Romney to announce running mate on Saturday @9am ET in Norfolk, VA

[RogueBeaver]

He's being vetted, so obviously is at least willing to entertain the idea.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/06/27/paul_ryan_aiming_for_ways__means_instead_of_vp___114623.html

[RogueBeaver]

He's being vetted, so obviously is at least willing to entertain the idea.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/06/27/paul_ryan_aiming_for_ways__means_instead_of_vp___114623.html

If Paul Ryan wants to be president some day, he'll need to run for Senate or Governor.  Kohl is retiring so he should have run to replace him.  I guess he could run for governor after Walker.

Budget/W&M has much more power than a freshman senator does.

[RogueBeaver]

Ayotte is marching with Romney tomorrow.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/03/12544053-more-clues-emerge-in-veepstakes?lite

[RogueBeaver]

Doubtful Jindal's on the list.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/07/05/romneys_vp_short_list_it_may_be_down_to_four_114698.html

[RogueBeaver]

"Marco Rubio is being thoroughly vetted." Same thing. It would be way OOC for Romney to shortlist a Northeastern 20-monther who barely escaped a TP challenge in her primary 2 years ago.

Again I find myself agreeing with Halperin.

http://thepage.time.com/2012/07/04/superfriends/

[RogueBeaver]

A staff is already being assembled for the eventual nominee, per WaPo. Announcement this month?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-in-final-stages-of-veepstakes-is-weighing-when-to-pick-running-mate/2012/07/08/gJQAfTsaWW_story.html

[RogueBeaver]

NRO feature on Portman.

http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/304969

[RogueBeaver]

I'm inclined to think that the actual vetting is done and what's left is selection, or at least 90% of the vetting is done. Certainly that would be the case if he's going to make an announcement in the next 3 weeks.

[RogueBeaver]

Portman confirmed he's being vetted. Isn't that kinda breaking the rules?

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/veepstakes-portman-met-with-romney-aides/

[RogueBeaver]

Now we're back to "no timeline." Looking increasingly unlikely the announcement will be made within the next week, pre-Olympics.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/mitchell-reports/48150922

[RogueBeaver]

Wrong subforum, methinks.

[RogueBeaver]

This is just a head fake. No way does Romney pick a moderate with no elective experience and closer Bush ties than anyone not named Bush.

[RogueBeaver]

Dunno what's up with Jon Karl but putting Rubio and Ayotte ahead of Ryan/Jindal/ or even Generic R Thune? Really?

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/jonathan-karls-list-vp-field-july-portman-pawlenty-rubio/story?id=16354225#

[RogueBeaver]

A Democratic Super PAC has spent months compiling oppo research on three of the leading contenders: Pawlenty, Portman, and Rubio:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/exclusive-democrats-dump-opposition-research-on-top-vice-presidential-contenders/?=id2

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VeepMistakes.com won't load for me.

In any case, they apparently have 350 pages of files on Portman, 492 on Pawlenty, and 555 on Rubio.

So they spent millions of dollars to vet the candidates for Romney? I don't see why they were dumb enough to release this before Romney announces.

I looked through ABC's summary, all "sensationally headlining gruel" sort of stuff. Just like those accidentally uploaded DCCC oppo files on West, Hayworth and others now available on Breitbart.

[RogueBeaver]

Rubio.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_NkYNDmtdwcX3VLazA1OFBORkk/edit?pli=1

Pawlenty.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/99534475/American-Bridge-Pawlenty-Book

Portman.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/99516970/American-Bridge-Portman-Book

But I'm sure Romney's team hasn't found all this stuff already... thanks, whoever did it.

My only surprise is that they didn't try Jindal or Ryan.

[RogueBeaver]

Conflicting date hints.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/14/romney-talks-vp-prospects-in-e-mail-to-supporters/

[RogueBeaver]

Maybe the Drudge rumor came from people in Rice's political orbit, who think she'd benefit from veep speculation.  Exactly what her ultimate goal is here, though, I don't know.

I'm reminded of Jon Huntsman's quixotic, consultant-driven presidential campaign. Could she be angling for a think-tank appointment or SoS? (I don't think there's any reason to believe that media chatter would make a significant difference in bringing this about.) Could she be considering a challenge to Blumenthal in 2016? (That might be a competitive race, but she's always claimed to have no interest in seeking elected office.)

It came from Park City donors, Boston forwarded the rumors to Drudge as a false flag to distract from this Bain mess. Rice has no interest in elective office- and she's definitely not head-butting CA's PVI wall in a Senate race.

[RogueBeaver]

On FTN just now, Paul Ryan didn't deny that he was being vetted when Schieffer asked him.

[RogueBeaver]

On FTN just now, Paul Ryan didn't deny that he was being vetted when Schieffer asked him.

While I certainly share the sentiment, we've known that for quite a while now. Question is who shows up besides Romney in [insert swing-state rally here] either this week or sometime in August.

[RogueBeaver]

My biggest thing with Condi Rice is that she's not from a swing state. California won't be in play for Republicans for years. I'm really, really partial to candidates from a swing state. People like Ryan, Portman or even Marco Rubio.

Is Rice 'really' from California or Alabama?

Never mind. It doesn't matter. The same statement is true in opposite directions for both. That much being said, I agree with Hagrid on the whole fetishization of running mates from swing states thing.

She's spent most of her academic career in CA but was raised in AL.

[RogueBeaver]

What both Ray and NVGonzalez said. She was never really in it, and I'm sticking to my Paul Ryan prediction.

[RogueBeaver]

A-Bob: What baggage would that be? She served under a Dem guv who has publicly praised her AG performance in the past...

Hagrid: Romney isn't picking a 18-monther regardless of their gender. Plus Martinez is also centre-right last I heard, a Republican can't get elected statewide otherwise.

[RogueBeaver]

So, any predictions as to when the announcement will be? I'm hoping this week. Little choice if he wants it pre-convention since next week will be drowned out by the Olympics.

[RogueBeaver]

NYT on T-Paw. Don't think Romney is going to pick someone who got left at the altar last time. Plus Romney wants an attack dog, which Pawlenty is not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/us/politics/pawlenty-looked-at-as-romney-running-mate.html?pagewanted=all

[RogueBeaver]

It won't be a dark horse, and Thune is the darkest of dark horses. I get a sinking feeling it might be T-Paw, but he's neither an attack dog nor a base-juicer. Still have my fingers crossed.