Romney VP vetting has begun; (rumored?) leaks on who's been contacted

[Mr. Morden]

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/228237-team-romney-begins-vetting-his-veep-picks

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So who has been contacted by the Romney campaign on this?  Thune says that he has *not* been contacted by the Romney people.  Portman, Rubio, and Ryan refuse to say whether they've been asked for information by the Romney campaign vetters.  Pawlenty, who'd previously said he doesn't want the job, also won't say if he's been contacted:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/tim-pawlenty-now-mum-on-vp-prospects/

Finally, the blog "The Race 4 2012" claims to have a source with knowledge of the vetting process, and said the following:

http://race42012.com/2012/05/19/the-race-4-2012-rumor-mill-special-weekend-veep-edition/

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Of course, this is just a blog, and presumably doesn't have the same kind of reporting standards as the NYT or WaPo, so it's worth being skeptical.  But it is a somewhat established blog that's been reporting on the race for years.

And even if it's true, it doesn't mean that there aren't additional names to the ones listed above.  In 2008, I think each campaign vetted about a dozen people or so, if not more.

[Mr. Morden]

It's in Romney's political interest to be seen to be considering one or more women on his short list, so even if he really has no intention of picking either Ayotte or McMorris Rodgers, it makes sense to vet them, and leak the fact that he's vetting them.

[Mr. Morden]

I had heard Palin mentioned as a possible VP pick a while before McCain picked her, but then after she gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby, people assumed she wouldn't make the list.

Yeah, she was definitely on the veep radar before announcing she was pregnant.  But only among political junkies who were actually following politics.  The general public had no idea who she was until the day she joined the ticket.

Here's the Palin pregnancy thread from 2008 btw:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=72000.0

[Mr. Morden]

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/228237-team-romney-begins-vetting-his-veep-picks

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So, it's pretty much down to the top two names.  If this has any validity, than Ryan may have refused ??

Even if the source here is accurate, it's likely that those seven names don't constitute the full list.  Like I said, back in 2008, both McCain and Obama reportedly vetted at least a dozen or so people each.