Posted on 04/19/2012 11:57:18 AM PDT by Kaslin
Some 20 million Americans in primaries and caucuses will take part in selecting the Republican presidential nominee. One person will choose the vice presidential nominee.
This has long struck me as absurd: One person choosing someone who, as a result, might become president for as long as 10 years. But just about everyone in politics says it's the only proper way.
Over the last 25 years, presidential nominees of both parties have engaged in conscientious consultation and have mostly made pretty good choices. No more picks at five o'clock in the morning to meet a convention deadline.
For even longer, every vice president has done constructive work of governance. Voters have come to expect a VP nominee who can contribute substance more than one who can balance a ticket.
Ticket-balancing suggestions have come in to Mitt Romney. He should endorse a fiery cultural conservative, some Republicans say, although he's not likely to name the undisciplined Rick Santorum.
He needs to name a Latino, say others. But the most obvious choice, the eloquent Sen. Marco Rubio, has reiterated his unwillingness to run. So has New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.
The argument that Republicans need additional support from Latinos may be overstated. The 2010 exit poll shows Republicans won 38 percent of the Latino vote -- and that that was enough for a national majority, since they carried whites by a record 60 to 37 percent.
Anyway, ticket-balancing is not the only successful approach, as Bill Clinton understood. When he clinched the Democratic nomination in 1992 as a Southern moderate, it was widely assumed he would pick a Northern liberal, as Jimmy Carter had.
Instead, he chose a fellow Southern Baptist of his own generation with a reputation for moderation and congressional experience in national security issues, Al Gore. They were from adjoining Southern states, and when the ticket was announced they met on the bridge between West Memphis, Ark., and Memphis, Tenn.
This unbalanced ticket won two elections, carrying six of 14 Southern states in both 1992 and 1996. Democratic nominees from Massachusetts, both with Southern running mates, carried none in 1988 and 2004.
A similar approach for Mitt Romney would be what opponents might call a double-vanilla ticket, with another white male as vice presidential nominee.
Four possibilities come to mind. One is Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee Chairman who endorsed Romney and campaigned with him all over Wisconsin. Romney has praised Ryan's budget proposals and has endorsed the fundamentals of Ryan's Medicare plan.
Ryan's in-depth knowledge of budget numbers surely appeals to Romney. The strongest argument against a Ryan nomination is that a President Romney would need him championing his budget and entitlement plans in the House.
Another possible choice is Sen. Rob Portman, who campaigned all over Ohio with Romney. Like Romney, Portman comes from a family with Midwestern manufacturing management experience.
But he's also served in the House and as special trade representative and budget director. And he's had experience in presidential campaigns: He played Democratic nominees in debate prep for Dick Cheney in 2000 and 2004 and John McCain in 2008.
Two governors should make any short list, Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Bob McDonnell of Virginia. Daniels also served as budget director for Bush and is a crusader for entitlement reform. McDonnell has ties to the military as a longtime reservist and as the father of a daughter who served in Iraq.
All four of these potential vanilla running mates take conservative stands on cultural issues but are careful to show respect for those who differ. All have emphasized economics in their campaigns and have run especially well in affluent suburbs, as Romney has in Republican primaries.
Ryan wins big every year in Waukesha County west of Milwaukee. Portman ran well enough in suburbs to carry Ohio's three biggest metro areas in 2010.
Daniels won a higher percentage in Indiana's most affluent area, Hamilton County, than Ronald Reagan did in 1984. And in 2009, McDonnell carried Washington's Northern Virginia suburbs, where he grew up, though they had voted heavily for Obama the year before.
A double-vanilla ticket will be attacked as un-diverse by the media. But if the nominees have rapport and energy, as Clinton and Gore did in 1992, who cares?
The Clinton-Gore ticket regained Southern ground for Democrats. A double-vanilla ticket might enable Republicans to regain ground in affluent suburbs this year.
I saw a 5 minute interview with a guy who was in the race for about 5 days...but I was favorably impressed.
Anyone have an opinion on Thaddeus McCotter? The Wikipedia entry shows him all over the map.
Will Comrade Obama dump foot-in-the-mouth Biden?
In his defense, his old district had a large part of Wayne County so he had to be.
the strategy appears to be smile, sit back, keep your noses clean and just wait for Team Obama to implode.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you - Rob Portman.
Just pick a conservative.
Sounds like a good strategy
In which case, Biden had better watch out: Obama might eat him.
He will do something conventional. It’ll probably be a woman and likely a minority woman. I expect she’ll be more liberal than Romney.
I’m betting if Condi Rice was interested in the job he’d offer it to her in a heart beat.
When we look at how Mormons value woman and people of color we know who wont be a VP pick.
I first heard of him while watching Red Eye on Fox a few years back. McCotter is (or seems to be) an average Joe kind of guy with a wit so dry it would make Steven Wright seem like Sam Kinison, and I tossed a little support to him when he first announced his presidential run. And then he threw his support to Romney after he bailed leaving me with a sour taste. Make of that what you will.
He’s middle of the road with conservative tendencies. That’s the best way I can describe his political outlook. But being from Michigan, I guess has no choice and needs to be that way. Considering what could be in his seat, I don’t have tons to complain about. His voting record doesn’t reflect my stronger conservative views, but overall he is someone I wouldn’t mind seeing in the VP spot. (Doubt it will happen, though)
If he picks McDonnell, I will not only not vote for them, I will activel campaign against them. McDonnell is the worst governor I have seen in Virginia and Doug Wilder and Tim Kaine are both on the list.
Valerie Jarret? no Romney won’t pick her. First she is more liberal than Romney but she has a job, Obama’s handler.
Maybe a wise latina?
Will double vanilla beat the double choclate sprinkled with nut and broken cherries? I don’t know...
Maybe Romney will pick Jon Huntsman for the all-Mormon ticket.
C'mon Wolf... I know you don't like McDonnell and have read your contention about the light rail... but "worst" .. you're saying he's even worse than those two guys?
I like Barone, but come on..using “Biden” and “subtantial” in the same sentence...
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