasso (WY), and Susan Collins (ME). Collins is disqualified because she is pro-choice.

So that leaves this list, which I rank in order of how good of a vp choice I think they would be.

1. John Thune
2. Richard Burr
3. Lindsey Graham
4. John Corynyn
5. Bob Corker
6. John Barrasso.

[retromike22]

I've got it! What about Phil Gramm?!

[retromike22]

I've got it! What about Phil Gramm?!

He's about as charismatic as a pile of twigs and dirt.


That's why he compliments Romney

[retromike22]

I'm starting to think Tim Pawlenty might be chosen.

[retromike22]

I'm starting to think Tim Pawlenty might be chosen.

If I may ask, what exactly do you think he brings to the ticket?

Normalcy. He's not a crazy pick, it shows Romney is serious. Look at the last 3 defeated vp candidates: Palin, Edwards, and Lieberman. They were all picked to win, not really to help govern.

Pawlenty is conservative enough to please the base, but appealing to independents. He could help in MN, WI, possibly MI.

[retromike22]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/18/cnn-poll-republicans-divided-on-vp-choice/?hpt=hp_t2

CNN Poll:

Condoleezza Rice 26%
Rick Santorum 21%
Marco Rubio 14%
Chris Christie 14%
Paul Ryan 8%
Bobby Jindal 5%
Bob McDonnell at 1%

[retromike22]

I'm surprised Rice is so high since she's pro-choice.

[retromike22]

On the scale of 1 to 10, how grumpy would the conservatives get if Romney picked someone who was pro-choice?

[retromike22]

Um... maybe Rubio won't have a choice:

"If Rubio passes the vetting process, assuming he does, I think he's the obvious choice. And if he says he doesn't want the office, he'll find a horse's head in his bed. The next day he will accept. Romney's not going to take no for an answer. We have ways, we Republicans."

-- Charles Krauthammer, on Inside Washington.

[retromike22]

I really have trouble seeing Portman as vp, simply because he's just been in the Senate since... January of last year. Wouldn't John Thune be way better than Portman?

I remember seeing a poll (may be PPP) where Portman didn't really help Romney in Ohio against Obama.

Does anyone have know if Thune has a higher approval rating than Portman?

[retromike22]

Has anyone seen this?: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/pick-vice-president-for-romney-game/index.html

[retromike22]

Rob Portman is a chicken. No really:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ku28P0UsCCo

[retromike22]

It's getting closer, I'm going to bump this.