Who would be solid GOP VP choices and who would be disasters?

[sg0508]

Obviously it depends on who leads the ticket, but in general, who would be a good VP choice? I have a feeling for whatever reason that the VP running mate is not even involved in the primary.

I think John Thune would be an excellent choice.  Rubio of FL? Meh.  I think Perry/DeMint and someone of that nature would be a disaster.

[Yelnoc]

Thune, Daniels, and McDonnell would all be good picks.  DeMint, any freshman senator, and any current or former Presidential candidate would be bad picks.

[RogueBeaver]

DeMint will never leave the Senate and his role as conservative kingmaker, especially not for the Veepship.

Thune: You mean Sen. Pawlenty?

My choices remain McDonnell and Jindal. No 20-monthers. Ryan's too valuable where he is right now, so he's out.

[Politico]

Gov. McDonnell is probably the best choice for Romney. He probably locks up Virginia/North Carolina early on. The choice maintains the professional, good-looking, outside-of-Washington image, too (neither Romney nor McDonnell has ever served in Washington, DC). The ticket lacked a southern voice last time, and that may have hurt in Virginia/North Carolina/Florida. The last few times somebody from the northeast garnered the top spot of a major presidential ticket, they chose a southerner for a running mate and for good reason...

[Stranger in a strange land]

Thune, Daniels, and McDonnell would all be good picks.  DeMint, any freshman senator, and any current or former Presidential candidate would be bad picks.

Daniels is a terrible choice for the reason that he decided not to run for president: his messy personal life. His wife left him, and he took her back when she came back to him after he struck it rich as an executive for Eli Lilly, which in the eyes of the electorate is probably worse than if he had committed adultery. It shows him as a weak individual without an ounce of self-respect. Not the sort of person you want in line for the presidency. Imagine if the shoe were on the other foot and if he were a battered woman who kept running back to her abusive husband.

Thune is a safe choice. McDonnell is probably the best.

Cain, Bachmann, and Perry would all be complete disasters.

[California8429]

McDonnell, Thune, Rubio, Daniels are all safe good picks.

Christie is a wild card. He'll bring energy, but his mouth is uncontrollable and he's starting to piss off the far right (so it won't help Romney).

None of the current or former Presidential candidates from this 2012 race should be picked nor would they be good VPs.

Martinez from New Mexico is also an option. Portman in Ohio.

[RogueBeaver]

Thune is the Senate Pawlenty, Rubio and Christie are Shermanesque and too inexperienced, and what Stranger said about Daniels. Martinez and Portman are 20-monthers, and in Martinez's pick would be too inexperienced to ward off charges of an AA pick.

[pbrower2a]

Obviously it depends on who leads the ticket, but in general, who would be a good VP choice? I have a feeling for whatever reason that the VP running mate is not even involved in the primary.

I think John Thune would be an excellent choice.  Rubio of FL? Meh.  I think Perry/DeMint and someone of that nature would be a disaster.

Who would be a disaster?

1. A nutter. That should be obvious enough. This includes anyone rash enough to foster any religious divides. 

2. A Southern reactionary. First, the GOP nominee who has any trouble holding onto any part of the South is cooked, anyway, so that is an admission of the near-certainty of defeat. Second, such will remind voters in the North of why they are uneasy with the GOP.

3. Any "token" chosen entirely for 'ethnic' or gender balance. Americans have largely caught onto that ploy, and distrust tokens of any kind who usually prove rigid, incompetent, or corrupt.  The Democrats already have Barack Obama, who is flexible, adept, and scrupulous.   

4. Anyone associated in any way with President George W. Bush, who remains terribly unpopular.   

[Wonkish1]

Since the odds on Newt are rising pretty high these days.

I'll throw one out that while not probable has a pretty decent chance(given Newt's style), Gov. Luis Fortuno. Look it up.

[Oakvale]

McDonnell seems fairly boring and mainstream, which is what you want in a Vice-President. I assume the GOP will want to avoid gimmick candidates like Rubio and Martinez after the last time. Not that I'm suggesting that either would be anywhere near as bad as Palin, but, still, focus on the top of the ticket.

Daniels' personal life obviously disqualifies him, although let's not forget that it's possible Newt Gingrich could be the Presidential nominee, so, uh, yeah.

[Stranger in a strange land]

McDonnell seems fairly boring and mainstream, which is what you want in a Vice-President. I assume the GOP will want to avoid gimmick candidates like Rubio and Martinez after the last time. Not that I'm suggesting that either would be anywhere near as bad as Palin, but, still, focus on the top of the ticket.

But remember that a large portion of the Republican base still thinks Palin was a good VP pick

[M]

Depends on the nominee, but I think decent choices include Rubio, McDonnell, Cantor, Christie, and Daniels (as well as Romney if he isn't the nominee).

Bad choices would be anyone not thoroughly vetted, like Martinez or Sandoval.

For my money, Cantor is a very interesting choice. A Virginian, a conservative Southerner but also a minority (Jewish), a successful legislator, and with strong foreign policy credentials. More so for Romney than for Gingrich, he's a very interesting choice - one of the few options who might help in both the South and the Rust Belt.

[FloridaRepublican]

Solid: Thune, Daniels, Christie, Cantor
Disaster: Pretty much any southerner

[Oakvale]

McDonnell seems fairly boring and mainstream, which is what you want in a Vice-President. I assume the GOP will want to avoid gimmick candidates like Rubio and Martinez after the last time. Not that I'm suggesting that either would be anywhere near as bad as Palin, but, still, focus on the top of the ticket.

But remember that a large portion of the Republican base still thinks Palin was a good VP pick

Yeah, but fortunately for the nominee, the base doesn't pick the VP candidate.

[Stranger in a strange land]

McDonnell seems fairly boring and mainstream, which is what you want in a Vice-President. I assume the GOP will want to avoid gimmick candidates like Rubio and Martinez after the last time. Not that I'm suggesting that either would be anywhere near as bad as Palin, but, still, focus on the top of the ticket.

But remember that a large portion of the Republican base still thinks Palin was a good VP pick

Yeah, but fortunately for the nominee, the base doesn't pick the VP candidate.

That's why I think Thune is the best choice for either Gingrich or Romney: conservative enough that he won't piss off the base, but also with enough self-control that he won't repeatedly shoot himself in the foot with self-inflicted gaffes.

[Mr. Morden]

For my money, Cantor is a very interesting choice. A Virginian, a conservative Southerner but also a minority (Jewish), a successful legislator, and with strong foreign policy credentials. More so for Romney than for Gingrich, he's a very interesting choice - one of the few options who might help in both the South and the Rust Belt.

Romney is too cautious to roll the dice on America being ready for a Mormon/Jewish ticket.

[argentarius]

Any of the tea party women would be disasters. I think the republican candidate should try and get Ron Paul on the ticket as the republican nominee will need every libertarian vote that they can get. However, for obvious reasons (disagreeing on all policies, perhaps Paul won't want it) that's very unlikely to happen.

Daniels, Thune, Huckabee and Christie would all be fine VP choices, partly because the media likes them. They're not very gaffe-prone which is a MAJOR VP plus, though Christie portrays himself as a guy who will say whatever pops into his head, he's a very smart individual and won't shoot his mouth off.

I think Rubio would be a bad pick. I don't see the election being decided in Florida and to be honest this guy is not a great speaker, never mind the fact that it seems every time he says something of note it's protesting tax increases to the rich and deciding if Obama is the worst president ever. He also seems like he could have a gaffe or two though someone who knows more about him may be able to correct me there. His voice doesn't help either. It's a shame too, he ticked the main 3 boxes, minority group, a tea partyer (to please the base) and not being a die hard tea partyer (not to alienate moderates).

[Oakvale]

I don't think Vice-Presidents matter much, except that a really poor pick can damage the ticket. I don't believe a Vice-Presidential choice ever actually has a really positive impact. The most you can hope for is neutral. I mean, I guess there's some wingnuts who voted more enthusiastically for McCain because of the Palin pick, but  A) they were going to vote for McCain anyway - a reluctant vote is a vote nonetheless and B) Palin obviously freaked out a lot of people and almost certainly cost McCain votes on balance.

For my money, Cantor is a very interesting choice. A Virginian, a conservative Southerner but also a minority (Jewish), a successful legislator, and with strong foreign policy credentials. More so for Romney than for Gingrich, he's a very interesting choice - one of the few options who might help in both the South and the Rust Belt.

Romney is too cautious to roll the dice on America being ready for a Mormon/Jewish ticket.

Yeah, I don't see it. Romney would presumably pick a boilerplate conservative who no-one really notices. This is not a bad thing.

Any of the tea party women would be disasters. I think the republican candidate should try and get Ron Paul on the ticket as the republican nominee will need every libertarian vote that they can get. However, for obvious reasons (disagreeing on all policies, perhaps Paul won't want it) that's very unlikely to happen.

There's no such thing as the "libertarian" vote. I mean, there's probably some Republicans who identify as such, but they're going to vote Republican anyway. The actual libertarians are going to vote for the sci-fi author or whatever that the Libertarians nominate, I assume.

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Agree except for Daniels and Christie. Daniels because of his distracting personal life, Christie because he'd draw attention away from the top of the ticket. Thune and Huckabee are probably good picks.

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I actually completely agree here. I don't see the appeal of Rubio at all.

[cavalcade]

It's hard to imagine Newt picking a fellow Catholic.  It's also hard to imagine Romney not picking a Protestant.

This is interesting as so many of the people in the VP discussion are Catholics.

[M]

For my money, Cantor is a very interesting choice. A Virginian, a conservative Southerner but also a minority (Jewish), a successful legislator, and with strong foreign policy credentials. More so for Romney than for Gingrich, he's a very interesting choice - one of the few options who might help in both the South and the Rust Belt.

Romney is too cautious to roll the dice on America being ready for a Mormon/Jewish ticket.

A Gentile-less ticket?

[Stranger in a strange land]

Any of the tea party women would be disasters. I think the republican candidate should try and get Ron Paul on the ticket as the republican nominee will need every libertarian vote that they can get. However, for obvious reasons (disagreeing on all policies, perhaps Paul won't want it) that's very unlikely to happen.

Daniels, Thune, Huckabee and Christie would all be fine VP choices, partly because the media likes them. They're not very gaffe-prone which is a MAJOR VP plus, though Christie portrays himself as a guy who will say whatever pops into his head, he's a very smart individual and won't shoot his mouth off.

I think Rubio would be a bad pick. I don't see the election being decided in Florida and to be honest this guy is not a great speaker, never mind the fact that it seems every time he says something of note it's protesting tax increases to the rich and deciding if Obama is the worst president ever. He also seems like he could have a gaffe or two though someone who knows more about him may be able to correct me there. His voice doesn't help either. It's a shame too, he ticked the main 3 boxes, minority group, a tea partyer (to please the base) and not being a die hard tea partyer (not to alienate moderates).

Paul wouldn't be a good choice: he's idologically too far from Gingrich and Romney, and I very much doubt he would be willing to hold his views on Israel, corporate welfare, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in check. The only way a VP can fail worse than making embarrassing gaffes is to run around contradicting the top of the ticket. That's why Palin was a fail VP candidate on all counts.

[LastVoter]

Since the odds on Newt are rising pretty high these days.

I'll throw one out that while not probable has a pretty decent chance(given Newt's style), Gov. Luis Fortuno. Look it up.

He is not necessarily a Republican.

[Simfan34]

I think Daniels would make a decent VP, especially for Gingrich. I really don't think people would read too much into his divorce- you assume the people are going to take the time to make deductions on his character. Ususally people say "aw, that's sweet" to re-marriages.

[Wonkish1]

Since the odds on Newt are rising pretty high these days.

I'll throw one out that while not probable has a pretty decent chance(given Newt's style), Gov. Luis Fortuno. Look it up.

He is not necessarily a Republican.

Are you serious? He is Republican Governor. A member of the Republican party. He is a member of the RNC. And he has probably cut spending by a percentage equal to practically all other Republican governors in the country combined and now the economy is starting to boom.

[Simfan34]

Since the odds on Newt are rising pretty high these days.

I'll throw one out that while not probable has a pretty decent chance(given Newt's style), Gov. Luis Fortuno. Look it up.

He is not necessarily a Republican.

Are you serious? He is Republican Governor. A member of the Republican party. He is a member of the RNC. And he has probably cut spending by a percentage equal to practically all other Republican governors in the country combined and now the economy is starting to boom.

I said I'd like the idea back in June, but it's also important to note that he has abysmally low approval ratings... although I expect them to pick up dramatically by Summer 2012. A brilliant record, however, and he is altogether my favorite choice.