I agree, but given that our pundit class largely approves of corporate clowns, that usually doesn’t tend to be much of an electoral handicap in and of itself.
I was thinking that, too. I still believe Rubio would be more politically helpful to Romney, but Santorum might not be a bad pick from Romney’s POV.
Rubio said just last week, “I am not going to be vice president.”, and that is one of many similar statements he’s made. Other prominent Hispanic Republicans have been even more explicit in saying they would refuse the position if offered to them.
There is some opinion that the Republicans and Romney in particular have so alienated the Hispanic population that elected Hispanics fear destroying their own political futures by getting too close to Romney. That doesn’t explain, though, why Rubio endorsed Romney, though it was an at best lukewarm endorsement.
Santorum? Santorum!?! Now, Universe, I know I haven’t been a very good pantheist, but if you could just give me this one sign…
I disagree. Romney does not need to shore up his right flank. The far right definitely likes Romney more than Obama, and just because they’re not excited about him doesn’t mean they’ll stay home.
Romney doesn’t need to worry about winning over conservatives, it’s the middle that’ll make it or break it for him. The smartest move he can make, imho, is to pick a moderate to share the ticket with him.
Many others feel differently: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/11/politics/romney-challenge-right/index.html?iref=allsearch
He wants someone that will rally the base *without *turning off independents.
I think this reflects an incomplete understanding of why Romney might need to shore up his right flank.
We’re a pretty aware, involved group on this board. I’d bet that 90% or more of the American citizens of voting age on this board will vote in this year’s Presidential election.
But not everybody’s like us. There are millions of people on both sides of the political divide who will vote in a predictable manner IF you can get them to the polls, but don’t particularly feel their vote matters, and are more likely than not to not bother to vote, if left to their own devices.
What you need to rally the base for is to get these marginally involved people who lean your way more motivated to vote, and to make sure they get to the precinct on election day, or participate in early voting, or whatever. The base is the source of your volunteer network, your precinct workers, your get-out-the-vote people.
If your base isn’t motivated, they’ll still vote, but they won’t do all that other crap. And then the marginally involved people who lean their way won’t show up in very large numbers - and that’s where a candidate who doesn’t motivate the base loses out.
Didn’t they build the F-15?
Hey, nothing would make me happier than if good ol’ Mittens chooses someone like Susan Collins, George Pataki or Jim Edgar. Those are just about the only moderate Republicans I can think of under 80 years old and I’m sure they would get a wonderfully tepid response from the base.
Ronald Reagan. I know what you’re thinking, that “two-term” Amendment to the Constitution! But that’s two terms of the same office, he had two terms as President and is perfectly at liberty to take a term as Vice President! Sure, being dead and all, bit of a drawback. But the Constitution insists that you must be of a certain age or older, you must have been alive for a required number of years, thirty five if memory serves. Doesn’t say anything about still being alive, now does it?
If I had to choose between a living Santorum or a dead Reagan, its pretty clear what the sensible choice would be. Tanned, rested and ready!
Foster Freiss, a major supporter of Santorum (ewwww), apparently thinks Wisconsin freshman senator Ron Johnson should be on Romney’s short-list for VP candidates (see the last paragraph of the story). That would play really well, I think. One rich white guy was born into money, and the other rich white guy married into money.
Apparently Johnson is firing most of his Senate staff because they assumed that their job was to work on the nuts and bolts of legislation, and he wants his staff to focus on messaging.
Gotta admit, he’d be perfect for the ticket. I can’t imagine anyone who quite so completely symbolizes what today’s GOP is about.
Very early in the primary process I thought Pawlenty would have as good a shot as any of them. Wasn’t he the first one out? Goes to show.
A ticket of two governors just doesn’t feel right. I think Romney needs to go to the Senate or the House. Rubio makes some sense. Sure, he’s lied about the Cuban thing. So what? These guys get away with stuff like that all the time.
With all their anti-immigrant stances, the GOP would do well to have an Hispanic on their ticket. Even a Cuban.
I suppose Romney could go with Ryan and declare a race based on competents vs. the incompetent Democrats. Problem is, between the two of them they might be able to dredge up about as much human warmth and empathy as my pet iguana.
A note on Huckabee. My wife, about as lefty as I am, really likes the guy and I can’t talk her out of it even though she disagrees with most of his stances, she never watches Fox and she’s not even an evangelical. That’s LIKE-ABLE!! But he’s just another ex-governor.
What’s the over/under on the number of women and Hispanics the GOP will try to cram on to the stage at the convention?
I remember one convention where every black Republican in the nation was on prominent display. (I don’t see Rep. Adam West getting an invite but I could be wrong.)
I started a similar thread on Huckabee a couple of months ago. He’s so nice, and reasonable, and relatively respectful of his opponents – it’s very disarming. I disagree with him on a lot of issues, but unlike so many Republicans, it doesn’t make me want to punch him in the mouth.
That’s Mayor Adam West to you.
Assuming he was alive, there would be a Constitutional problem here?
The 12th AM states:
Now, the 20th, sure, is only concerned about being “Elected” President, but I am not going out on a legal limb to say, if a person is elected Veep, they are in effect elected President, therefore Reagan would be ineligible, or you can bet if it was tried, and it never has been by any 2 term Ex, the opposing party would get it’s lawyer’s on that big time.
Opps, make that the 22nd AM, not 20th as above.
Yeah, it couldn’t happen for the reasons you stated though I’m certain elucidator knows it.
This is the same reason I didn’t include Gov. Terminator in my list of Republican moderates. In addition to the recent penis problems he has had, he wouldn’t be eligible because he is a naturalized citizen as opposed to being born in the USA.
That’s ridiculous. Getting elected Veep is getting elected to the possibility of succeeding to the Presidency should the President die, resign, get impeached and removed, become permanently incapacitated, etc.
There’s a huge difference between that and getting elected President. To equate the two is rubbish.
At any rate, the wording is clear, and there’s no Catch-22, so to speak. The 22nd Amendment bans anyone from being elected to the Presidency more than twice, or more than once if they’ve already served more than half of someone else’s term. But it doesn’t bar a two-term President’s succeeding to the Presidency by other means. So a two-term President would be eligible to be President; he’d just have to get there through succession rather than election. So he would certainly be eligible for the Vice-Presidency under the 12th Amendment.