Mitt Romney Running Mate Speculation Thread

the prob is he still hasn't won over the base but any pick that will is gonna alienate a lot of people.

this is the beauty of the situation

I think Santorum might have picked Jindal, but I think Romney'll want somebody more Romney-ish - I assume that the party will have figured out that the "match an evidently sane candidate with a totally batshit veep" strategy was a non-starter. McDonnell seems the savviest pick: he's Catholic, southern, ex-military, vocal Romney supporter

right, Alfred, that's my point

Romney/Maturo Jr '12

xpost

yes, please. I figured by using it in the stupidest situations we can get it out of the running

Hologram Tupac is the obvious answer

that kind of calculation betrays a lack of understanding of the (lack of) solidarity of the USA Latino community...which means it's likely just how the Romney camp is thinking

exactly! i don't think they'll do it because it IS the smart thing to do, they'll do it because they THINK its the smart thing to do.

if this was a poll I'd vote Paul Ryan. he plays to the economy theme and has social con bona-fides over Christie who's squishy on guns and gays

can we not use the adjective "squishy" to describe Christie on anything

Christie squishy on gays, film at 11

how about gelatinous

how bout Wellesian?

jeezus, and it's only 4 months til the pick is made

Hmm, maybe he'll pick the person in charge of helping him pick the right person?

Sorry, I don't know which current politics thread is the right one, but does anyone else get the impression that all or most of Mitt's battles have been fought for him? I'm never been impressed by the guy on the stump or stage - too much frenzied stammering, unconvincing line readings, poor turns of phrases and avoidable gaffes - but I wonder if all will simply get worse now that the spotlight is his and his alone, let alone once compared with Obama, who thrives on all those rhetorical fronts.

Ohio senator Portman maybe not

http://www.ontheissues.org/oh/rob_portman.htm

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/10/the-portman-bubble.html

National Journal’s Major Garrett flatly declared that Portman will get the nod, in part because he and Romney have a “genuine rapport.” Garrett acknowledged the downside:

“Portman’s a bore, and their ticket would be boredom squared, or squares squared; he offers nothing to women voters or Latino voters; he carries the taint of Bush-Cheney policies; and he’s not conservative enough for the Tea Party. To one degree or another, these are all valid complaints. But Romney has the same perceived ‘flaws’ and he’s going to win the nomination.”

The Portman boomlet picked up momentum when Politico ran this headline: “Rob Portman tops veepstakes.” The evidence for this? “The name on the lips of most GOP strategists is Ohio senator and former George W. Bush administration official Rob Portman.”

Newsweek’s own Paul Begala was nothing if not definitive:

“You heard it here first: Mitt Romney is going to select Rob Portman, the junior senator from Ohio, to be his running mate…I’m betting that Romney’s choice will reflect who he is: a bloodless technocrat who wants to double down on trickle down.”

"Newsweek's Paul Begala."

offers nothing to women voters or Latino voters

New GOP slogan.

to continue the Hillary 2008: Needs More Kahlua theme from the other head

http://cdn.theatlanticwire.com/img/upload/2012/04/16/RTR30SAA/large.jpg

not true, Newt will offer marriage and/or yard work to both

xp

GIS for Portman suggests I search for Kelly Ayotte

I like the two gay staffers behind HRC already wondering which hotel room they're going back to

what is HRC holding?

She's gonna flick a bottle cap at somebody.

a popper

missing a comma

what, is HRC holding?

The SOS doesn't have all the nuclear codes, right? These photos are starting to make me nervous.

After a few drinks Clinton is known to chuck D batteries at staffers. [citation needed]

lol, these photos are making me wish I'd gone to college with HR because she'd fit right into my peer group

After a few drinks Clinton is known to chuck D batteries at staffers. [citation needed]

don't believe the hype

how low can she go?!

CNN just went through this--all the usual names plus, because Romney's supposedly losing women so badly, Condoleezza Rice. Meanwhile, Ralph Reed, who's been creeping me out for two decades, says that Romney needs more unscripted moments, so people get to know him better. Hasn't every one of Romney's self-inflicted wounds the past few months been an unscripted moment?

hush, let Ralph have his illusions

I'm gonna go with Christine O'Donnell.

For a split second I thought she was aiming for a dartboard across a crowded bar.

I'm gonna go with Christine O'Donnell.

Lord Jesus, I know You are disappointed in me and that my prayers do not ascend to Your great throne. But hear, O Lord, the words of your servant, Deric W. Haircare. He is a good man, and his idea has much lol to recommend it. Christine O'Donnell, Lord. ttyl w/b

rubio's incredibly lukewarm (=overtly unimpressed) endorsements of romney probably mean he's out, no?

mitt's not afraid of the witch

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/13/odonnell-and-romney.html

"i mean, i wish it had been somebody else -- but anybody on the republican ticket will be better than obama" is what he said on the TV IIRC.

rubio's incredibly lukewarm (=overtly unimpressed) endorsements of romney probably mean he's out, no?

Rubio, a protege of Jeb Bush's, surely can read the tea leaves as assiduously as Madison did Gibbon: both look towards 2016.

nah 2012 is actually prob a more winnable election than 2016

The candidate with no incumbent will be less for grabs than the one with an incumbent?

Sean Hannity agrees.

xpost

the gop will still be in basically the same shape it is today, prob worse + the economy will be better + lotsa strong dem candidates

haha how are we defining "strong"? I see a landscape in which "centrism" will triumph over honesty about economics.

It was ever thus -- I just don't know what there is to look forward to in 2016 besides better Nicki Minaj records.

"strong" = "capable of winning a national election"

imo fuck centrism, just look like you make sense and hope that the tea party/weirdo social conservatives/regional wackos continue to keep looking extra crazy and push your platform

what's the platform?

Dems have tread water for years. Tea Party crazies make it easier for Dems to score Halperin-esque "tactical" victories.

well I never said "a solidly left-wing politician is going to win the presidency" but the 2008 and 2012 gop primaries were not aberrations, they're the new norm.

Max Twain‏@MaxTwain

@davidfrum We get it, you are petrified to defend conservatism. That's why you are so comfortable among the Deweys/Fords/Doles/Bushes #tcot

#3 on that frum list was my first thought when i saw the pick -- the most obvious-seeming answer to the who is this for question, right? it's not really for "the base" cuz the base hates obama so much that romney shouldn't have to worry about them; it's not really for "swing voters" because this isn't the guy to get them; but the kochs of the country, the ultrariches with their heads stuffed full of rand, love this guy (the natl review had a hilarious piece where they said ryan was just the kind of brilliant analytical "uber-competent thinker" romney would have hired at bain; he's a ceo's idea of a genius) and w romney's numbers slipping i thought maybe he was hoping for a huge cash injection from a newly enthusiastic plutocracy. who knows tho right.

anagram fun - "Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan" -> "Immoral Ayn Rand-type nut"

awesome!

the most obvious-seeming answer to the who is this for question, right?

Duh, it's for the good of the country, and, by extension, the good of the whole world.

http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/02/the-hunt-for-pufferfish/

Based on their junk-food-saturated vetting diet, they called their undertaking Project Goldfish (after the crackers)—ultimately giving each of the VP finalists an aquatic code name. Myers’ plan was to have Project Goldfish completed by Memorial Day. In April she presented Romney with a list of two dozen names, which he whittled down to 11: Kelly Ayotte, John Cornyn, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Bill Frist, Mike Huckabee, Bob McDonnell, Tim Pawlenty, Rob Portman, Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan.

Within a month, the vetters had assembled preliminary research books on the 11, which Romney perused and then rendered his short list: Christie (Pufferfish), Pawlenty (Lakefish), Portman (Filet o Fish), Rubio (Pescado) and Ryan (Fishconsin).

huck

http://datxvsvmsae0p.cloudfront.net/sw56586001.jpg

should've selected gov. pufferfish.