Romney VP list

[milhouse24]

Probably Mitch Daniels.  Thune is too TARPy

[milhouse24]

I honestly feel that Mitch Daniels would be the best option for every candidate in the field right now.

What about Richard Burr?

Didn't he kill Alex Hamilton?  Or was Dick Cheney doing an impression of him when he shot that guy in the face?

[milhouse24]

Rubio, easily.  He's got the conservative cred and he's both flashy and poised.  I think he's too green, but he's the best to balance Romney.

I still think Romney is a sh**t candidate, tho.

Another person in office in less than two years? It was tried already, in 2008

Yeah, but the difference now is Obama and then Palin lowered the bar for experience on a presidential ticket. Palin's effect on lowering the bar was obviously and decidedly in a negative "not ready for prime time" manner. As a Veep selection also elected to statewide office only 2 years earlier, Rubio would naturally be compared in this respect to Palin. However, Rubio is Palin's polar opposite as far as being telegenic and polished. So not only would he face a lowered expectations bar (at first at least), he'd likely hurdle it by a mile.

Ah, using the old "lowering the bar" argument. 

How about we try the old "raising the bar" argument!!!  Like finding a president and VP who has both competency and experience.  If he's going with florida, he will go with Jeb, not Rubio.

[milhouse24]

At SRLC today, Jindal devoted almost his entire speech to making the exact same fiscal points Romney made during the debate. Coincidence? Given that this fits into an 8-month-old pattern, no. He wants the slot and will get it. With Ryan telling Bob Costa he wants to play a prominent surrogacy role, they can be a very effective tag team on both economics and ER.

I don't think America is ready for a 40 year old Indian-Catholic to be vice-president with a Mormon president.
Mainly because he is too young and the Evangelicals will be mega pissed.

[milhouse24]

Rubio, easily.  He's got the conservative cred and he's both flashy and poised.  I think he's too green, but he's the best to balance Romney.

I still think Romney is a sh**t candidate, tho.

Another person in office in less than two years? It was tried already, in 2008

Yeah, but the difference now is Obama and then Palin lowered the bar for experience on a presidential ticket. Palin's effect on lowering the bar was obviously and decidedly in a negative "not ready for prime time" manner. As a Veep selection also elected to statewide office only 2 years earlier, Rubio would naturally be compared in this respect to Palin. However, Rubio is Palin's polar opposite as far as being telegenic and polished. So not only would he face a lowered expectations bar (at first at least), he'd likely hurdle it by a mile.

Ah, using the old "lowering the bar" argument. 

How about we try the old "raising the bar" argument!!!  Like finding a president and VP who has both competency and experience.  If he's going with florida, he will go with Jeb, not Rubio.

I doubt Jeb would take a backseat to Mitt Romney, nor would it do Romney a lot of good to have the name Bush attached to the ticket. If we are going for a Floridian not named Rubio, why not look at Mel Martinez?

Brilliant, he can pick someone ineligible to be president!  you have to be a US citizen at birth to run for president.

[milhouse24]

Rubio, easily.  He's got the conservative cred and he's both flashy and poised.  I think he's too green, but he's the best to balance Romney.

I still think Romney is a sh**t candidate, tho.

Another person in office in less than two years? It was tried already, in 2008

Yeah, but the difference now is Obama and then Palin lowered the bar for experience on a presidential ticket. Palin's effect on lowering the bar was obviously and decidedly in a negative "not ready for prime time" manner. As a Veep selection also elected to statewide office only 2 years earlier, Rubio would naturally be compared in this respect to Palin. However, Rubio is Palin's polar opposite as far as being telegenic and polished. So not only would he face a lowered expectations bar (at first at least), he'd likely hurdle it by a mile.

Ah, using the old "lowering the bar" argument. 

How about we try the old "raising the bar" argument!!!  Like finding a president and VP who has both competency and experience.  If he's going with florida, he will go with Jeb, not Rubio.

I doubt Jeb would take a backseat to Mitt Romney, nor would it do Romney a lot of good to have the name Bush attached to the ticket. If we are going for a Floridian not named Rubio, why not look at Mel Martinez?

Brilliant, he can pick someone ineligible to be president!  you have to be a US citizen at birth to run for president.

Ha! I feel a little silly, I wasn't aware that Martinez was actually born in Cuba.

Anyways, I think JEB is has more positives than outweight negatives.  Democrats would never vote for a Bush, but I think Indies will vote for a Bush, especially because they are smart enough to realize that Jeb and Dubya are 2 different people from 2 different states, and Jeb is considered the smarter one.

[milhouse24]

Rubio, easily.  He's got the conservative cred and he's both flashy and poised.  I think he's too green, but he's the best to balance Romney.

I still think Romney is a sh**t candidate, tho.

Another person in office in less than two years? It was tried already, in 2008

Yeah, but the difference now is Obama and then Palin lowered the bar for experience on a presidential ticket. Palin's effect on lowering the bar was obviously and decidedly in a negative "not ready for prime time" manner. As a Veep selection also elected to statewide office only 2 years earlier, Rubio would naturally be compared in this respect to Palin. However, Rubio is Palin's polar opposite as far as being telegenic and polished. So not only would he face a lowered expectations bar (at first at least), he'd likely hurdle it by a mile.

Ah, using the old "lowering the bar" argument. 

How about we try the old "raising the bar" argument!!!  Like finding a president and VP who has both competency and experience.  If he's going with florida, he will go with Jeb, not Rubio.

I doubt Jeb would take a backseat to Mitt Romney, nor would it do Romney a lot of good to have the name Bush attached to the ticket. If we are going for a Floridian not named Rubio, why not look at Mel Martinez?

Brilliant, he can pick someone ineligible to be president!  you have to be a US citizen at birth to run for president.

Ha! I feel a little silly, I wasn't aware that Martinez was actually born in Cuba.

Anyways, I think JEB is has more positives than outweight negatives.  Democrats would never vote for a Bush, but I think Indies will vote for a Bush, especially because they are smart enough to realize that Jeb and Dubya are 2 different people from 2 different states, and Jeb is considered the smarter one.

To a well-informed citizen who is politically knowledgeable, this would be absolutely true. However, to suggest that a majority of independent voters fall into this category is to give the population a little too much credit. Besides that, if Romney doesn't go for a young guy with spread appeal, he'll probably want to pick someone with foreign policy credentials.

This isn't to say that Jeb wouldn't be a good pick on paper, but Romney knows that (assuming the economy remains stagnant and unemployment high) he has a clear path to victory and would best served by avoiding anything that could be politically stigmatic and risky. Then again, I could very well be making the common mistake of thinking that the VP candidate is more important than they often turnout to be. In fact, a VP candidate is usually only a major factor when they are hurting the campaign (McCain 2008).

I think polling in the swing states will determine whether Jeb is an asset or a hindrance.  Remember many people enthusiastically voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, and he still has strong evangelical support.  Jeb's a smart thoroughbred, with lots of fundraising and experience, particularly on Central American/Latino issues.  I don't think any one cares about Iraq or Afganistan anymore other than that we should not be there anymore.  Its the economy stupid, and Romney needs to Double-Down on that issue.  John Kerry thought he had more foreign policy experience, and he got massacred on it.  I actually think there are a lot of specific things a VP can do to ensure a winning election (there are also a lot of things a VP can do to hurt the campaign, like Sarah Palin did).  Specifically, a VP can help by delivering a swing state like Florida and Ohio if he/she has strong regional name-recognition and support, and an established volunteer army to GOTV.  The VP also needs to have sufficient experience to take over as President (ie, not Sarah Palin) without training wheels.

[milhouse24]

Rubio, easily.  He's got the conservative cred and he's both flashy and poised.  I think he's too green, but he's the best to balance Romney.

I still think Romney is a sh**t candidate, tho.

Another person in office in less than two years? It was tried already, in 2008

Yeah, but the difference now is Obama and then Palin lowered the bar for experience on a presidential ticket. Palin's effect on lowering the bar was obviously and decidedly in a negative "not ready for prime time" manner. As a Veep selection also elected to statewide office only 2 years earlier, Rubio would naturally be compared in this respect to Palin. However, Rubio is Palin's polar opposite as far as being telegenic and polished. So not only would he face a lowered expectations bar (at first at least), he'd likely hurdle it by a mile.

Ah, using the old "lowering the bar" argument. 

How about we try the old "raising the bar" argument!!!  Like finding a president and VP who has both competency and experience.  If he's going with florida, he will go with Jeb, not Rubio.

I doubt Jeb would take a backseat to Mitt Romney, nor would it do Romney a lot of good to have the name Bush attached to the ticket. If we are going for a Floridian not named Rubio, why not look at Mel Martinez?

Brilliant, he can pick someone ineligible to be president!  you have to be a US citizen at birth to run for president.

Ha! I feel a little silly, I wasn't aware that Martinez was actually born in Cuba.

Anyways, I think JEB is has more positives than outweight negatives.  Democrats would never vote for a Bush, but I think Indies will vote for a Bush, especially because they are smart enough to realize that Jeb and Dubya are 2 different people from 2 different states, and Jeb is considered the smarter one.

To a well-informed citizen who is politically knowledgeable, this would be absolutely true. However, to suggest that a majority of independent voters fall into this category is to give the population a little too much credit. Besides that, if Romney doesn't go for a young guy with spread appeal, he'll probably want to pick someone with foreign policy credentials.

This isn't to say that Jeb wouldn't be a good pick on paper, but Romney knows that (assuming the economy remains stagnant and unemployment high) he has a clear path to victory and would best served by avoiding anything that could be politically stigmatic and risky. Then again, I could very well be making the common mistake of thinking that the VP candidate is more important than they often turnout to be. In fact, a VP candidate is usually only a major factor when they are hurting the campaign (McCain 2008).

I think polling in the swing states will determine whether Jeb is an asset or a hindrance.  Remember many people enthusiastically voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, and he still has strong evangelical support.  Jeb's a smart thoroughbred, with lots of fundraising and experience, particularly on Central American/Latino issues.  I don't think any one cares about Iraq or Afganistan anymore other than that we should not be there anymore.  Its the economy stupid, and Romney needs to Double-Down on that issue.  John Kerry thought he had more foreign policy experience, and he got massacred on it.  I actually think there are a lot of specific things a VP can do to ensure a winning election (there are also a lot of things a VP can do to hurt the campaign, like Sarah Palin did).  Specifically, a VP can help by delivering a swing state like Florida and Ohio if he/she has strong regional name-recognition and support, and an established volunteer army to GOTV.  The VP also needs to have sufficient experience to take over as President (ie, not Sarah Palin) without training wheels.

You could be right about Jeb, it's very early and only time will tell where the public's mindset will be at that stage of the election.

It's not so much Iraq and Afghanistan as much as it is the revolutions in the middle east and our level of involvement in them. It's a delicate situation and it will be an issue in 2012. I agree though that the election will be predominately about the economy and it's on such issues that Romney excels, as a supporter I'm looking forward to it.

I'm not so sure what the VP candidate can do for a nominee outside of be the ugly, sharp toothed side of the campaign. Counting on VP candidates to deliver certain regions or states is a common mistake that political observers make. I think back to the Democrats of 2004 and all the hullabaloo about how great a pick Edwards was and how NC was now in play - and then Kerry lost NC by 13 points. At the end of the day, Romney will win or lose the election based on his own merits, so long as he doesn't pick a gaffe machine.

I'm quite sure Jeb will be able to deliver Florida to the GOP.  You may have a different opinion.  Foreign countries can't vote and don't count in the electoral college.
The candidate with the most states wins, which is usually always the case.