Mitt Romney Running Mate Speculation Thread

Sure, and I guess when they both lose the race Ryan has more "prestige."

Lieberman chose to run for Senate even when he was Gore's running mate ... so yeah, Ryan doesn't have to decline to run for his House seat.

One of the main reasons Bush 41 settled on Quayle was the latter opposing most of Reagan's late term dealing with Gorby.

how was Palin in the Biden-Palin debate in '08? are these running-mate debates a big deal? i don't recall hearing about them over here much last time around.

repost dirty gif of Biden and Palin during debate plz

http://lifesteez.com/miscimg/gotthatbitch.gif

By the time of that debate, the Palin bar of expectations had been set so low that all she had to do was not be completely embarrassing for it to count as a triumph. I think the general consensus was that it didn't really help or hurt either of them.

so who will Obama pick as veep?

biden was really good in the debate, he said some plainly heartfelt things about his family which made palin's bear mama (or whatever it was ...) rhetoric look patently empty. the story was just 'palin fails to embarrass self', though

(xpost) Yes--although she still managed to fall short of those abysmally lowered expectations. I feel like I should apologize in advance for knowing this, but Biden was the "winner" in all the post-debate polls by about a 2-1 margin. On the other hand, she did get off one immortal line: "Mind if I call you Joe?"

It'd be fun to use that line in real life with some of you. "Mind if I call you Thomp?" "Mind if I call you Schlump?" "Mind if I call you A Regina Spektor Is Haunting Europe?"

My secret hope for this is that educating the public about Ayn Rand will turn into her becoming this election's Jeremiah Wright. WHY WON'T RYAN DENOUNCE HIS EXTREMIST IDEOLOGICAL MENTOR?

VP debates were handily Biden's but yeah, the CW was that Palin needed to not come out in clown makeup reciting nursery rhymes backwards, so it was a "win." Biden did have that alternately cringe-worthy/heartfelt speech about his roots. (Jon Stewart: "Oh yeah, Sarah Palin? You're from one shithole town? Joe Biden's from four."

Back to back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=638sSV5WByQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4QCcwJjk54

Maybe until you're actually elected it's hard to get your head around the idea that the next president might be you.

And, if you're running for President, you're constantly hearing people introduce someone on stage (you) as "the next President of the United States!" Could imagine that just getting lodged in your head.

A simple explanation that makes perfect sense. Don't think it's a coincidence, though.

My secret hope for this is that educating the public about Ayn Rand will turn into her becoming this election's Jeremiah Wright. WHY WON'T RYAN DENOUNCE HIS EXTREMIST IDEOLOGICAL MENTOR?

considering that ryan is one of the new breed of "professional catholic" politicians his devotion to a notorious atheist is ripe for picking apart

yeah if ayn rand does come up its gonna be in the context of IS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BEING RUN BY ATHEISTS

Frum's thing is pretty interesting--#4 is LBJ's inside-pissing-out theory:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/11/paul-ryan.html

who SHOULD have mitt picked?

lol frum was damn near apopleptic about this pick last night - https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/234147333850406912

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.