[MeanWestTexan]

To which I would add:

1. Some portion of the base dislikes Romney so much they will --- right or wrong -- stay home. Best case, they will just vote and not support with money, time, and organization.

2. Obama will use Romney's attacks on McCain to the same effect as McCain is using Biden's and Hillary's attacks on Obama.

[kabar]

You left out one: Not Jewish.

[libh8er]

It’s just amazing so many people hate Romney, and conservatives no less. Most of the Republican primary candidates hated him but that’s understandable. Jealousy was definitely a factor. But NR ?

[Jedidah]

And he is not a vote-getter.

He spent millions, far more than any other candidate, and had very little to show for it when primary season was over.

[ilgipper]

8. Thin skin. In the Republican debates, Romney always wanted to be the focus of attention, taking more than his allotted share of time and reacting badly when others questioned his statements or views. McCain clobbered him in the debates, helping assure his own nomination. Joe Biden would do likewise.

BS. McCain was not good in debates in the primaries, he repeated the same one liners over and over. Mitt did very well in debates with substance style and clear communication. Similarly, Huckabee did will with natural presence, one liners, and good solid social conservative stances. McCain won a three way race over the other two due to a division among party groups...social, fiscal, foreign policy.

[Zevonismymuse]

Some portion of the base dislikes Romney so much they will --- right or wrong -- stay home.

You can insert other names here and have the same reaction. I absolutely detest Huckabee.

Obama will use Romney's attacks on McCain to the same effect as McCain is using Biden's and Hillary's attacks on Obama.

Can you offer a single quote from Romney that is equivalent to Hillary's attacks on Obama?

Are we going to let some Canadian Pro-abortion Giuliani lover like Frum pick our VP?

[CASchack]

I like Romney, but would rather not see him in the VP slot. He is too polarizing.

[longtermmemmory]

Didn’t national review endorse Giuliani?

[perfect_rovian_storm]

That’s a really crappy #1 reason. I usually enjoy using any past deed that Willard Myth Romney has done to tweak his robotic supporters, but even I stayed away from that one. It’s petty.

[Josh Painter]

Frum was one of Giuliani's biggest supporters for the GOP nomination. I don't believe a word he says.

[Perdogg]

The difference is the issue was never over experience or qualifications, but ideas.

In fact, I think it could be a strength.

[Scarchin]

Interesting - but it’s gonna be Mitt!

YAHOOOOO!

[Camel Joe]

FRED THOMPSON:

Kill the terrorists
Secure the borders
Punch the hippies

[According2RecentPollsAirIsGood]

I was just explaining your two additional points to my parents last night. I’ve been saying since the primaries that the GOP could just use soundbites from the Dem primaries without filtering in their ads and be very effective. Good to know McCain had my room bugged. :) However, I’ve also been saying that our nominee should NOT pick someone from our primary contestants for the exact same reason. McCain will be tying his own noose if he picks Romney after his own recent sets of attack ads.

[BigBobber]

10. Inexperience. Romney, a one-term governor who did not run for reelection, has precisely one-third of the elective experience that Dan Quayle had when nominated for Vice President, and Quayle was attacked for his inexperience. A Romney nomination would cut against the grain of one of McCain’s best arguments – Obama’s inexperience – and this is particularly true when placed against Joe Biden.

Coming from a conservative, this reasoning is hard to understand. Romney has been very successful outside of government, which is just the kind of people we want in government.

Also, his government experience was in the executive branch, again the type of experience that shows he knows how to run things. Obama and Biden come up short in both of these areas.

That being said, I think Romney would be a good president but is one of those guy who could never be elected to the position because of the negative reaction he stirs up in a lot of people. He should not be on the ticket.

[MountainDad]

Two reasons he should be the VP:

1. His position on illegal immigrants. 2. His stance fighting radical islam.

Checkmate!

[Will88]

“2. Obama will use Romney’s attacks on McCain to the same effect as McCain is using Biden’s and Hillary’s attacks on Obama.”

I certainly didn’t see all the ads Romney ran, but much of his criticism of McCain was very issue specific, criticism on things such as amnesty where McCain agreed with and worked with Obama and other Dem. candidates. Just what sort of Romney criticism of McCain do you think could be used against a McCain/Romney ticket as some of Biden’s remarks about Obama are being used?

[bayouranger]

I disagree totally.

In my age group (25-35) Romney is a vote magnet. Women love him, guys respect him & he can get the independent vote more so that the other possible choices. That being said, he's personable to boot.

Obama/Biden

McCain/Romney

The choice is too clear.

[Vigilanteman]

An honest critique of these 10 reasons:

1. Family dog-- stupid argument. Never gained traction in the primaries.
   
2. Accomplishments as governor-- mainly valid argument, although Massachusetts was in less economic trouble when he left office than when he came in. The default setting for any lieberal state is economic trouble.
   
3. One term pledge-- stupid argument. I've never heard McCain make a one-term pledge, either implicitly or otherwise.
   
4. Windsurfing and hedge funds-- somewhat valid. Yeah, Romney is rich, just like Kerry. But he earned it rather than married it.
   
5. 2006 re-election-- stupid argument. Robert Erlich, who did a great job for Maryland and had high approval ratings, still lost in 2006. The default setting for Lieberal states is electing anyone with a "D" after their name. Especially in 2006.
   
6. Pro-life flip-flop. Valid argument. On the other hand, always pro-life McCain has Warren Rudmen advising him on judicial appointment. The same Warren Rudmen who gave us David Souter. How is a guy in the #2 slot going to improve this situation?
   
7. Everybody ganged up on him. Stupid argument. Hucksterbee was the only one totally focused on getting Romney out of the race, and for his own reasons of personal and religious hatred. McCain wanted him out only because he was his most serious challenger. Guilani's campaign was pathetic and he was never a factor. Fred Thompson actually cooperated with Romney by pulling out of Michigan so Romney would pull out of South Carolina. The strategy worked great for Romney, not so well for Fred.
   
8. Thin skin-- stupid argument. Nobody got attacked more and nobody held up better. He was the only one of the majors who had the backbone to actually run negative advertising against McCain.
   
9. Economy-- partially valid argument. He did a credible, but not a bang-up job on Massachusetts. Club for Growth said so. He did a bang-up job on the 2002 Olympics and Bain Capital where he was working with rational business people, not an overwhelmingly Marxist legislature.
   
10. Inexperience-- stupid argument. We could actually use more successful business people in government. Yeah, Paul O'Neill was a disaster, as have been other successful business people. But the pool is small compared with the pool of professional politicians who have been even bigger disasters. Ronald Reagan was a successful businessman before he went into politics. He wasn't the only one. The idea that our political leaders should be selected only from our pool of professional politicians is stupid.

    The final score:

    1. Valid arguments- 10%
       
    2. Partially valid- 30%
       
    3. Stupid arguments- 60%.

[Theresawithanh]

I predict that McCain will surprise us all with the person he picks as his VP. There will be exploding heads. After all, McCain has made all of our heads explode at one time or another.

I don’t think it’ll be Romney. If it is, I think we’ll get to see what 8 years of Obama will be like. The good side? Hillary (and Bill) will be old news by 2012.

[Fudd Fan]

Well you sure surprised me! I thought your list would look like this:

1. He’s a Mormon
2. He’s a Mormon
3. He’s a Mormon
4. He’s a Mormon
5. He’s a Mormon
6. He’s a Mormon
7. He’s a Mormon
8. He’s a Mormon
9. He’s a Mormon
10. He’s a Mormon

But that would have been just a tad obvious, wouldn’t it.