Many have been wondering who Romney and the Republican Party is going to announce their as his Vice Presidential candidate. The answer will be announced at the Republican National Convention on August 27th. This year there is no obvious choice for Mitt, and there is no doubt the party is going to take a lot into consideration because of the 2008 Presidential election, when Sarah Palin turned out to be rather
underqualified for the undertaking. It does not seem like a female candidate is a likely choice for Mitt this year.
If Mitt were to choose a female Kelly Ayotte, the New Hampshire state Senator, would be a good fit, however since Romney served a governor of Massachusetts they could run into geographic problems.
Somebody who would help Romney geographically would be Marco Rubio, the Florida state Senator. Rubio is very popular among Hispanics.
I don't see a few promising candidates being worthwhile considerations such as Chris Christie, the New Jersey Governor. If Romney's ticket is going to win he is going to have to grab the votes in the middle of the aisle, Chris Christie does not give that to Romney. Chris Christie would assure Romney conservative votes who think that Romney is too far left. However, those people are going to vote for Romney anyways in fear of Obama. In addition Chris Christie is unapologeticly bold, which some people might call arrogant. When the stiff and robotic Romney goes up against the extremely popular, and likable Obama he is going to need his Vice President to be a likable guy. A Joe Biden like attitude would help Romney.
Also I see Jeb Bushbeing overlooked as a Vice Presidential candidate. Although he is extremely popular in Florida, and would probably be a number two for Romney, I still think the republican party is trying to distance themselves from George W. Bush. And although if he had a different family Jeb Bush might get the nod, I don't see it happening this election. This does not mean that he is not qualified for, most people had considered Jeb to be more likely to run for President than he brother George.
I can't imagine Romney teaming up with Jim DeMint, the South Carolina Senator. DeMint is a tea-party leader and I believe is Romney is going to seek any support from the tea-party, he's going to do it discreetly, due to their negative image.
Other possibilities include Rob Portman, the Ohio state Senator, who has probably the most experience out of the other hopefuls. Another candidate is Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana. Both of these men worked under W. Bush on under Office of the Management of the Budget, but the budget didn't turn out so good under Bush, so I am sure that might get brought up.
Other candidates to look out for are Time Pawlenty, and John Thume, or who knows maybe the Republicans will roll the dice like in 2008 and pick an unknown, we shall wait and see.
3 comments:
Solid post about the question on everyone's mind... I fear that a Kelley Ayotte selection as the vice presidential candidate is simply setting up the republican party for a reenactment of the Palin catastrophe. Both are relatively new to national politics and, interestingly enough are both from about as rural states as they come. Nobody wants their running mate to appear to be a "hick" but the media does like to demonize. A more solid choice, in my opinion and that of several recent national polls, favor Condoleezza Rice. She has years of tried and true, (and successful) experience in national politics that Romney lacks. She is a foreign policy genius, largely uncharted territory for the former governor. A sure way to make up for some of Mitt's shortcomings and is highly likely to sway many uncertain voters.
Kelly Ayotte would be a terrible choice in my opinion. As you said, it would be just another Palin issue. I don't think she knows enough to be able to do the job properly.
If I were to choose a VP for Romney, I'd consider Huntsman. Both are pretty moderate in comparison to other candidates out on the field. The only issue with it would be the fact that both of them are Mormons. I have a feeling many would not be into that.
I agree with both of you when you say that Kelly Ayotte is a horrible choose for vice president. I personally have not liked her since she was the former Attorney General. It would be another Palin situation because Ayotte just does not know enough to help run a country. Although one day it would be cool to see a President or Vice- President from New Hampshire this year is just not the year. Same with a women being either one, it will be awesome when it finally does happen, but for now it is not the time. I think the Republicans are struggling right now so just like McCain choosing Palin as a running mate, they are choosing women as VP candidates because they want to appeal to as many different groups as possible.
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