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

[Politico]

My take: The ticket needs a safe choice with humble Midwestern roots in order to help penetrate Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and perhaps Minnesota. That leaves five candidates: Portman, Daniels, Ryan, Thune and Pawlenty.

Portman and Daniels are too closely associated with the Bush Administration. Either one is a HUGE mistake, if you ask me and many others. Besides, Portman does not have the humblest of Midwestern roots (his father was very well-off by the time Portman was a teenager, much like the case of Romney).

Even though I think Ryan would be the best VP of the bunch, he is too young and youthful-looking. Most importantly, he is too likely to scare too many seniors due to the Medicare imbroglio and his youthful appearance.

My conclusion: It's Thune or Pawlenty. Since Thune's name is no longer being thrown around much, which is also what happened with Biden and Palin (who reportedly beat out Pawlenty), I say it's Thune. Also, it's funny how no other individual in the poll beats Thune. I am guessing a similar poll in the Romney campaign is producing the same result, although obviously the final choice is Romney's to make. For what it's worth, Thune is a conservative, but not an ideologue, which is in line with Romney's personality.

Addendum: Let's not forget that Pawlenty coined "Obamneycare," has a gubernatorial record that can be directly compared with Romney's (not necessarily a good thing), and has no foreign policy experience. Thune has none of these downsides. In fact, I cannot think of a single downside to Thune other than his home state already being a lock (which he makes up for with his humble, Midwestern roots, which will play well and be a valuable asset in states like Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, etc.). With that said, no running mate has truly "delivered" their home state since LBJ, so that effect is overrated IMHO.

[Politico]

Thune with wind, Romney's already far in the hole there, what is going to do with the guy who's always been for wind credits.

If that is the biggest downside, it's a no-brainer to go with Thune. Independents tend to love wind energy, but federal subsidies for alternative energy is very low on the priority list for most everybody not solidly in the Obama column (I'd guess it's second only to gay marriage on the priority list of undecideds).

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True. Would be even better than Ryan. What a shame.

[Politico]

My take: The ticket needs a safe choice with humble Midwestern roots in order to help penetrate Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and perhaps Minnesota. That leaves five candidates: Portman, Daniels, Ryan, Thune and Pawlenty.
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Since when is Paul Ryan a "safe" pick?

He's not, as I have already argued. I made a mistake. I should have qualified the last sentence with "that arguably leaves five candidates..."