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

[HagridOfTheDeep]

A-Bob: What baggage would that be? She served under a Dem guv who has publicly praised her AG performance in the past...

Hagrid: Romney isn't picking a 18-monther regardless of their gender. Plus Martinez is also centre-right last I heard, a Republican can't get elected statewide otherwise.

Nah, I know she's not gonna be chosen. But I believe Martinez is a rare example of a pick who would surpass expectations. She's high-calibre, and I hope she's got a bright future in the party.

[RogueBeaver]

So, any predictions as to when the announcement will be? I'm hoping this week. Little choice if he wants it pre-convention since next week will be drowned out by the Olympics.

[Frodo]

So, any predictions as to when the announcement will be? I'm hoping this week. Little choice if he wants it pre-convention since next week will be drowned out by the Olympics.

My guess would be that Mitt Romney himself will announce his VP choice during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.  

[Mr. Morden]

So, any predictions as to when the announcement will be? I'm hoping this week. Little choice if he wants it pre-convention since next week will be drowned out by the Olympics.

The way these things tend to work, we'd likely hear some kind of pre-announcement rumors or hints about the announcement taking place at a particular location and time, probably at least three days in advance.  So the fact that we haven't heard any such thing yet, means that we've probably already run out of time pre-Olympics.

Maybe the announcement will be on Thursday of this week or something, but that's probably the limit, before it makes sense to delay until before the Olympics.  It's not going to be made on a weekend, unless the weekend is immediately before the convention, and next week Monday we're just a couple of days before Romney leaves for Europe.

[Bull Moose Base]

It'll be a couple days before the convention as per convention. Can't imagine it's not Pawlenty.  I guess Portman is possible.

[RogueBeaver]

NYT on T-Paw. Don't think Romney is going to pick someone who got left at the altar last time. Plus Romney wants an attack dog, which Pawlenty is not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/us/politics/pawlenty-looked-at-as-romney-running-mate.html?pagewanted=all

[Mr. Morden]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6_mWlAOLn0

She gave a terrible interview on ABC. Does this take her out of the running for VP?

Bad, though of course it doesn't match the ultimate veep implosion from four years ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0b59Jlbq1M

[Mr. Morden]

Thune admits that he's been to Boston to meet with Romney senior advisors, including Beth Myers:

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/237983-thune-rising-gop-senator-on-romney-veepstakes-and-his-future

He won't directly say if he's being vetted, but there aren't a whole lot of other reasons to meet with Beth Myers, since she's basically doing full time veep vetting.

[Mr. Morden]

NYT on T-Paw. Don't think Romney is going to pick someone who got left at the altar last time. Plus Romney wants an attack dog, which Pawlenty is not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/us/politics/pawlenty-looked-at-as-romney-running-mate.html?pagewanted=all

The most interesting thing in that story is this:

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[Niemeyerite]

So, Thune is probably the VP choice. Not bad. Better than Ryan, T-Paw, Portman and Condi, IMHO.

[RogueBeaver]

It won't be a dark horse, and Thune is the darkest of dark horses. I get a sinking feeling it might be T-Paw, but he's neither an attack dog nor a base-juicer. Still have my fingers crossed.

[Keystone Phil]

The New York Times reports that friends of Romney claim he has decided on a running mate and may announce his choice this week.

[Supersonic]

Hopefully it's Ryan, although I have my doubts.

[RogueBeaver]

A joint fundraiser with Jindal today has stoked some speculation, though highly doubtful.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303612804577529033908930986.html

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I really don't see how one clue points to a certain contender over another. There's a bunch of crap flying around, and the honest truth is, we have no idea who it's gonna be.

[RogueBeaver]

You can't precisely call it, but historical precedent is a pretty good guide. That's how I arrived at my Palin prediction in '08 well before it was fashionable. Precedent (Dole, GHWB, Quayle, Kemp, Palin) suggests Romney selects a younger person from another wing of the party. So I'd be surprised if it was someone other than Pawlenty or Ryan.

[RogueBeaver]

Race 4 2012 ranks Jindal ahead of Portman and Ryan but that makes no sense. Can't see Romney picking someone he barely knows.

http://race42012.com/2012/07/16/vp-power-rankings-july/

[Grumpier Than Thou]

What both Ray and NVGonzalez said. She was never really in it, and I'm sticking to my Paul Ryan prediction.

^^^

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Apparently Drudge is now saying it's T-Paw?

http://politicker.com/2012/07/matt-drudge-names-another-potential-romney-veep-pick/

Either way, it looks like we might be close to hearing something. If the Romney camp is leaking its top few choices to see how they go over, we're nearing the finish line.

Personally, Pawlently is probably the most anti-exciting choice he could possibly make. At least Portman doesn't look like a whiney pony. Pawlenty would be a big disappointment.

[RogueBeaver]

Drudge is more likely a false-flag given his ties to Boston and Condi stuff last week. Plus he's gotten just about every Veep wrong on both sides- in 2008 he called Bayh as Obama's running mate and either Romney or Pawlenty as McCain's, just to name one cycle.

[milhouse24]

You can't precisely call it, but historical precedent is a pretty good guide. That's how I arrived at my Palin prediction in '08 well before it was fashionable. Precedent (Dole, GHWB, Quayle, Kemp, Palin) suggests Romney selects a younger person from another wing of the party. So I'd be surprised if it was someone other than Pawlenty or Ryan.

If that is the case, out of the usual suspects, I think Thune has the biggest difference with Mitt.  He's evangelical and has served in Congress. 

Portman is also a Congressional insider, but doesn't have much of a voter bloc outside of Ohio. 

I'm not sure about Jindal, he's still very young, Catholic, and I don't think he has a voter bloc outside of LA.  He wouldn't appeal to hispanics. 

The other option would choosing a Woman or a Hispanic Woman. 

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I wonder if this tax return/Bain stuff is forcing Romney to come out with his running mate earlier than he would have liked. This is getting awfully close to the Olympics and his Europe trip. But it sure looks like we could be hearing something soon.

It explains the contradictions we've been getting from his campaign.

[RogueBeaver]

Thune is not going to juice the base, has done no surrogacy for Romney and has never met Romney one-on-one so far as we know. An establishmentarian who won't juice the base and has never been publicly vetted. Not happening.

[RogueBeaver]

I wonder if this tax return/Bain stuff is forcing Romney to come out with his running mate earlier than he would have liked. This is getting awfully close to the Olympics and his Europe trip. But it sure looks like we could be hearing something soon.

It explains the contradictions we've been getting from his campaign.

The first rumors about an early pick were what, 5-6 weeks ago for a search process that began 3 months ago? Plus all the shortlisters have been publicly vetted (and in Pawlenty's case, privately) to at least some extent, making her job easier.

[RogueBeaver]

Fehrnstrom denied, per CNN, that Romney has already decided. Didn't deny that the pick might be this week.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/16/romney-aide-no-decision-on-running-mate/