Posted on 07/27/2012 9:57:10 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has emerged as one of three Republican officeholders who political handicappers say have the most potential to unify the party and boost the fortunes of GOP standard-bearer Mitt Romney as a running mate in November.
While Mr. Romney has revealed little about his vice-presidential search, Mr. McDonnell, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio are widely seen as reliable economic and social conservatives at a time when the party faces the possibility of factional divisions heading into next month’s convention in Tampa, Fla.
The Virginia governor, experienced analysts note, is a staunchly pro-life Catholic with a fiscally conservative reputation and no known opposition among evangelicals, whose votes have been vital to GOP electoral success and many of whom are skeptical about Mr. Romney’s Mormon religion.
The Virginia governor is considered a competent, and at times engaging, speaker not likely to upstage Mr. Romney — unlike, say, more charismatic figures such as Mr. Rubio or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I like what I’ve seen of McDonnell.
Probably a good pick.
Virgina is a must win and McDonnell would play well in the mid-west battleground states of WI, IA and CO.
Rubio is a good pick but FL is probably already a Red State and I’m not sure he could move NM and NV to the Red Side.
That will probably guarantee the loss of well over 100,000 Conservative Republican votes to Virgil Goode ~ and that will probably swing Virginia to the Obama column again.
Romney’s obvious choice, IMHO.
I think McDonnell would be a great pick. He can’t run for governor again, he’s a true conservative, and he can help in Virginia, which Obama is trying to steal. Overall, he’s the best of the lot.
Agreed... and McDonnell has become extremely unpopular here in Hampton Roads with his tollbooths.
My guess is that if McDonnell had chosen to run for President he would have carried Virginia in the primary. So conservative Republicans are supposed to be so angry over not having a chance to vote for Gingrich or Santorum in the spring that they would help Obama get four more years even with a governor they like as the VP nominee? Maybe some will but I doubt it will be 100,000.
Goode's main hope of making an impact is if the Obama campaign funnels money to his campaign.
Obama and Biden will have a field day with these monster middle class tax hikes. Keep in mind these are existing toll free roads and there are no plans to reduce the gas tax to offset these hikes. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/03/virginia-helping-hampton-roads-road-needs
I’m not from Virginia and so cannot criticize those Virginia FReepers who seem to look askance at Governor Bob McDonnell as Romney’s possible VP pick. However, unless McDonnell has some huge skeleton in his closet, his record looks firmly conservative and he seems a reasonable choice. His state being crucial in the election simply gives him an extra bit of an edge. I still like Rubio or Jindal but could support McDonnell, too. I’m sure he could make mincemeat out of Joe Biden in a debate. Then again, who couldn’t?
If the choice comes down to Obama/Biden vs. Romney/McDonnell, it would be the first time that neither major ticket had a mainstream Protestant on it.
And he's there every Sunday. He attends the same church that my daughter does.
Bolling also changed the cut off just a couple of days before the turn-in date.
BTW, none of you guys can prove Romney actually qualified either!
Without the Mittbot nonsense we'd had a regular primary with a lot of candidates, and they would have each gotten more votes than Romney. No one can forget Mitt's pitiful 18,000 votes in the 2008 primary ~ the dude is simply remarkably unpopular in Virginia.
Picking McDonnell will undoubtedly give Democrat crossover voters pause ~ but fur shur it will drive off real Conservative voters.
Good is very popular in the Richmond and Charlottesville areas, where he provided congressional representation for 20+ years and is polling around 10% statewide, a gap Romney has to make up. McDonnell has ruined himself in Hampton Roads (see above example), which is the state’s 2nd largest metro area besides Washington, which will go for Obama. Romney will not carry Virginia if he picks McDonnell because he will need to carry Hampton Roads by a wide margin to make up for Goode being in the race.
And he believes in none of it ~ else he wouldn’t be a Mittbot.
Does not compute.
He’d be a bad pick, but a pick I could see Romney making.
His antediluvian college thesis or whatever it was shows if anything Romney will get it all wrong while supposedly catering to the moderate/independent vote:
McDonnell is someone who would scare moderates on social issue—which is where such voters get scared.
Actually, McDonnell will give that Fluke gal another run at fame.
Who are you to judge what is in a man’s heart and soul?
VA - where Newt was kept off the ballot.
Mittbotism is incompatible with honesty, integrity, conservatism, and a whole lot of other positive stuff.
Old saying, older than the Judeo-Christian tradition, older than Noah ~ "Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas".
I hope you realize there's nothing personal about any of this ~ it's just politics, and Mitt's the wrong dude.
Does not compute.
Compute this. I've been a conservative for many decades and have repeatedly stated on these forums, apparently to no avail, that I never considered Mitt Romney a conservative. He was never my choice in the primaries and I did not vote for him. However, the primaries are long past. Whining about Romney and helping the left beat him with Obama is a foolish waste of time. It's painfully obvious that conservatives (the TEA party) have to wrest control of the RNC from the elites that manipulate the primary selection process that renders a McCain and a Romney as the GOP candidate. That's for the future. Now, Obama must be removed and the only way we have to do that is by defeating him in the presidential election. Romney is the candidate designated to accomplish this, as I expect he will.
I didn't want him, you didn't want him but he is our only real choice unless you want to ride the anti-Romney unicorn, sit home and pout on election day while telling other life-long conservatives that in your exalted opinion, they aren't 'real' conservatives if they vote for Romney. You can drop the condescending 'Romneybot' label while you're at it. I'm about as far from that as as possible and I'm fed up with 'holier-than-thou' FReepers playing that game with anyone who doesn't toe the anti-Romney line on FR. That anti-Romney rubbish helps no one but Obama and I won't be a part of it. If Jim Robinson wants his website to reflect The Daily Koz or The Huffington Post and be 24/7 anti-Romney, that is his prerogative. I don't chose to play that losing game.
I don’t see what McDonnell would bring to the ticket. If Romney can’t win Virgina without picking a favorite son, he’s not going to win the election anyway.
I don’t have an issue with McDonnell, I just don’t see how he brings anything other than possibly winning Virginia which should already be in the Romney win column.
It doesn’t stop there, he went on about how government policies should be designed to keep women out of the workforce and generally put about six feet into his mouth at once.
Do you know McDonnell personally? My daughter does, and I would take her assessment of his character over yours any day.
Well said!
Ryan, Ryan, Ryan.
Jim Scott.....Jim Robinson wrote this some days ago to a disgruntled ABO like yourself. You need to read it:
“I’m very sorry to lose you, but I cannot bring myself to support Romney who for more than thirty years of his adult life (by his own admission) advocated that abortion should be safe and legal in America. He explained that he had believed that since 1970 when his mother ran for the Senate on that platform. Also, he claimed that since Roe v Wade had been in existence for twenty years, it was settled law and should be sustained and supported as such and swore to do so. That plus the fact that he boasted that he would be better for gay rights than Ted Kennedy. And proved it. And the fact that he advocated for and signed into law a socialized healthcare program that eventually morphed into ObamaCare and is now threatening to end constitutionally limited government in America with the traitors on the Supreme Court upholding it. Romney’s entire career was that of a leftist liberal progressive. I cannot support the man. I cannot support the GOP’s sudden lurch to the left.”
Jim Scott - If you don’t like the direction of FR then maybe you should stop posting. Your “pragmatic support” of Romney just doesn’t wash anymore.
Thank you for posting that. More elegant than what I was going to write.
The circular firing squad in here is getting hard to tolerate. Given there are only TWO possible winners in November, either one votes for Obama or Romney. Mitt was my last choice, but the alternative goes against everything this nation stands for.
Bottom line: if you want to vote third party to prove some ideological point - just vote Obama, and join the communist party - same thing. Yeah, Mitt isn’t a rock-ribbed conservative, but he’s proud to be an AMERICAN. Can you say that for Obama? Hell no. Virgil Goode has absolutely no chance in Hell of becoming the President. Get over yourselves. I’m no “Mittbot”, flame away all you want.
Neither does you speaking for the entire forum.
“Jim Scott - If you don’t like the direction of FR then maybe you should stop posting. Your “pragmatic support” of Romney just doesn’t wash anymore.”
Is that you Rahm Emmanuel? If they don’t agree with you, they shouldn’t have freedom of speech? Is that you Thomas Menino?
“If they don’t agree with you, they shouldn’t have freedom of speech? “
Say what? Who was preventing them from speaking?
I look at his public behavior.
And the point was about some doufous who claimed he was a Conservative before March this year and then he chose to do Romney's bidding.
I"m sorry, that just writes you out of Conservatism so fast you wouldn't believe it.
Now, were you a Mittbot before Virginia's March primary?
McDonnell is a confused man.
Let me add McDonnell didn't run as a Conservative anyway. He claimed he was some sort of moderate ~ turns out he was a Mittbot. So, what afraidfortherepublic said wasn't all that well said.
Let me add McDonnell didn't run as a Conservative anyway. He claimed he was some sort of moderate ~ turns out he was a Mittbot. So, what Jim Scott said wasn't all that well said.
Not enough sacrifice there for my taste.
“Neither does you speaking for the entire forum.”
Wake up. The entire forum is owned by Jim Robinson. He can set whatever policy he choses.
He allows persons to post ABO material. However, when you start campaigning for Romney (even under the “pragmatic” approach) you “may” be stepping over a line. That is, of course, for Jim Robinson to decide.
Bottom line is that Jim, and those supporting him like myself, are moving in a direction that opposes GOPe picked posers like Romney. We are sick of them wanting our votes and then picking the “mushy middle” to run as candidates for the GOP. The GOPe does NOT speak for real conservatives. Romney DOES NOT speak for real conservatives. Using Romney as a means to eliminate Obama is a flawed strategy.
BTW - I don’t know of anyone (from JR down) on this forum that won’t be voting for Obama that plans on staying at home. We WILL be voting down ticket for conservatives for House and Senate and state offices. We will vote third party or do a write in for POTUS. We won’t sully ourselves by supporting Romney. We won’t let the GOPe continue to run the party by supporting their picks. To do so just ensures we will NEVER see another Ronald Reagan elected.
And he lives his life according to the Catholic Church.
McDonnell is also a veteran, serving four years on active duty in the Army, then following that up with 16 years in the reserves, retiring as a Lt Colonel.
Romney could not find a better pick.
“Is that you Rahm Emmanuel? If they don’t agree with you, they shouldn’t have freedom of speech? Is that you Thomas Menino?”
No, this is a REAL Conservative that is currently a resident of Missouri. This November, I’m focusing on getting rid of McCaskil and getting Hartzler reelected. I will NOT be sucked into ABO sophistry and support Romney in this election. Of course, I will not support Obama either. I will vote third party - a third party vote is NOT a vote for Obama - a vote is a vote. A vote for Romney is just a vote to keep the rule of the GOP Establishment over real conservatives. It is a vote to ever get a Ronald Reagan in office again.
By working hard to increase conservative members of House and Senate in 2012 and more in 2014, will CAN AND WILL put Obama in check. IF Romney gets in office he will lurch left just as he did in Mass. He WILL hurt the chances of conservatism and cause the GOP to lose seats in 2014 and then get another liberal Dem elected in 2016. No, Romney is NOT the answer. Controling the House and Senate is. Then we can get a real conservative elected as POTUS in 2016.
He tolerates electoral irregularities and corruption.
Interesting...prefer him over Rubio-Jeb Bush’s pick. Does anyone know his stance on the immigration issue....a Jeff Sessions...possibly?
Romney McDonnell. Sounds like a clown.
like ROMBAMA and BIDONNEL ~ all same thing GI
“Sounds like a clown.”
That there is funny.
Under the sign of the gold-plated arses.
Govenors with less than one term in office - they are great if tehy are men, but not Sarah...go figure. For me I want someone like Pawlenty who is not in office, the VP job is 0 importance jsut look at Al Gore or Biden or even Chaney. Leave the good guys in the senate and heading their states.
And the point was about some doufous who claimed he was a Conservative before March this year and then he chose to do Romney's bidding.
I"m sorry, that just writes you out of Conservatism so fast you wouldn't believe it.
Now, were you a Mittbot before Virginia's March primary?
Again with the childish insults? Apparently you and those FReepers who share your views on Romney presume you are demonstrating political sophistication and unassailable integrity by bashing him and calling into question the conservatism of any FReeper that doesn't agree with you. How convenient. That approach of using inferred aspersions on someone else's political integrity is the same type of ploy lefties use all day long to attack those of us on the right, only they infer we are 'racist' or just plain stupid.
Here, on a political website I've been an active part of (6,000 + posts) for over 12 years, my conservative Bona fides and integrity are questioned by smug, self-appointed arbiters of what defines a political conservative who have decreed that to support the putative Republican nominee for president - Mitt Romney - the only real alternative to the Kenyan Marxist, Obama - is tantamount to abandoning conservative principles. I consider that kind of self-serving presumption absurd and I reject it. You can post all the insults you want from this point on because to me, your opinions are no longer relevant and simply the rantings of a person who simply can't face political reality and thinks he hides it by claiming he's the better conservative for doing so. Enough of this. Good day.
They are underwater bridges across a major seaport, do you think they should be free? I live on the Southwest side of the state and I don’t want to pay for Va Beach and NOVA growth problems. You guys keep building houses further and further out and wonder why you have traffic problems.
Actually i really could care less about you ~ I was referring to our doufous governor, McDonnell.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.