As the seemingly perpetual 2012 Presidential campaign begins its partisan march into the summer months, one specific aspect of the campaigning process will soon start to heat up like the conditions outside: the wild and unbridled speculation about who Mitt Romney will choose to be his Vice Presidential running mate on the Republican ticket. Romney, who began his Vice Presidential vetting process back in May, should in all likelihood have his selection in place by the end of this month, just in time for his newly ordained compadre to prep his or herself for the Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay.
As a tepidly enthused Democrat, I’ll freely admit that I’m not completely pleased with the results of President Obama’s first term in office, but I still see him as a much better option than Mitt Romney, who is running a campaign based around a compassionless corporatist agenda. I can also say that no matter whom Romney picks as his running mate, my chances of voting for him will not increase in any way, shape, or form. However, I do enjoy reading about and studying my ideological adversaries, so from a purely political perspective, I am quite intrigued about whom Romney will select as his running mate.
After researching some of the people whose names have been tossed around by political analysts and insiders as “VP material”, I have created my own little scouting report of the contenders, and rated them (on a scale of 1 to 5) based on how well I, a Democrat, think that they would benefit Romney’s chances of getting elected in November.
Rob Portman: Senator from Ohio
Many recent reports have indicated that Rob Portman is the frontrunner for Romney’s VP slot. At first glance, that would appear to be a headscratcher of a decision. Portman, who has served as Ohio’s junior Senator since 2011, is about as bland as you can get in terms of charisma and diversity. Like Romney, he's a middle aged white man with a stoic demeanor, a dry speaking delivery, and a keen penchant for economics. On a superficial level, Portman is basically a Romney clone. And considering that Romney is very weak in the charisma and likability departments, it seems baffling that he would neglect to counter those weaknesses through his running mate.
But a closer inspection of Portman’s background reveals why Romney is so interested in him at the moment. Unlike Romney, he has never flirted with liberal ideologies. Even a quick glance at his voting record in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, where he served Ohio’s 2nd district from 1993-2005, reveals that Portman is a true blooded Conservative on social, domestic, and foreign issues. He’s also a proven winner, since he won each of his six election bids in the House with over 70% of the vote, along with 57% of the vote in his 2010 Senatorial victory. And his background, which includes a childhood in which he and his siblings played a key role in turning their father’s small forklift sales business into a thriving company, makes him an organic political campaign ad about American resolve and the joys of a free market system.
However, Portman does have one glaring weakness that Obama’s campaign team will certainly pounce on: his ties to the Bush administration. From 2006-2007, Portman served as President George W. Bush’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget. President Obama has continually blamed many of the nation’s current economic woes on the economic policies of former President Bush, so having a guy who was at the forefront of that alleged mismanagement will serve as advertising fodder against Romney’s campaign.
Portman may not be a “sexy” pick, but he is a safe choice from an important swing state, and he will be embraced by Conservatives. Independents, however, may be turned off by the economic ties to the Bush era.
Rating: 3.5/5
Susana Martinez: Governor of New Mexico
Martinez, a supposed dark horse for the Vice Presidential nomination, would add a unique element to the Romney campaign. She was elected Governor of New Mexico in 2010, making her the first female Latino governor in the nation’s history. Polling has suggested that Romney is struggling to garner support from those two key demographics that Martinez represents, so having her on the ticket certainly wouldn’t hurt Romney in improving on those areas. Before becoming governor, she served as District Attorney in New Mexico’s 3rd judicial district from 1997-2011. During that time, she focused on prosecuting cases centered around public corruption. If the Republicans continue to dig for a case against Attorney General Eric Holder in the so-called “Fast and Furious” scandal, Martinez could assist in adding legitimacy and credibility to what at the moment appears to be a purely political sideshow.
But as of early July, “Fast and Furious” is dead in the water. In reality, Martinez’s extensive prosecuting experience may end up being more of a negative than a plus. During her time as both District Attorney and Assistant District Attorney, Martinez was caught up in a couple of scandals and controversies involving her husband, Chuck Franco, who is a prominent law enforcement official in New Mexico. She was accused on at least two occasions of collaborating with her husband on investigations, which raised concerns about a conflict of interest.
Martinez also has very limited experience in higher political offices. She has only been Governor of New Mexico for a little over a year and a half now, and she didn’t hold any major offices before that. The fact that she was a Democrat up until 1995 would also further alienate Tea Party activists who have already questioned Romney’s conservative credentials.
Susana Martinez could potentially be a major asset to Mitt Romney if she is chosen as his running mate. She could also fall flat or hurt his chances altogether if ethics questions about her time as a DA are deeply investigated. At the moment, she is a risky pick.
Rating: 2.5/5
Tim Pawlenty- Former Governor of Minnesota
Like Rob Portman, Tim Pawlenty is a very vanilla fellow. He certainly isn’t the type to rile up crowds and generate excitement…or is he? The Pawlenty most of us knew from his disastrous Presidential bid has all but vanished, at least if you listen to Romney’s campaign aides. No longer does he drone on aimlessly and without conviction. Instead, he is galvanizing crowds at Romney fundraisers, and successfully doing something that Romney seemingly cannot do: personally connect with middle class Republican voters. Pawlenty, whose father was a truck driver and whose mother died when he was 16, serves as a stark contrast to the sliver-spoon-in-hand upbringing of Mitt Romney. Although they deliver their messages in a similar manner, Pawlenty does so with some bootstrappy credentials under his belt, making him appear to be more personable and less robotic.
Pawlenty’s stock is supposedly rising amongst Romney insiders, but even if he has recently transformed into a conservative rabble-rouser, that shouldn’t nullify the fact that his national campaigning skills were abysmal just one year ago. Pawlenty, who entered the 2012 Presidential race as a favorite to win the nomination (along with Mitt Romney), ended up bowing out of the race last August due to poor performances in debates and straw polls. His plummet from first to worst should raise serious questions about his durability as the campaign drags on into the fall. And although he does have a passable conservative record, he did once support cap and trade policies, and his tenure as Governor included a couple major tax hikes in Minnesota. Two big no-no’s for staunch Tea Party backers.
The Romney team seems to view Pawlenty as one of their “safe” choices. However, I think the evidence suggests that he is more likely to be a bust than a hit. Not because he is controversial or divisive. Just because he’s boring, and he himself bores easily.
Rating: 2.5/5
Marco Rubio- Senator from Florida
Marco Rubio is the “Republican Obama”. There is no doubt about it. He is a very young, charismatic, and influential minority politician who is currently viewed as the future face of his respective political party. He became a nationally known figure by winning the GOP Senatorial nomination in Florida over Charlie Crist, the state’s then moderately-leaning Republican governor. Crist then ran as an Independent, and was once again defeated in the general election by Rubio. He is the poster child for conservative steadfastness, and his voice adds flavor and diversity to a political movement that has recently been dominated by crusty octogenarians dressed in 18th century garb.
Rubio, it seems, is the yang to Romney’s yin. His presence on the GOP ticket would nullify almost all of Romney’s personal and political weaknesses. The key word there is almost. Although Rubio is a strongly admired figure in Conservative circles, he isn’t exactly the complete package that some people are billing him as. For example, he has hinted that he supports certain elements of the DREAM Act, which isn’t exactly a cause célèbre of the Tea Party movement. Recent polling has also suggested that Rubio’s presence on the GOP ticket would have little to no effect in increasing Hispanic support for Mitt Romney. That would be a major disappointment.
Rubio could also encounter problems with Independent voters, thanks to current Senatorial Chief of Staff, Caesar Conda. Conda, who served as an assistant to former Vice President Dick Cheney from 2001-2003, was reportedly a key architect of the fairly unpopular Bush tax cuts. Still, Rubio’s pluses outweigh his negatives. In the Republicans’ perfect world, Marco Rubio would give Mitt Romney the bump he needs to win the 2012 election. Then, he would spend the next 8 years being groomed to be the next Reagan.
A pipe dream? Maybe. But Rubio could potentially be a once-in-a-generation choice for the VP slot.
Rating: 4.5/5
Allen West- U.S. Representative, Florida’s 22nd District
Allen West, a former U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and current Representative of Florida’s 22nd district, has been endorsed for Romney’s VP slot by a couple of prominent Conservative pundits, such as Sarah Palin and Herman Cain. But his chances of actually being chosen for the VP vacancy are slim to none. Sure, certain elements of the Tea Party love him for his outspokenness and his military service. But those two qualities alone don’t make him Vice Presidential material.
Hell, he isn’t even below-average Congressional material. And that’s saying something.
West is the perfect fusion of A Few Good Men’s Colonel Nathan Jessup and former U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. He is a deeply paranoid and overly enraged man who sees everybody who disagrees with him as subversives hell bent on replacing American Democracy with some sort of Communist/Sharia unity government. He has falsely accused 80 House Democrats of being closeted Marxists, and just recently alleged that President Obama wants to make the American people “his slave”. His military career also includes an incident in which he violated the army’s Uniform Code of Military Justice by using inappropriate methods to interrogate a prisoner in Iraq.
If Romney wants to watch his campaign crash and burn in an embarrassing manner, he should by all means choose the ticking time bomb that is West for his VP position. But he almost certainly won’t. West’s fiery AM radio shtick has no place in Congress, and it certainly has no place in the second highest office in the land.
Rating: 0.5/5
Rand Paul- Senator from Kentucky
Rand Paul wouldn’t just be a “high risk, high reward” choice to be Mitt Romney’s running mate. He’d be an “extreme risk, extreme reward” choice. Paul’s success or failure as Romney’s running mate would ultimately hinge on one sole factor: his father Ron Paul, and his base of rabidly Libertarian supporters. Ron Paul’s presidential campaign ended largely as a disappointment back in May, but his supporters are definitely not going to vote for Mitt Romney, who they view as an “anti-liberty” establishment figure in the same vein as Obama. Son Rand was also adored by his father’s base up until recently, when he decided to openly endorse Romney for President. Now, he is viewed as a sell out and a traitor.
But if he managed to get onto Romney’s ticket, would that perception change? The answer to that question isn’t so clear.
In one potential scenario, Rand Paul could be selected as Romney’s VP. He could then reshape Romney’s campaign message to include Libertarian causes, such as internet freedom and the legalization of marijuana and other drugs. Then, the supporters of Ron Paul, who as a whole are basically planning to sit out the election at the moment, may flock to Romney, re-embrace Rand Paul, and give Romney a much easier time going up against President Obama.
Or, in another scenario, Ron Paul’s base could view Rand’s complete siding with Romney as the ultimate insult. This could spark a Libertarian insurrection within the GOP, which will either lead to a more aggressive push for Ron Paul to run as an Independent, or current Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson may receive a significant bump in terms of support. Then, Romney could be looking at a Ross Perot or Ralph Nader situation that may cost him the election.
I tend to believe the latter scenario is more likely. Ron Paul supporters are stubborn people, and they are very unlikely to be swayed by having Rand Paul play second fiddle to Romney. In my opinion, the potential after effects of a Rand Paul nomination are too risky for him to be legitimately considered for the VP spot.
Rating: 2/5
Kelly Ayotte- Senator from New Hampshire
Senator Ayotte has reportedly made her way on to Mitt Romney’s VP shortlist, which should immediately raise some eyebrows. She is a 44 year old, staunchly conservative politician who is relatively unknown on a national scale.
Sound familiar? It should.
However, it would be pretty unfair to pigeonhole her as another rouge-maverick-soccer mom based solely on their superficial similarities. Ayotte, after all, does seem to have more than a rudimentary understanding of American politics and world affairs. She is a graduate of Villanova University’s School of Law, and she majored in Political Science during her four years at Penn State. She also served as New Hampshire Attorney General from 2004-2009, where she battled Conservative pariah Planned Parenthood over a New Hampshire law that required abortion providers to the notify parents if their underage child was seeking an abortion. The battle went all the way to the Supreme Court, but she ultimately lost when the New Hampshire State Legislature repealed the law in 2007. Still, this will score her big points with the socially conservative crowd.
She was elected as New Hampshire’s junior Senator in 2011, leaving her with little actual legislative experience to attest to. She did, however, cosponsor the PROTECT IP Act (better known as PIPA) earlier this year. She then quickly withdrew her cosponsorship when throngs of angry voters lambasted the proposed law as an attack on internet freedom. The fact that she originally supported this bill will hurt her in attracting young, tech savvy voters. Generally, though, her stances on the issues will appeal to most conservatives. The only two areas of concern would be her openness to the legalization of medical marijuana, and her prior support for a timetable of withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Ayotte would be a solid choice for the VP slot, and she definitely has the potential to attract more female voters to Romney’s campaign. However, her slim legislative and executive experience, coupled with her unfortunate similarities to the last GOP Vice Presidential candidate, may make her a polarizing figure with the all important Independent voting base.
Ayotte may be a significant upgrade over Sarah Palin, but stereotyping and inexperience will hurt her chances of actually getting on the ticket.
Rating: 3/5
Paul Ryan- U.S. Representative Wisconsin’s 1st District
Paul Ryan may only be 42 years old, but he is hardly a fledgling on the political stage. He was elected to his first term as the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin’s 1st district when he was only 29 years old, back in 1999. Since then, he has built up a reputation as being one of the GOP’s leading economic brainiacs. He currently is the chairman of the House Budget Committee, and he uses that position of influence to promote Conservative budgetary causes that counter those of President Obama’s.
In 2011, he was the central figure who drafted an argued for The Path to Prosperity, the Hollywood-esque title of the Republican Party’s budget proposal for 2012 fiscal year. The bill was highly polarizing in that Conservatives loved it, while Democrats loathed it. Some of its proposals included abolishing Medicare and whittling the six current economic tax brackets down to two. The proposal failed, and he is currently promoting the plan’s sequel, The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal, as America’s budget plan for the 2013 fiscal year. Romney has endorsed that plan, while President Obama has labeled it as “thinly veiled social Darwinism”.
If Mitt Romney wants to run a campaign that focuses solely on hammering home a fiscally conservative economic message, he should choose Ryan as his running mate. A Romney/Ryan ticket would be a dream come true for fiscal conservatives, and Ryan would also come with some added bonuses on the side. For example, he is one of only a few Republican lawmakers who came out against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) earlier this year, which will give him an added appeal to young Independent voters. He is also one of the founders of the “Young Guns Program”, a conservative Congressional effort to unseat longtime incumbents and replace them with young conservative ideologues. That will certainly appeal to the Tea Party Crowd.
However, Ryan does have his drawbacks. He may be a young voter-magnet, but he also tends to repel away elderly voters, who generally have spoken out against his plans to end Medicare. His place on the GOP ticket would also give President Obama a better opportunity to contrast his liberal economic policies with those of the Republicans, and that could be a gamble that Romney may lose. On the whole, though, we would serve as a suitable complement to Romney, and the chances of him straying off message are virtually zero.
Rating- 4/5
Bob McDonnell- Governor of Virginia
Political pundits are currently hyping McDonnell as one of the frontrunners for Romney’s VP vacancy, and why not? He is fiscally and socially conservative, and he has extensive military and political experience. He penned a thesis for Regent University titled The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of The Decade, a document that still gets cited today as a detailed outline of what social conservatism should be. Since becoming governor in 2010, his states’ unemployment rate has lowered from 7.2% to 5.6%. And his prior experience as Virginia’s Attorney General gives him experience in the legal field as well.
McDonnell appears to be the perfect package, but is he really? Virginia is certainly doing better economically than most states, and he is responsible for actually enacting a lot of conservatively-endorsed spending cuts, things that people such as Paul Ryan have proposed, but not successfully made into law. But McDonnell is also responsible for enacting a lot of spending increases. In his first two year budget for the years 2010-2012, he made $51 million in state cuts, but he used $42 million to increase spending in some areas, and raised certain taxes. That isn’t indicative of a purely conservative model of economic governance. That’s more of a centrist model. Still, the results of that plan included a budget surplus that both Republicans and Democrats were pleased with.
McDonnell’s decision making indicates that he is a skilled and thoughtful leader who doesn’t let partisanship cloud his judgment. But in this highly polarizing election cycle, that could end up being his greatest weakness. Conservative pundits may attack his spending increases, while Democrats will try to use his spending increases as an example of why Romney’s vision of pure austerity isn’t an appropriate way to fix our economy. McDonnell’s extreme social views, such as his condemnation of birth control, will also turn off independent voters who are aversive to the religious right. Still, McDonnell is a strong choice who can reinforce Romney’s message about getting the economy back on track through spending cuts.
Rating: 4/5
As a tepidly enthused Democrat, I’ll freely admit that I’m not completely pleased with the results of President Obama’s first term in office, but I still see him as a much better option than Mitt Romney, who is running a campaign based around a compassionless corporatist agenda. I can also say that no matter whom Romney picks as his running mate, my chances of voting for him will not increase in any way, shape, or form. However, I do enjoy reading about and studying my ideological adversaries, so from a purely political perspective, I am quite intrigued about whom Romney will select as his running mate.
After researching some of the people whose names have been tossed around by political analysts and insiders as “VP material”, I have created my own little scouting report of the contenders, and rated them (on a scale of 1 to 5) based on how well I, a Democrat, think that they would benefit Romney’s chances of getting elected in November.
Many recent reports have indicated that Rob Portman is the frontrunner for Romney’s VP slot. At first glance, that would appear to be a headscratcher of a decision. Portman, who has served as Ohio’s junior Senator since 2011, is about as bland as you can get in terms of charisma and diversity. Like Romney, he's a middle aged white man with a stoic demeanor, a dry speaking delivery, and a keen penchant for economics. On a superficial level, Portman is basically a Romney clone. And considering that Romney is very weak in the charisma and likability departments, it seems baffling that he would neglect to counter those weaknesses through his running mate.
But a closer inspection of Portman’s background reveals why Romney is so interested in him at the moment. Unlike Romney, he has never flirted with liberal ideologies. Even a quick glance at his voting record in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, where he served Ohio’s 2nd district from 1993-2005, reveals that Portman is a true blooded Conservative on social, domestic, and foreign issues. He’s also a proven winner, since he won each of his six election bids in the House with over 70% of the vote, along with 57% of the vote in his 2010 Senatorial victory. And his background, which includes a childhood in which he and his siblings played a key role in turning their father’s small forklift sales business into a thriving company, makes him an organic political campaign ad about American resolve and the joys of a free market system.
However, Portman does have one glaring weakness that Obama’s campaign team will certainly pounce on: his ties to the Bush administration. From 2006-2007, Portman served as President George W. Bush’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget. President Obama has continually blamed many of the nation’s current economic woes on the economic policies of former President Bush, so having a guy who was at the forefront of that alleged mismanagement will serve as advertising fodder against Romney’s campaign.
Portman may not be a “sexy” pick, but he is a safe choice from an important swing state, and he will be embraced by Conservatives. Independents, however, may be turned off by the economic ties to the Bush era.
Martinez, a supposed dark horse for the Vice Presidential nomination, would add a unique element to the Romney campaign. She was elected Governor of New Mexico in 2010, making her the first female Latino governor in the nation’s history. Polling has suggested that Romney is struggling to garner support from those two key demographics that Martinez represents, so having her on the ticket certainly wouldn’t hurt Romney in improving on those areas. Before becoming governor, she served as District Attorney in New Mexico’s 3rd judicial district from 1997-2011. During that time, she focused on prosecuting cases centered around public corruption. If the Republicans continue to dig for a case against Attorney General Eric Holder in the so-called “Fast and Furious” scandal, Martinez could assist in adding legitimacy and credibility to what at the moment appears to be a purely political sideshow.
But as of early July, “Fast and Furious” is dead in the water. In reality, Martinez’s extensive prosecuting experience may end up being more of a negative than a plus. During her time as both District Attorney and Assistant District Attorney, Martinez was caught up in a couple of scandals and controversies involving her husband, Chuck Franco, who is a prominent law enforcement official in New Mexico. She was accused on at least two occasions of collaborating with her husband on investigations, which raised concerns about a conflict of interest.
Martinez also has very limited experience in higher political offices. She has only been Governor of New Mexico for a little over a year and a half now, and she didn’t hold any major offices before that. The fact that she was a Democrat up until 1995 would also further alienate Tea Party activists who have already questioned Romney’s conservative credentials.
Susana Martinez could potentially be a major asset to Mitt Romney if she is chosen as his running mate. She could also fall flat or hurt his chances altogether if ethics questions about her time as a DA are deeply investigated. At the moment, she is a risky pick.
Rating: 2.5/5
Like Rob Portman, Tim Pawlenty is a very vanilla fellow. He certainly isn’t the type to rile up crowds and generate excitement…or is he? The Pawlenty most of us knew from his disastrous Presidential bid has all but vanished, at least if you listen to Romney’s campaign aides. No longer does he drone on aimlessly and without conviction. Instead, he is galvanizing crowds at Romney fundraisers, and successfully doing something that Romney seemingly cannot do: personally connect with middle class Republican voters. Pawlenty, whose father was a truck driver and whose mother died when he was 16, serves as a stark contrast to the sliver-spoon-in-hand upbringing of Mitt Romney. Although they deliver their messages in a similar manner, Pawlenty does so with some bootstrappy credentials under his belt, making him appear to be more personable and less robotic.
Pawlenty’s stock is supposedly rising amongst Romney insiders, but even if he has recently transformed into a conservative rabble-rouser, that shouldn’t nullify the fact that his national campaigning skills were abysmal just one year ago. Pawlenty, who entered the 2012 Presidential race as a favorite to win the nomination (along with Mitt Romney), ended up bowing out of the race last August due to poor performances in debates and straw polls. His plummet from first to worst should raise serious questions about his durability as the campaign drags on into the fall. And although he does have a passable conservative record, he did once support cap and trade policies, and his tenure as Governor included a couple major tax hikes in Minnesota. Two big no-no’s for staunch Tea Party backers.
The Romney team seems to view Pawlenty as one of their “safe” choices. However, I think the evidence suggests that he is more likely to be a bust than a hit. Not because he is controversial or divisive. Just because he’s boring, and he himself bores easily.
Rating: 2.5/5
Marco Rubio is the “Republican Obama”. There is no doubt about it. He is a very young, charismatic, and influential minority politician who is currently viewed as the future face of his respective political party. He became a nationally known figure by winning the GOP Senatorial nomination in Florida over Charlie Crist, the state’s then moderately-leaning Republican governor. Crist then ran as an Independent, and was once again defeated in the general election by Rubio. He is the poster child for conservative steadfastness, and his voice adds flavor and diversity to a political movement that has recently been dominated by crusty octogenarians dressed in 18th century garb.
Rubio, it seems, is the yang to Romney’s yin. His presence on the GOP ticket would nullify almost all of Romney’s personal and political weaknesses. The key word there is almost. Although Rubio is a strongly admired figure in Conservative circles, he isn’t exactly the complete package that some people are billing him as. For example, he has hinted that he supports certain elements of the DREAM Act, which isn’t exactly a cause célèbre of the Tea Party movement. Recent polling has also suggested that Rubio’s presence on the GOP ticket would have little to no effect in increasing Hispanic support for Mitt Romney. That would be a major disappointment.
Rubio could also encounter problems with Independent voters, thanks to current Senatorial Chief of Staff, Caesar Conda. Conda, who served as an assistant to former Vice President Dick Cheney from 2001-2003, was reportedly a key architect of the fairly unpopular Bush tax cuts. Still, Rubio’s pluses outweigh his negatives. In the Republicans’ perfect world, Marco Rubio would give Mitt Romney the bump he needs to win the 2012 election. Then, he would spend the next 8 years being groomed to be the next Reagan.
A pipe dream? Maybe. But Rubio could potentially be a once-in-a-generation choice for the VP slot.
Rating: 4.5/5
Allen West, a former U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and current Representative of Florida’s 22nd district, has been endorsed for Romney’s VP slot by a couple of prominent Conservative pundits, such as Sarah Palin and Herman Cain. But his chances of actually being chosen for the VP vacancy are slim to none. Sure, certain elements of the Tea Party love him for his outspokenness and his military service. But those two qualities alone don’t make him Vice Presidential material.
Hell, he isn’t even below-average Congressional material. And that’s saying something.
West is the perfect fusion of A Few Good Men’s Colonel Nathan Jessup and former U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. He is a deeply paranoid and overly enraged man who sees everybody who disagrees with him as subversives hell bent on replacing American Democracy with some sort of Communist/Sharia unity government. He has falsely accused 80 House Democrats of being closeted Marxists, and just recently alleged that President Obama wants to make the American people “his slave”. His military career also includes an incident in which he violated the army’s Uniform Code of Military Justice by using inappropriate methods to interrogate a prisoner in Iraq.
If Romney wants to watch his campaign crash and burn in an embarrassing manner, he should by all means choose the ticking time bomb that is West for his VP position. But he almost certainly won’t. West’s fiery AM radio shtick has no place in Congress, and it certainly has no place in the second highest office in the land.
Rating: 0.5/5
Rand Paul wouldn’t just be a “high risk, high reward” choice to be Mitt Romney’s running mate. He’d be an “extreme risk, extreme reward” choice. Paul’s success or failure as Romney’s running mate would ultimately hinge on one sole factor: his father Ron Paul, and his base of rabidly Libertarian supporters. Ron Paul’s presidential campaign ended largely as a disappointment back in May, but his supporters are definitely not going to vote for Mitt Romney, who they view as an “anti-liberty” establishment figure in the same vein as Obama. Son Rand was also adored by his father’s base up until recently, when he decided to openly endorse Romney for President. Now, he is viewed as a sell out and a traitor.
But if he managed to get onto Romney’s ticket, would that perception change? The answer to that question isn’t so clear.
In one potential scenario, Rand Paul could be selected as Romney’s VP. He could then reshape Romney’s campaign message to include Libertarian causes, such as internet freedom and the legalization of marijuana and other drugs. Then, the supporters of Ron Paul, who as a whole are basically planning to sit out the election at the moment, may flock to Romney, re-embrace Rand Paul, and give Romney a much easier time going up against President Obama.
Or, in another scenario, Ron Paul’s base could view Rand’s complete siding with Romney as the ultimate insult. This could spark a Libertarian insurrection within the GOP, which will either lead to a more aggressive push for Ron Paul to run as an Independent, or current Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson may receive a significant bump in terms of support. Then, Romney could be looking at a Ross Perot or Ralph Nader situation that may cost him the election.
I tend to believe the latter scenario is more likely. Ron Paul supporters are stubborn people, and they are very unlikely to be swayed by having Rand Paul play second fiddle to Romney. In my opinion, the potential after effects of a Rand Paul nomination are too risky for him to be legitimately considered for the VP spot.
Rating: 2/5
Senator Ayotte has reportedly made her way on to Mitt Romney’s VP shortlist, which should immediately raise some eyebrows. She is a 44 year old, staunchly conservative politician who is relatively unknown on a national scale.
Sound familiar? It should.
However, it would be pretty unfair to pigeonhole her as another rouge-maverick-soccer mom based solely on their superficial similarities. Ayotte, after all, does seem to have more than a rudimentary understanding of American politics and world affairs. She is a graduate of Villanova University’s School of Law, and she majored in Political Science during her four years at Penn State. She also served as New Hampshire Attorney General from 2004-2009, where she battled Conservative pariah Planned Parenthood over a New Hampshire law that required abortion providers to the notify parents if their underage child was seeking an abortion. The battle went all the way to the Supreme Court, but she ultimately lost when the New Hampshire State Legislature repealed the law in 2007. Still, this will score her big points with the socially conservative crowd.
She was elected as New Hampshire’s junior Senator in 2011, leaving her with little actual legislative experience to attest to. She did, however, cosponsor the PROTECT IP Act (better known as PIPA) earlier this year. She then quickly withdrew her cosponsorship when throngs of angry voters lambasted the proposed law as an attack on internet freedom. The fact that she originally supported this bill will hurt her in attracting young, tech savvy voters. Generally, though, her stances on the issues will appeal to most conservatives. The only two areas of concern would be her openness to the legalization of medical marijuana, and her prior support for a timetable of withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Ayotte would be a solid choice for the VP slot, and she definitely has the potential to attract more female voters to Romney’s campaign. However, her slim legislative and executive experience, coupled with her unfortunate similarities to the last GOP Vice Presidential candidate, may make her a polarizing figure with the all important Independent voting base.
Ayotte may be a significant upgrade over Sarah Palin, but stereotyping and inexperience will hurt her chances of actually getting on the ticket.
Rating: 3/5
Paul Ryan may only be 42 years old, but he is hardly a fledgling on the political stage. He was elected to his first term as the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin’s 1st district when he was only 29 years old, back in 1999. Since then, he has built up a reputation as being one of the GOP’s leading economic brainiacs. He currently is the chairman of the House Budget Committee, and he uses that position of influence to promote Conservative budgetary causes that counter those of President Obama’s.
In 2011, he was the central figure who drafted an argued for The Path to Prosperity, the Hollywood-esque title of the Republican Party’s budget proposal for 2012 fiscal year. The bill was highly polarizing in that Conservatives loved it, while Democrats loathed it. Some of its proposals included abolishing Medicare and whittling the six current economic tax brackets down to two. The proposal failed, and he is currently promoting the plan’s sequel, The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal, as America’s budget plan for the 2013 fiscal year. Romney has endorsed that plan, while President Obama has labeled it as “thinly veiled social Darwinism”.
If Mitt Romney wants to run a campaign that focuses solely on hammering home a fiscally conservative economic message, he should choose Ryan as his running mate. A Romney/Ryan ticket would be a dream come true for fiscal conservatives, and Ryan would also come with some added bonuses on the side. For example, he is one of only a few Republican lawmakers who came out against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) earlier this year, which will give him an added appeal to young Independent voters. He is also one of the founders of the “Young Guns Program”, a conservative Congressional effort to unseat longtime incumbents and replace them with young conservative ideologues. That will certainly appeal to the Tea Party Crowd.
However, Ryan does have his drawbacks. He may be a young voter-magnet, but he also tends to repel away elderly voters, who generally have spoken out against his plans to end Medicare. His place on the GOP ticket would also give President Obama a better opportunity to contrast his liberal economic policies with those of the Republicans, and that could be a gamble that Romney may lose. On the whole, though, we would serve as a suitable complement to Romney, and the chances of him straying off message are virtually zero.
Rating- 4/5
Political pundits are currently hyping McDonnell as one of the frontrunners for Romney’s VP vacancy, and why not? He is fiscally and socially conservative, and he has extensive military and political experience. He penned a thesis for Regent University titled The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of The Decade, a document that still gets cited today as a detailed outline of what social conservatism should be. Since becoming governor in 2010, his states’ unemployment rate has lowered from 7.2% to 5.6%. And his prior experience as Virginia’s Attorney General gives him experience in the legal field as well.
McDonnell appears to be the perfect package, but is he really? Virginia is certainly doing better economically than most states, and he is responsible for actually enacting a lot of conservatively-endorsed spending cuts, things that people such as Paul Ryan have proposed, but not successfully made into law. But McDonnell is also responsible for enacting a lot of spending increases. In his first two year budget for the years 2010-2012, he made $51 million in state cuts, but he used $42 million to increase spending in some areas, and raised certain taxes. That isn’t indicative of a purely conservative model of economic governance. That’s more of a centrist model. Still, the results of that plan included a budget surplus that both Republicans and Democrats were pleased with.
McDonnell’s decision making indicates that he is a skilled and thoughtful leader who doesn’t let partisanship cloud his judgment. But in this highly polarizing election cycle, that could end up being his greatest weakness. Conservative pundits may attack his spending increases, while Democrats will try to use his spending increases as an example of why Romney’s vision of pure austerity isn’t an appropriate way to fix our economy. McDonnell’s extreme social views, such as his condemnation of birth control, will also turn off independent voters who are aversive to the religious right. Still, McDonnell is a strong choice who can reinforce Romney’s message about getting the economy back on track through spending cuts.
Rating: 4/5
Your revire of Rubio has surface appeal, but I think he loses a lot of luster when one looks deeper. First, he has no executive experience and his actual experience is about equal to Obama's 4 years ago. I don't think Romney wants to be put in the box of claiming that Obama was sufficiently experienced to be president.
ReplyDeleteSecond, niether of Rubio's parents were citic ens at the time of his birth. Is he even constitutionally qualified to be (Vice) President? Is this an argument Romney wants to fight?
Third, Rubio was confirmed as a Mormon. He did later reconvert to Catholocism. I think Romney would want to avoid havinf to defrend "another" Mormon on the ticket.
In my opinion, most damning is that Rubio was the architect of Citizen's Property Insurance. Some citizens pay less than the actuarial rate to insure their homes from hurricane. If the big one hits and Citizens cannot pay its claims, it gets to levy a surcharge against every property and auto insurance policy in the state. Imagine how popular Rubio would be if a Cat 5 hits in October and Citizens has to announce it is levying a $1,200 hit against virtually every Floridian.