<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/59124558@N06/7710839866/” title=”Romney Pawlenty by dengre.bj, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7275/7710839866_130fbebb39.jpg” width=”500″ height=”375″ alt=”Romney Pawlenty”></a>
Who will be the man under Romney’s paper bag?
I guess tonight is as fine a night as any for speculation about Mitt’s number two. Lot’s of names are being floated in the press pool and it’s time to let a thousand drinking games bloom.
DougJ wrote about Mitt’s VP follies in an earlier post, but I think it’s time to place your bet and name names.
So, who do you think will end their political career by accepting a position under Mittens?
I think it will be T-Paw. He was the first to cut a deal with Romney when he dropped out of the GOP race and then endorsed Mitt. If T-Paw had the fire in his belly to win he would have been the anti-Mitt and won his Party’s nomination. Instead he was just T-Paw. Romney sniffed him and he rolled over to let Mitt rub his belly.
Romney is a coward and I can’t see him picking a VP candidate who isn’t submissive to him and that’s why I think it will be T-Paw.
Of course, because Mitt is a coward he might also pick Paul Ryan to please the wingnuts nipping at his heels.
What do you think?
Cheers
Anniecat45
Jeez. Is Mitt going to pick the Zodiac killer?
redshirt
1. Ryan
2. Tpaw
3. Rubio
4. Animtronic Reagan
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker
Bain Capital.
quannlace
I think ‘heals’ is spelled ‘heels.’
cathyx
How about a scandal so scandalous that Mitt drops out.
jl
Who will take a bet that Mitt will try to make his VP pick ‘off limits’.
Any criticism of his VP choice would be questioning his judgment, and would be an unfair and uncivil personal attack.
Even odds.
Usual stakes: email some beer.
Matt McIrvin
The picture’s got me thinking he should pick The Unknown Comic. Loved that guy on the Gong Show.
JWL
Ryan has been my guess all along. If not him, then one of the Virginians.
Baud
I’m starting to think it’ll be Ryan. Mitt and Ryan seemed to get along really well during the primary, and Ryan will excite both the base and the Villagers, and Mitt needs both right now.
Violet
@cathyx: I’m still hoping for this option. Or, maybe both. He gets anointed at the convention and has to drop out afterwards and the GOP has to scramble to find his replacement.
Someone on NPR this afternoon said they thought it would be Jindal. I think that’s crazy talk.
I think it’ll be someone whose career is essentially over. People like Rubio and Christie don’t want to be associated with the dead weight that is Mittens, so it won’t be them. Maybe T-Paw because his career is kind of over anyway. What bout Portman? Where’s his career?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@jl:
Ann Romney helped Mitt decide, so any criticism of the Veep is an attack on Mrs Mitt.
Violet
@Baud: What’s in it for Ryan? Why would he accept? Mitt is a tainted brand. No one wants to be associated with him.
cathyx
@Violet: Jindal? No way. He’s going white bread all the way.
Jay C
OH, yes: Paul Ryan would be a wonderful choice…. he can spend all the time between the Convention and the election explaining how and why he doesn’t really want to destroy Social Security and Medicare, and how biased, unfair and blinkered it is to equate “transmogrify beyond all recognition” with “destroy”…
Maude
Never try to save a drowning person.
Lojasmo
Star trib and pipress have cover stories on pawlempty ready to go, he’s on MTP Sunday, and on several billboards locally.
It will be timmeh.
Ben Franklin
Oh….my …….God. Does anyone remember the Unknown Comic? If he comes out for Romney, I fear November……lol
Jay in Oregon
GAAAAAAAH! Inappropriate imagery! Need.. brain… bleach…
Baud
@Violet:
Greater exposure and networking for a potential future run. The loss will be blamed on Mitt anyway. Potentially risky, however, since the “Ryan plan” is likely to overshadow the campaign if he’s on the ticket.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I tend to think Veeps, barring something extraordinay like Palin, don’t mean much. But Pawlenty strikes me as weak and kind of stupid based on his very brief primary campaign. I don’t think Ryan will seduce indies the way he has the Village. You don’t get more boring, more white or more guy than Portman, who reminds me of the old Algonquin Round Table line about Coolidge “He’s dead? How can they tell?”
(Oh god, Jennifer Rubin herself on the Tweety show w/out Tweety– Romney’s overseas trip was a success!)
ETA: Rubin: 2010 showed that the country is more conservative than it was in 2008.)
Todd
+5
I got nothing else to say…
Xecky Gilchrist
Sarah Palin. Has the wingnut cred, will steal all the women’s votes (or at least that’s what Republican yes-man strategists think), fully vetted.
wiscomom
I’m going with Ryan or Rubio. Portman and Pawlenty would be one day stories. He wants more time than that with the breathlessly awaiting pundits. The outsider is Ayotte. He would immediately be met with charges that they both live in the same state. Something tells me he would love that drama.
Steve
I predict it will be Dick Cheney.
Dennis G.
@quannlace: Thanks for the copy edit…
tulip
Mark it down, it’s going to be Captain Vacuous Blue Eyes.
And all the VSP will swoon and twitter on about his blue blue eyes and rock hard abs and how he has the “it” factor.
You know, important stuff.
22over7
I’ve thought Ryan all along. But now, I don’t think so. It’s too much firepower at the bottom of the ticket, and considering that Mitt was on teevee today begging Obama to stop saying mean things about him, his ego doesn’t need a guy who is better liked (at least in the press) than him.
I’m going with Pawlenty or some other white guy whom nobody will recognize, to placate Mitt’s tangled self-esteem and soothe his nerves. Maybe bring him some tea and a hot towel.
David Koch
Chuck Barris. As a former CIA officer, Barris brings needed foreign policy experience to the ticket.
raven
RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – One day before Republican presidential hopeful Governor Mitt Romney boards a bus and campaigns across Virginia, the democrats are launching a counter-attack on a bus of their own.
The Democratic Party of Virginia unveiled the bus on Friday calling it the “Middle Class Under the Bus Tour.”
No fucking prisoners.
Violet
When does Romney have to announce? When is the GOP convention anyway?
Violet
@raven: Someone linked to this earlier. I think it’s awesome. No prisoners, indeed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Anybody else watching Tweety? I’m trying to put my finger on who Jennifer Rubin reminds me of. Closest I can come is half Lily Tomlin’s Ernestine, half Jane Curtain’s Audrey Pierce Dickman, filtered through Ruth Buzzi’s bag lady. Yes, I am old and watched too much TeeVee.
cathyx
Maybe he’ll pull a McCain and pick someone we never heard of before and then when interviewed, the candidate can embarrass himself by how stupid he is and then when they lose, he can go on a reality TV show and try to become an actor. Or a Fox news analyst.
John O
Rubio. Romney needs Hispanics and FL.
It’s not going to matter, though. The more people get to know the Mittster, the less they like him.
MikeBoyScout
Slick Willard is a coward above all else. It is either milquetoast Pawlenty or that guy from Ohio that nobody but diehard political junkies know anything about.
Edo
The Onion called it last year, people.
Mitt/Mystery Candidate 2012. The VP’s identity will, of course, be announced retroactively.
David Koch
Jenna Jameson would bring hard core turnout, especially in Utah where she dominates the male vote.
raven
@David Koch: And he makes cool custom cars!
Litlebritdifrnt
I think he is going to be forced by the nutjobs to pick Ryan. T-Paw was on Hannity this afternoon and he didn’t sound like it was him, just the inflection in his voice when he said “whoever Romney picks will be an asset to the ticket”. Then you’ve got the whole Drudge private jet in Ryan’s home town thing going on. Who knows.
raven
@Violet: my bad
MikeBoyScout
We really need a contest for guessing the date & time whoever gets saddled with going down the drain with Slick Willard gets asked “Did you provide Romney with your tax returns?“
wiscomom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Jennifer Rubin was breathlessly awkward and awful. Almost pitiful…almost.
cathyx
Romney will never choose someone with any ethnicity. He has his base to cater too, after all.
Violet
@Violet: Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean you shouldn’t link to it. Poorly phrased on my part. Just meant I’d seen it before because someone linked to it and thought it was great. The more people who see it the better! Link away.
geg6
Could be Tpaw, but I’m hoping for Portman. Mainly because he’s as weasely as Mittens is (see how he has attempted to run away from his record as Budget Director to the Shrub: I didn’t do it; they made me) and twice as white and boring. And I really don’t know any Ohioans who would vote for Willard because PORTMAN!
I’d love it if it was Ryan, but I think Ryan is aiming at 2016. A three-way cage fight in 2016 between Ryan, Christie, and Rubio would be too delicious. Hilary can sit on the sidelines and laugh and laugh and laugh on her way to making Bubba First Gentleman. After all the wingnuts have put her through over the years, she deserves that.
raven
@Violet: No offense taken.
Patricia Kayden
It’s got to be Paul Ryan — fires up the rabid Rightwingers, entertains the media, and delights Obama supporters. Picking Pawlenty or any other dry VP would be a yawn and Romneybot 2.0 is already a big yawn.
Violet
@cathyx:
Bush The Elder did this too, with Quayle.
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Really? What have you heard about that?
Quincy
Pawlenty. On very rare occasion Romney sets his mind to something and it can’t be changed. Bungling his tax returns is one. Picking a VP that adds nothing to the ticket is another.
ChrisNYC
I don’t think it’s Ryan. Overshadowing and Medicare and why would he do it? I think the wingnut chorus about Ryan is (again!) posturing. They’re making sure that they’re not left holding the bag when Romney loses, i.e. “we told you to pick Ryan.” On November 7, they’ll start up again with, “If only we had a real conservative, we woulda won!” And that’s how they get paid. Seriously, they learned from the quixotic abortion wars — better not to win because then the gravy train never ends.
jl
@Steve:
” I predict it will be Dick Cheney. ”
Mitt put Cheney in charge of picking the VP? I missed that. Wise move.
wrb
Ryan, best pick for us but the one that is most likely to keep the right from blowing all Mitt’s shit up. And so Mitt doesn’t have much choice.
Poor Mitt
Trakker
Dan Cathy, of Chick-Fil-A fame.
Disco
@Lojasmo:
That’s because the Minnesota media beats off in front of a picture of Timmy. They can’t get enough of his milquetoast loser ass.
On the other hand, he adds absolutely nothing to Romney’s ticket, so I hope it’s him.
Suffern Ace
No point in speculating. Three of the last four times the republicans have done this it’s been a knuckleball. Quayle? Where did that come from. Cheney was supposed to be in charge of vetting candidates and decided that he was the most qualified for the job. And Palin…
Mitt is going to pick someone who reminds him of himself. Some guy from the Carlyle Group. Or John Major or Michael Howard. Someone unexpected.
Jade Jordan
I have always thought Mitt was just a stalking horse to take all the punches and would be replaced at the convention by the real candidate. That way the real candidate only gets punched for two months.
If I am wrong, the VP will be Ann Romney. Ann wears the pants and drives the Jet Ski, she is his secret weapon (Neutron Bomb) she makes us all wish we were dead.
My second option is Seamus: From the top of the Car to the passenger seat. Mitt has to win the Peta vote back.
Fluke bucket
Ryan. Vouchercare. They are going all in. This is huge for their worldview. It is all or nothing in 2012. Appomattox Revisited.
Skerry
@jl: Liz Cheney
Litlebritdifrnt
@raven:
I have been following Brad Woodhouse of the DNC talking about the bus all day on twitter. Little known fact outside of North Carolina, Brad Woodhouse of the DNC is the brother of Dallas Woodhouse of Americans for Prosperity. Can you IMAGINE what Thanksgiving Dinner is like in that house!
Violet
@MikeBoyScout: Isn’t the better question, “How many years of tax returns did you provide Mitt Romney?” or “How many years of tax returns did the Romney campaign require you to give them?”
And yeah, a date and time and which Villager asks the question betting pool would be fun!
feebog
At this point I’m thinking Rex the Wonder Dog. It doesn’t matter, as pointed out upthread, the Veep pick, whoever it is will be a 24 hour story. Ryan at least would fuel speculation that Wisconson could be in play (its not now, and won’t be). It is all too mind numbing and banal to contemplate on a very hot SoCal afternoon. Time for a beer.
JWL
@Violet: Ryan would immediately assume front runner position for 2016. Geez, even Palin remained a viable candidate in the ’12 presidential mix until the heavy lifting began.
And Jindal looks like a homely 12 year old kid.
raven
@Litlebritdifrnt: Like at my wife’s family in Appomattox! (for reals)
Turgidson
An inanimate carbon rod.
…which might still outshine Mittens.
karl
Marilyn Musgrave.
wrb
It could, however, be that French wife Mitt left behind all those years ago in Besançon. Hear she’s a powerhouse and has been running him all along.
PZ
Who does Sheldon Addleson or the Koch Brothers want the Mittster to pick?
David Koch
Rafalca
Donald G
The problem with having to share my computers with the kids over summer vacation is that I’ve already been beaten to making the gag about Romney’s VP pick being Murray Langston, the Unknown Comic.
Turgidson
@MikeBoyScout:
So the guy who was in charge when a bridge crumbled from neglect, or one of the architects of the Bush the Surplus Killer movie. Sweet.
katie5
Joseph Smith
jl
@efgoldman:
‘ And I’ll bet the Obama campaign has lots of images of the fallen I-35 bridge in the bank… “This is what happens when Republicans won’t spend money maintaining infrastructure…” ‘
But that would be a vicious personal attack. What would Drum think?
Edit: OK, the Drum crack was cheap. Sorry. But the VS Village idiots would faint.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Violet:
Here ya go
Violet
@JWL: I think Mitt is such a bad candidate that being associated with him might damage some of the up-and-comers’ chances. I suspect that’s why Christie and Rubio are smart enough to stay away from the job.
As for Palin, she was just a whole other issue. She starburst so many of the white, male, middle-aged Republican voters that that’s what kept her candidacy alive. Had she been older or less attractive, she never would have been chosen in the first place, and certainly wouldn’t have had much afterlife.
Kevin
I’m hoping for Trump. Get real businessmen in the White House instead of career politicians like the Democrats.
Of course I haven’t been good enough for God to give me this. It would be glorious.
bemused
@Lojasmo:
Mitt probably thinks Minnesota is a lost cause already so might as well pick Pawlenty. I’ve read that Mitt will lose Mass so they are a perfect match.
jl
@Litlebritdifrnt: Don’t toy with my dreams. Don’t go breaking my heart. Ryan would be a good pick. I could live with that.
Turgidson
@Fluke bucket:
I think they were building up to that back when they thought they’d romp over Obama no matter who the nominee was, then they could crow about how America loves itself some radical rightwing granny-starving.
Now that it’s dawning on them that Obama is playing to win and Mittens is a walking punch line, I think they’ll defer the ideological showdown and run Ryan or someone like him in a better environment for them. But Mittens might be so desperate that he’ll give it a shot anyway if Ryan will accept.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kevin: Heh. Can’t remember which Fox show he was one, bragging about his role at the convention. It’ll be huge! Very important!
The Other Bob
1) McDonnell (VA)
2) Gov Sandoval (NV)
3) Rubio (Fl)
4) Susan Martinez (NM)
All four must first be dumb enough to join this campaign for the above prediction to come true.
Violet
@Litlebritdifrnt: Hmmm…interesting. I wonder if Mitt is sending charter planes to all sorts of places where potential candidates live, and having them all take off at similar times before the announcement, just to keep people on their toes.
Oh, wait…I’m talking about the Romney campaign.
The Other Chuck
I see what you did there.
Felanius Kootea
I hope he picks Ryan … and the Catholic nuns issue a statement about their discomfort with that pick :).
sb
The only thing Mitt has going for him at this point is the ‘independent’ MSM lining up behind Ryan and his reasonableness. I don’t think Ryan accepts but I think he gets offered the job.
Violet
@sb: So that means Mitt will beg Ryan to take the job and Ryan will spurn him. Excellent.
SiubhanDuinne
@wiscomom:
I’m not 100% positive of this, but isn’t there a rule or a law (even something in the Constitution) that says the Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees one a ticket may not be from the same state? Or is that merely tradition that has taken on the weight of law over the decades?
Not that it matters in this case. Mittens can plausibly claim any of California, Utah, Michigan, Massachusetts and New Hampshire as his home states, maybe all ofthem, Katie, and who’s to say him nay? (Or neigh, in the case of Rafalca.)
SD +1 but gaining
Legalize
You correctly noted that Willard is a coward. Ryan it will be.
AkaDad
His base hates him, so in order to get them out to vote, he’s gonna pick Scott Walker.
22over7
@The Other Bob:
The first three I’ll give you, but Gov. Martinez will not accept the veep nomination, period.
She has a severely developmentally disabled sister, for whom she is responsible, and her father has Alzheimer’s. She has said adamantly that she simply cannot leave her family.
Heck, moving her sister from Las Cruces to Santa Fe was a hardship.
Besides, she’s, well, brown, and a brown woman would win Mitt precisely no votes among his base (and the hispanics he’d pick up wouldn’t make up for it).
Mike in NC
Network news tonight was a bummer for Whiny Willard. They reported that Obama’s lead is widening and Team Rmoney is flailing to the point where the VP selection is being talked about as a chance to “relaunch” the campaign. Pathetic.
The Other Chuck
Rubio. But that’s assuming Rubio accepts.
Thoroughly Pizzled
Jamie Dimon.
Whomever the CEO of McKinsey is.
dedc79
@The Other Bob: agreed and I bet McDonnell would say no
maya
It will be Tagg. Or Matt. Or Joshh. Or Benn. Or the other one.
ROMNEY $ SON 2012!
The Other Chuck
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s tradition. The *electors* for the two candidates on the ticket have to be from different states (or just any different state than one the candidates are from), but the candidates themselves can come from the same state. I guess back in the founding days, that actually potentially mattered.
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/vicepresident.asp
David Koch
@Mike in NC: which network?
General Stuck
Mitt is so personally insecure when he doesn’t have complete control of the situation, which a POTUS candidate rarely does at he swirling bullshit that is daily campaign life, I don’t think he will pick an alpha male type like Christi. It will be a wallflower type, reserved even more weaselly acting than Mitt. Pawlenty, or Portman fit that bill. So would Rubio, but he may be too pretty for Romney. He would pick Petraeus if the general had voiced any inclinations to get involved with national politics, which I don’t think he has. I’m going with Portman, due to his brain numbing boorishness, and ties to the Evangelical Community/ And a YES man through and through. Mitt’s kind of servile second fiddle.
Roger Moore
@karl:
Bill Owens.
PZ
@AkaDad: Walker won’t accept. He’s already preparing for his 2016 Presidential bid. He has told Mitt to toughen up, which means he’s preparing a “if only they had listened to my advice, we would have won” line.
I haven’t seen any candidate that has inspired so much hatred in his opponents yet gets no confidence from his supporters. Seriously-is there anyone you have seen that is as unlikeable as Mitt Romney?
The Other Bob
@22over7:
Maybe Martinez is out, but it won’t be because she won’t give him votes. i agree she won’t but Republicans think minority voters are shallow enough to vote for the first person who looks like them put on the ticket.
The Other Bob
@22over7:
Maybe Martinez is out, but it won’t be because she won’t give him votes. i agree she won’t but Republicans think minority voters are shallow enough to vote for the first person who looks like them put on the ticket.
Anne Laurie
@cathyx:
Because I have a twisted sense of humor, I’m still hoping “his base” (aka the Tebaggers) demand Herman Cain for their sop. Cain’s one of The Good Ones (like Clarence Thomas) who says all the right incantations, loud’n’proud, and unlike that wimp Rmoney he’ll put on a show to earn their votes!
On the other side of the equation, Cain’s got no political career to spoil, he loves being in the spotlight, and two more months of media attention bumps up his motivational-speaker fees afterwards. Win-win… for us Democrats.
Hal
Pawlenty for this simple reason:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/03/tim-pawlenty-tax-vice-presidential
Donut
TLDR on the top part of the thread, so apologies if this is redundant, but I’d say Paul Ryan is the pick. He has a budget and policy blueprint that Romney can simply adopt wholesale. The Romneys obviously have developed almost no policy positions and desperately need something to sell, so they will double down on the austerity track. And picking Ryan will also shut the Teahadis up for awhile and distract the media, too. They desperately need a subject change and Ryan is the biggest bang they could possibly get, right now. That in itself is pathetc, but they have the candidate they have, so suck on it, Republicans. .
The Other Chuck
It will be nobody like Cain or anybody who could be mistaken for a Palin-esque character. They desperately want to write Palin off as temporary senile insanity, but if the GOP is saddled with a _reputation_ for putting clownish imbeciles one heartbeat away from the presidency, that will do more brand damage to the party than Palin or Cain could ever have done individually.
Anne Laurie
@PZ:
Jennifer Rubin or Liz Cheney, then.
Dennis G.
@The Other Chuck: So you did…
Cassidy
I think it’s going to be Ryan, but I’m gonna pick a dark horse:
Chuck Norris
Roger Moore
@SiubhanDuinne:
It’s a strong tradition grounded in the odd rules of the Electoral College. Electors aren’t allowed to vote for both a Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate from their state. Traditionally, this has meant that Presidential candidates have chosen VPs from a different state so the electors from their home state don’t have to pick a different VP candidate. They theoretically could pick one and do without the votes from their home state for the VP, but it could cause strange results if the votes from their home state are enough to decide the election. Of course Mitt isn’t going to win Massachusetts, so it’s something of a moot point in this case.
AkaDad
@PZ:
Not in my lifetime have I seen mainstream candidate as bad as Romney.
I has a happy.
The Other Bob
I am think this might not be the best week to start making VP offers if Rmoney wants someone the actually accept.
lacp
Terry Schiavo – gets the wingnuts hot and bothered, can’t upstage Willard. A natural.
David Koch
Dark horse: Herman Cain
Bain/Cain ’12
folsom ca
I am going with Jon Thune, if I am wrong, I will give 100 bucks to act blue. OK I am giving the money to Act Blue. I want to be on the record, he is probably that dumb.
22over7
@Donut:
But that’s the thing, isn’t it? Everybody would be talking about RYAN and HIS economic plans, HIS dreamy blue eyes, HIS legislative experience, etc. puke. All of a sudden Mitt would no longer need to be in the room.
I dunno, picking Ryan makes some sense, but I’m just not sure Mitt could stand it. He’s the top man, the CEO, the patriarch, whatever, and I don’t think he’d cotton to sharing the stage with someone more popular among his base than he is. At least not until he held him down and cut off his hair.
It’d be great for us, though. Let’s make the election about social security and medicare, oh please oh please.
trollhattan
Predicted Rubio back before he messed up the “my parents escaped Castro, booga-booga” meme, but I’ll stick with it because it amuses me.
He’d be well advised to pick a kitchen countertop appliance. Blenderella can provide guidance.
Anne Laurie
@David Koch:
Darker horse: Alan Keyes.
Donut
@Violet:
Not that it means anything, but Romney stated earlier this summer (I think) that he would announce the Veep pick before the convention.
jl
@Anne Laurie: Cain?
“I am Mitt with a better snitt?”
That will work.
Cain is smart enough to at least get off some good lines. Not saying alot, but we are talking in comparison to the GOPpers here, so bar is low.
Which come to think of it, will eliminate him where there is possibility he would be on a winning ticket. Will appear too uppity to the base.
Roger Moore
@David Koch:
I see what you did there.
The Other Chuck
Mitt will go with a VP pick that contrasts his own ideas. In fact he’ll go far afield and pick someone who has completely opposite governing philosophy and policy prescriptions from his own.
Therefore, Mitt Romney’s pick for Vice President will be Mitt Romney.
(sadly I’m not even the dozenth person to make this joke)
M31
Here’s my wild-ass implausible guess:
Rudy Giuliani.
They need someone mean, with a track record of stomping on poor people. Right now when people think of Mitt and stomping on poor people they think of laid off workers who didn’t do anything wrong. But Rudy will remind them that in America, poor people are brown-colored thugs on the streets of NYC.
Also, he’s run for President so no Palin-like vetting surprises, and best of all for Mittens’s ego, he ran and lost really badly, so Mittens can feel superior.
I laugh every time I think of it, but I think there is a better than 0 chance.
Cassidy
At this point he should pick Loki and see if he can ride Joss Whedon’s awesomeness to victory.
scav
Joe Lieberman to up his cross-party appeal.
ETA: or Gumby.
Sinnach
I’ve always had LePage from Maine as a dark horse. He’s a crazier, slightly slimmer Chris Christie…but Romney had to go and kill that dream. There is no chance the GOP’s going with two NE governors.
Lepage’s recent ramblings about the Paul delegates cements which side of that fence he’s on and it’s not the winning one either.
At this point Rubio or Jindal are the wild outside the box candidates – which says quite a bit because they’re both mainsteam republicans. Looks to me like we’re doomed to a double shot of boring on the GOP ticket.
Turgidson
@trollhattan:
The Obama campaign probably has an oppo file on Rubio nearly as big as the one they’re using against Romney. Guy has a long, not particularly secret track record of being a no good crook. Since they already nominated a crook for the big chair…I doubt it’ll be Rubio.
David Koch
@scav:
And as Mitt says, his people are good with money
Cassidy
David Duke!
Elmo
Bob McDonnell, and I’m about ready to put money in it in InTrade.
David Koch
Someone wearing a Jesus costume
Cassidy
George Zimmerman
Donut
@22over7:
I’d have to say you’re probably correct- but Romney might be persuaded, mostly because Obama has him rocked back on his heels right now, big time. He came out and cried uncke today, that was huge, the optics from that are so incredibly bad, but mostly because the base is even more infuriated with him and even more convinced he’s only a RINO. I dunno if camp R is panicking yet, but they have to be close. They REALLY need a game change – much more so than McCain did. There has to be someone who has Romney’s ear who is willing to say to him what he needs to hear. If he goes for Pawlenty or Portman, he’s done for. He base will shrug and stay home. They, however, really WANT the Ryan budget, very badly.
lacp
@M31: Makes sense. After all, Rudy originated that “the more you get to know him, the more you dislike him” thing. Didn’t he wind up not getting any delegates at all?
Whidby
Condo Rice
Janice Rogers Brown
Nikki Haley
Some other “conservative” woman of color.
Why? Because, yes, he is that cynical and stoopid.
jl
@M31:
Giuliani would relanch the campaign. The same way you could ‘relaunch’ a rock by dropping it down a well.
Biden was right about Rudy’s schtick: a noun a verb and ‘911’. Got old too quick for him to even compete in one primary last time.
Giuliani has become the ultimate empty suit. Fro some reason I got on the mailing list for 14 dollar discount coupons for a Giuliani leadership seminar a couple of years ago. Well, I know the reason there were plenty of unsold tickets. Not sure how a lib like me got on the mailing list.
JenJen
That beady-eyed idiot Joe Scarborough has been pushing Governor Lardass from New Jersey all week, which has had me in stitches. Mika likes his wife, so therefore Mika thinks it will be Christie, too.
I’m sticking with my original guess, T-Paw. And I think it will go down next Thursday.
Anoniminous
@Mike in NC:
Exactly what we want people seeing on national TV.
It’s what the GOP has been able to do for 30 years:
1. Take control the Narrative
2. Forcing the opponent on the defensive
Willard is SoooooOOOOOOOOooo screwed.
The Other Chuck
@Whidby:
No way Condi accepts. Haley’s facing indictment. Janice Rogers who?
hells littlest angel
There is only one Republican so lacking in self-respect that he would accept the offer from Romney. And that Republican, ladies and gentlemen, is… Michael Steele!
lacp
@Cassidy: Bold, outside-the-box, stand-your-ground thinking…
Whidby
@The Other Chuck: Well, surely there are other qualified women of color out there …
What did Haley get caught doing?
Tonal Crow
I think Romney is very anxious about his wingnut cred, so I’m guessing:
1. Jim DeMint — great all-around teatard.
2. Mike Huckabee — would help a lot with the Religious Reich.
3. Sar-ah!!!!!!!!!!!! — Fully vetted (!), still causes starbursts for legions of sexually-frustrated wingnuts.
jl
@Whidby: Halle Berry is way too smart to sign on.
Jeffro
McDonnell. Nate Silver told me so.
Dennis G.
@hells littlest angel: Mitt and the Muppet. What could possibly go wrong…
Tonal Crow
@cathyx:
That Mitt hasn’t dropped out after lying such a tower of lying lies is itself a scandal so scandalous that he should be required by law to self-deport to Gitmo for an indefinite stay.
Litlebritdifrnt
You see a Christie pick would almost guarantee a “N*clang” or a “fuck you” from him prior to November. There is no way that Christie is not going to tell some reporter or some random questioner at an event to “fuck you” of course he will then drop dead of a massive heart attack and leave the Romney campaign with a big hole to fill, but whatever, Mika was sucking his dick so hard this morning it was painful to watch. I really do not know why the hosts of MJ have such a hard on for Christie, I mean the man obviously has self control issues as he weighs as much as a fucking bus.
rlrr
Todd Akin
bemused
@M31:
Funny, I actually heard someone float Giuliani on the Stephanie Miller Show last week who heard it from some unnamed Republicans. MItt did say that he could surprise everyone but I don’t actually think he is capable of that.
Hungry Joe
Romney’s situation is described perfectly, if in reverse, by a standard tennis Q & A.
Q: What’s the best doubles team in history?
A: John McEnroe and anybody.
So …
Q: What’s the lamest presidential ticket in history?
A: Mitt Romney and anybody.
Tonal Crow
@jl:
I’d bet on an ice age by the end of the month before I’d take your bet.
JMG
Anne Romney. As the wife of the candidate with a chronic illness, and a chronic illness that’s telegenic, she’s beyond criticism.
MikeJ
Tebow.
Dennis SGMM
Mitt’s VP pick will be Joe Lieberman. He’s an experienced second banana and an experienced cocksucker as well.
David Koch
@JenJen:
Mika really is an airhead. This just proves genetics has nothing to do with intelligence.
Calouste
@efgoldman:
Reminds me of a threat on the DailyKos a few years back where we were trying to find elected Republican African-American women. I think we might have found one state rep somewhere and a few county councillors, but that was it.
tulip
@MikeJ:
This this this!
Ha!
Hill Dweller
@JenJen: The media, in an effort to look balanced, loves elevating Republicans that can string two sentences together. Christie, perhaps more than any politician in this country, has benefited from this phenomenon.
If Christie is on the ticket, all the stuff that has been ignored and/or explained away by his fans in the press will be effectively disseminated nationally by the Obama campaign. Christie has never faced that type of scrutiny. Frankly, I don’t think he will handle it well.
Anonymous37
Portman. Romney needs Ohio, because right now it is leaning strongly towards Obama, and if Obama wins the state, there is no plausible scenario in which Romney can win the Electoral College.
So Portman is leaned on by every GOP elder statesman, and is assured endlessly that if he accepts the Veep spot, he will be taken care of if Romney loses. And if he turns it down and Romney loses, especially if Ohio’s votes would have been enough to flip the result, those same bigwigs will warn him that they will do everything they can to marginalize his career: no plum committee assignments ever.
So Portman accepts.
Mike in NC
@David Koch: NBC
PsiFighter37
Paul Ryan. He needs someone to give the base a boner.
PF37 +3, but since I didn’t eat much, it feels like +7
The Other Chuck
@Whidby:
Aside from “everything with a pulse”, tax fraud. Seems to have blown over, but I hear from obscure media outlets that Mitt has a problem or two with taxes…
David Koch
Nate Silver was on Tweety tonight and it was sad.
He insisted 5 polls showing a 6-10 pt Obama lead are wrong. He said it was 2 pt lead, just because, that’s why.
Sad how the Village corrupts people.
Tonal Crow
Sauron. Because Romney wants his Precious so bad he’s completely lost his mind. Cf: downfall of Numenor.
—
Tag: Romney’s like Sarah Palin, except with worse morals.
Catsy
The big problem is that as with his response to the tax return issue, Romney doesn’t have any good options.
He needs someone who won’t overshadow him, but pretty much anyone who shores up his countless weaknesses would overshadow him.
He needs a solid wingnut to placate the crazy base and motivate them to come out for him, but the more wingnutty the veep the more independent voters he’ll turn off.
He needs to win over independent voters, but picking any kind of milquetoast moderate would just reinforce his weaknesses with the wingnut base, confirm all their worst fears about him and further depress turnout. And that goes double for any kind of conservative DINO shitbag like Lieberman, or a liberal Republican like 91u1iani–we would see an open revolt in the GOP base (and let’s face it, they’re already revolting); he’d be lucky to break 40%.
He’s pretty much fucked no matter who he picks, and it’s entirely due to the degree to which the wingnut base is out of touch with the rest of America, and his own inept campaign. His safest bet is to pick a total nonentity who didn’t run in the primaries against him (remember Pawlenty’s “Obamneycare” smackdown? don’t think that Team O doesn’t have that tape ready to roll).
trollhattan
@Turgidson:
Florida politicians…yeesh.
Betty should run for Congress, or something. Maybe team with Carl Hiaasen to replace gov Voldemort?
geg6
@JMG:
Oh no, she’s not. Fuck that shit. More awful than her attitude toward The Help is her tacky, tacky taste in clothes. I refuse to give up my right to criticize the horrible, fugly, Marshall’s clearance rack level of her fashion sense. How you can possibly be as wealthy as she is and still be wearing some garish, cheap-looking clothes absolutely astounds me. How does she not have a stylist? If she can’t manage to dress better than that, she has no business anywhere near the nuclear codes.
Cassidy
Oooohhhh…that would be inspired. Romney/ Scott 2012
David Koch
It won’t be Christy. He’s too fat to fit in a regular plane and it’ll look ridiculous flying him around in a C-130 cargo
PsiFighter37
@David Koch: The Village is like Hotel California.
I think Silver does good work, but unless the results (and not just who wins, but the % amounts) are validated, a lot of this is going to seem like he’s getting pro(de?)moted into a Village Idiot.
Litlebritdifrnt
@David Koch: I often wonder if her dad watches her on the show in the morning and he shakes his head in utter dismay at the way she cow tows to Joe, who is obviously so far beneath her level of intelligence it is silly. I think she should just have “stockholm syndrome” tattooed on her forehead and be done with it.
Oh and her “Knowing Your Worth” book was about as useless a tome I have ever seen, seeing as 99% of women working in the US these days have absolutely no input on their wages, I can really see a waitress on lower than minimum wage telling her boss “I am worth more than that”. Yeah right. Mika is in the 1% who can negotiate the best pay, the rest of us are stuck with what we get.
22over7
@Catsy:
“A total nonentity who didn’t run in the primaries against him…” Hmmmm. Guess it’s going to be Louie Gohmert after all.
Seriously, Catsy, you nailed this. He’s out of options. The convention should be delicious.
JoyfulA
@Turgidson: And Rubio was raised a Mormon in Nevada. When the family moved to Florida, they became Catholic, but Rubio’s been attending a fundagelical megachurch for a decade. Would Mitt allow an apostate on his ticket?
Tonal Crow
@geg6: I hope you’re trolling, because that’s a sillier criticism than Dowd’s drivel about Al Gore’s “earth tones”.
Violet
@David Koch:
Really? Did he back it up at all?
As for VP, what about the ex-wife of Governor Hiking The Appalachian Trail? She seems like a hardass. Power behind the throne. Isn’t she from SC or something?
Haydnseek
@Todd: Ya know Todd, I like the way you think…
Litlebritdifrnt
@David Koch:
Yet Nate’s predictions have Obama ahead 100 EV since forever. He may say one thing on TV but his stats say Obama wins in a landslide.
Catsy
@22over7: Thanks, and BTW may I just mention that you have one of the most awesome pseudonyms ever, for those with eyes to see.
Hill Dweller
@David Koch: Earlier this year, when CBS/NYT released an absurdly skewed poll showing Willard with a big lead, Silver refused to point out the obvious. People were pummeling him on Twitter.
Nonetheless, the wingnut freak out tells you a lot more about the state of race than Silver’s horse race bullshit.
Bruce McCulley
My Monopoly money is on Portman. He’s so terminally bland that he might almost make Mittens seem charismatic by comparison.
The Other Chuck
@JoyfulA: What, you think he’d lose the Mormon vote?
David Koch
@Violet: well, he did offer back-up — his gut.
that was it, he dismissed the 5 polls (Reuters, CNN, Fox, NBC/WSJ, Pew) based on how the campaign “feels” to him: “it feels to me more like a 2 pt race, and not a 6 to 10 pt race”.
PhoenixRising
Voldemort. But if he turns it down, because even the Dark Lord has things he just won’t do:
Martinez
Sandoval
Rubio
Republicans are mean, greedy and cruel, but t hey aren’t all dumb. bumper stickers that say
Bain / (Hispanic) may be their only hope in FL & CO. TX isn’t in play this year, but in 2020…all will be clearer.
PsiFighter37
@David Koch: Yeah, that don’t count for much. Back when he blogged as poblano on GOS, I was more impressed by his statistical prognostications. A political scientist, Nate Silver ain’t.
JoyfulA
@The Other Chuck: He’s a bishop, for Pete’s sake!
piratedan
well this is a complicated question… Mitt has been excoriated for ignoring his base and for continuing the tradition of selecting boring out of touch white guys with the honor of representing the 1% and he needs a person who can cover some of those other bases out there while still not outshining him as the centerpiece of the ticket…
so you need the following
1) someone who is not a boring white guy
2) batshit crazy is seen as a plus, not a minus
3) cover a niche topic that can be used as a constant reminder of the current Prez’s otherness
4) is adored by Faux News
5) is ethically challenged, in a good way
6) is stupid enough to get on board this sinking ship
ladies and gents, I give you Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona
she has “stood up” to Prez Obama when he has visited Arizona. She’s at the top of the 2nd tier of wingnut crazy, she’s proven to be callous enough in her treatment of minorities and the poor to have instant cred with the old guard. She covers both immigration and gun control non-issues instantly making them “issues” to distract from the train wreck that the R campaign has become. She’s old enough to not be a threat and new enough to still be seen as a “fresh face” on the national stage and also provides that mythical balance on the ticket between east and west and could possibly deflect any attention from the Republican “War on Women”. She’s a closet drunk and teleprompter dependent and when Biden dissects her on the national stage she can allow the villagers to circle the wagons around “the sweet little old lady of the west” while casting Democrats as bullies, one of their favorite tropes to touch upon.
Granted, this selection is all very Machiavellian and 11th dimensional chess oriented but also serves the purpose of removing that crazy old shitbag from the Governorship of where I happen to live.
Haydnseek
@feebog: @feebog: I’m in SoCal too, always have been. Hotter than hell, and I suspect it might take multiple beers to alleviate this serious condition. No heavy analysis this evening, just gasbaggin’. Romneys VP pick won’t make any difference. As soon as he or she is asked to supply their tax returns, the game is up. +4 and cruisin’.
Strontium 90
@Anne Laurie:
Heh. Win.
geg6
@Tonal Crow:
Please. A tacky wardrobe at her income level is a sign that she just isn’t very bright and has terrible judgment. I don’t want her carrying the Football.
/snark
Jeez, dude. Lighten up. Though it really does bug me that she dresses from the clearance rack. And I’m not exaggerating that, she really does. Say what you want about Hillary’s pant suits. But they never looked cheap, however much they were not my style at all. Hell, Caribou Barbie understood the whole clothes thing, which means you don’t really need to be a rocket scientist to know that image matters. Even people who, because of their economic situation, often shop the clearance rack pick nicer pieces than what I’ve seen this entitled witch modeling. And they know she can afford better than the stuff they, themselves, refuse to buy no matter how far the price tag comes down. It doesn’t make them respect her. It makes them think she’s cheap.
TS
@MikeBoyScout:
We really need a contest for guessing the date & time whoever gets saddled with going down the drain with Slick Willard gets asked “Did you provide Romney with your tax returns?”
Foregone conclusion – whoever gets to ask the first question – that will be the question.
Tonal Crow
@piratedan: Well reasoned. Palin and Bachmann would also fit that mold, but Palin has the advantage over both Brewer and Bachmann of already being “vetted”. Plus also too: starbursts.
PZ
To improve our relations with Great Britain, he will nominate a Dalek
God
Portman. For all the wrong reasons.
SiubhanDuinne
@The Other Chuck: Thanks for doing my Snopesgoogle for me. I think I was remembering that in 2000 Dick “Dick” Cheney transferred his residence from Texas back to Wyoming so he and Dubya would be from different states, but I didn’t know what law, if any, underpinned (underpun?) the decision.
Tonal Crow
@PZ:
No, he’ll select a crazy GOPer, then retroactively nominate a Dalek after he loses.
Jeffro
@Haydnseek: That’s another lie that (in theory) the media should be able to catch Romney in…I’m sure he’ll make a big public deal of saying “No, I didn’t need to see Gov McDonnell’s tax returns to know he’s the right choice for America”…
…but of course Romney’s campaign will have carefully gone over that well in advance.
Whether they get found out, that’ll be interesting…
Tonal Crow
@Jeffro:
So he’ll brag about his inability to properly vet a person who could become President? Oh, wait…our “liberal” media would never raise such an impertinent point against our Masters.
TS
@The Other Bob:
I agree – got to be someone that has a hope of bringing a swing state with them. Another big McCain fail – Sarah Palin had nothing to offer re swing states
Yutsano
@MikeJ: A) The FSM doesn’t love me enough.
B) He’s unfortunately not old enough. So no Touchdown Jeebus for you!
asiangrrlMN
Donald Trump. I would pay mad monies to make this happen. Think of how popcorn futures would soar! It would be UUUUUGE!
@Yutsano: HI, HON! How the hell are ya?
Violet
Reince Priebus doesn’t want to talk about Mitt’s tax returns anymore. Waaaaah!
So he thinks if he just refuses to talk about them, the whole issue will go away? Good luck with that.
The Other Chuck
@PZ: EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!
Well, they do stay on message.
SamInMpls
It isn’t going to be T-Paw. He simply won’t be able to deliver Minnesota for Romney.
T-Paw couldn’t clear 50% either time he ran for governor:
2002
Republican Tim Pawlenty 44.4%
DFL Roger Moe 36.5%
Independence Tim Penny 16.2%
Green Ken Pentel 2.3%
2006
Republican Tim Pawlenty 46.7%
DFL Mike Hatch 45.7%
Independence Peter Hutchinson 6.4%
Green Ken Pentel 0.5%
Ohio is close enough already that choosing Portman gives Romney a decent shot at winning there.
SiubhanDuinne
I think he is going to go for the surprise factor and pick McMegan so he can get 53,500 electoral votes.
trollhattan
@Haydnseek:
Swell right now in the valley. Triple-digits like it means it. 108 tomorrow? Bite me.
hells littlest angel
@Anonymous37: I’m pretty sure the elder statesmen of the Republican party expect Romney to lose and are scheming now on how to capitalize on it.
redshirt
Mitt is SO boxed in in so many different categories. It’s tactically an incredibly weak position and utterly depends on your opponent losing for you – which does happen, from time to time. Do any of us think Obama will lose this campaign based on poor performance or scandal of some kind? No, right?
O’s got this easily, and with tuxedo tails, sweeping in all sorts of Congresspeople and Senators.
JPL
I haven’t read all of the comments but Pawlenty has a bridge problem that could haunt him. I do think it will be a Governor though of a swing state. McDonnell comes to mind as well as Scott Walker. Kasich might be a possibility. Lieberman has probably called him and said pick me a few times but that would fall on deaf ears.
Rumpole
PalIn II
Caribou boogaloo.
MikeJ
@Yutsano: Laws are for little people. It will be Tebow, and he’ll refuse to release his passing record.
Southern Beale
I think it’s this. I can’t see Mitt picking someone who would have more clout with the “base.” Didn’t McCain learn that lesson with Palin?
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Tired. Just tired. Have had a looong day. I’ll e-mail more when I get home. Right now make some room on them jubleys!!
Haydnseek
@jl: Giuliani does look like a vampire though, so he would fit right in with a zombie like Mittens in the cheap horror schlockfest that is the current Republitard High Priest of Planet Dumbass z-movie selection process. I’ve never been ashamed of being an American, but I have just about OD’d on being embarrassed about it.
LadyNorth
Hi everyone, just had to delurk and make my first post for this.
I think Ryan is a very strong possibility. Romney always responds to public pressure, doesn’t he?
The Village is in love with Ryan and wants him on the ticket. The far right wants him. The Wall Street Journal wants him. I bet the Wall Street guys want Ryan too, because he is all about privatizing SS and Medicare.
For the record, I’m not 100% sure that Ryan on the ticket is the best thing for democrats. Ryan is very dangerous, but doesn’t LOOK dangerous. He can fool a lot of people. Should we be concerned that with 1) lots of money, 2) a few lies and lots of distortions/omissions, and most of all 3) a very helpful media, republicans could TRICK americans into getting on board with the Ryan plan ?
As for Ryan himself, will he accept the VP nomination if Romney asks him ? You BET ! He’s arrogant, and is absolutely convinced that he will be the savior of America. And I bet he can’t WAIT to get his revenge after Obama publicly ridiculed his ideas.
For sure, Romney is going to find difficult to share the stage with Ryan, but if he thinks that’s the ticket to the Oval, he’ll jump on it.
trollhattan
O/T Curiosity pano from Mars. This expedition is going to be cooler than all the previous ones, combined.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/panoramas-from-curiosity-on-mars/?hpid=z3
Also, too, not available for running mate to the clearly inferior Willardbot 2.0(tm).
Joy
@piratedan: But it would make Ken Bennett the Governor!!!!
redshirt
@trollhattan: I might have to vote a ticket with Curiosity on it. Even (R).
FFredPalakon
Gort the robot might be a solid veep choice, an effective contrast that makes clear that Romney is indeed human. Too bad Gort’s such a peacenik.
piratedan
@Joy: I’d take that, despite him being a total douchenozzle….
I really don’t expect Romney to select her, she’s got a big skel in teh closet if anyone ever picks the scab off those private prison ties but then again, with the current state of media in our country anything is possible and unless they have film footage of you engaged in acts of bestiality, it’s still okay if you are a Republican.
Maude
@SiubhanDuinne:
89 FTW
Mike in NC
@Haydnseek:
Ever rented “Nosferatu”? The resemblance is uncanny.
WereBear
They need someone beloved of the Wingnut base who can whip them into a froth, and who is also bland and boring and safe.
Quite the conundrum.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: ::fluffs said jubleys in anticipation of your weary head laying upon them:: Hugs and love to you, hon!
Haydnseek
@JMG: @David Koch: Demonstrably true. I have yet to discern what she brings to that clusterfuck of Joe “I used to be a playa” Scarborough and the rest of those beltway buttholes. Her “I’m not really a Sawx fan but I can wear the jacket and play one one TV” riff is ass kissing at apogee. And the horse she rode in on…
amk
mitt/t-paw – Loser 2008/Loser 2012
Thank you. I am here all day and I accept credit cards.
slag
I’m going to guess…another paper bag.
Donut
@SamInMpls:
Disagree. Portman is not a governor nor a mayor. He has no permanent machine apparatus that is in place that delivers the state, or, more crucially, a significant number of voters who wouldn’t already vote for Romney. I can’t recall the source off hand but did see a poll result shiwing he has only fair to poor name recognition in OH, having ridden the GOP wave of 2010 more than establishing his own brand. I just don’t see how Portman shakes the tree and gets the subject changed and puts Romney on a potential offensive footing. if Romney picks him, that’s a sign of playing it safe, which translates to losing. Ryan at least is a hail Mary/long shot that breathes life into the moribund campaign and gets the punditry revved up and helps change the narrative.
Jeffro
@Tonal Crow: He doesn’t think holding back his own tax returns makes him “improperly vetted”, so the only way to square that circle is to (publicly, at least) make a fuss about how he didn’t ask to see more than a year or two of his veep choice’s taxes.
Now, since almost everyone on this VP speculation list will already have done what politicians do and released several years’ worth of their tax returns publicly, Romney’s people will have course looked through that. But it will allow them/him to say, “Sure, it was out there, but WE didn’t ask him for 10-12 years of returns. Didn’t need to…Gov so-and-so is the right choice for America, and we don’t need his returns to tell us that…”
Cake and eat-it-too.
muddy
I can’t believe no one has thought of Donny Osmond.
smintheus
Kelly Ayotte. Mitt needs to shake up the race nationally, and cut deeply into some area of Obama’s support. Practically, the most credible way of doing that is to name an hispanic or woman. He doesn’t have very good choices for either, but Ayotte is at least wing-nut friendly, moderately smooth, telegenic. She also has such a short political record that it won’t provide too much fodder for attacks.
So probably his smartest available move. My only doubt is that Mitt is not the smartest politician around.
James E. Powell
I am guessing that Romney will go swing state, so it won’t be any of the reliable right-wingers from the Confederacy.
McDonnell and Portman spring to mind, but is there anyone who can help him in Pennsylvania or Michigan?
Gus
@Lojasmo: You’ll hear the word Obamneycare a million times if he chooses TPaw. On the other hand if you’re looking for someone who has even less personality and thus won’t outshine him, TPaw’s your man.
Haydnseek
@trollhattan: Are you in the SFV? I’m in the SGV, just below Pasadena. It’s always a bit hotter up there, but the humidity is brutal in SoCal in the last ten years or so.
M31
@Jeffro:
Yeah, but it adds a lovely extra restriction on Mitt’s choices.
Not only does the person have be so bland and colorless that they undershadow Mitt, as well as incite the TeaBaggers into a dogwhistling froth, he/she has to not have released more than 2 years of tax returns. Oh, and be a fresh face but also vetted and experienced.
Anonymous37
hell’s little angel 217> I’m pretty sure the elder statesmen of the Republican party expect Romney to lose and are scheming now on how to capitalize on it.
I don’t buy it. For all of the grief Nate Silver is getting on this thread, I think that he’s right about “house effects” in polling and the popular vote lead that Obama has is small enough that the GOP insiders can’t write off Romney. And I also think that the GOP has an interest in Romney losing by as little as possible, even if he does lose (as he is very likely to do). This, of course, is even without considering downballot races.
Portman doesn’t help with downballot races in any direct way, but a close (or closer) Presidential race does, and Portman could provide this, by changing the horserace narrative.
James E. Powell
Apart from the person he picks, Romney has a delicate problem. In order to maintain his stand on not releasing his tax returns, he will either not ask his choice for tax returns or he will have his people review them but lie about it.
If he does not ask for the returns, there may be a bomb in there that will explode later in the campaign.
If he does get the tax returns and lies about it, what are the chances that that fact will remain secret?
kay
Okay, I pick Ryan. I picked him before, and I’m sticking with it.
I also picked Romney, but that was easy. There was no one else even remotely acceptable in that field, although if conservatives were really wild and free risk takers, they would have promoted Santorum. As sad as is it, Santorum was a better GOP politician than Romney. A better “fit” for 2012.
But the wall streeters wanted Mittens, so I suppose that was a done deal.
Just One More Canuck
@David Koch: @efgoldman: Buddy Christ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buddy_christ.jpg
Jeffro
@M31: Nah, they could have released more publicly during whichever campaign/campaigns they last ran…the important part is Mitt crowing about how HE didn’t ask for multiple years of returns from his veep, and ‘didn’t need to’.
Jeffro
@James E. Powell: Most pols have their returns out there. Romney’s campaign will no doubt go over the veep pick’s returns with a fine-tooth comb (looking for say Planned Parenthood donations).
In the end, Romney will crow quite loudly about how HE didn’t ask his veep for 10-12 years of returns and didn’t need to. (Well yeah, Mitt, they were already out there in the public record).
JGabriel
Dennis G. @ Top:
I’m still thinking it’s a toss-up between Portman and McDonnell, with an outside but not negligible chance for Sandoval.
.
Haydnseek
@Mike in NC: I saw it during its original limited opening theatrical release in Hollywood. I’ve never been able to look at Giuliani as a normal human being since.
Joel
@David Koch: Well, like a good scientist, he reports the data, regardless of his personal feelings.
trollhattan
@Haydnseek:
Sac Valley. I’m obliged to say, “But it’s a dry heat” or the city fathers will impound my eff-two-fiddy.
General Stuck
@kay:
I would’ve picked Ryan as well, but didn’t want to jinx what would be a prayer answered.
El Cid
I’m guessing one of the moron henchmen from either Batman the TV series or H. R. Pufnstuf.
Wilson Heath
Obviously Mitt needs someone more fire breathing than T-Paw, so he must be replaced by someone more dynamic.
How about an Ambien?
Damnit, no. Still might upstage Romney.
kay
@General Stuck:
I don’t think they make decisions based on mundane things like “winning states” or “reaching voters.”
They rely on things like the word “bold”.
They’re all, political media and conservatives, inexplicably and irrationally convinced that people who are in their fifties and terrified about their jobs and financial security are just desperate to end Medicare and privatize Social Security.
When it became clear that the financial system was crashing and President Bush was having a nervous breakdown dealing with it, my mother said “thank God they didn’t let him put Social Security in the stock market”.
And she has a pension. She isn’t even wholly relying on Social Security. That was literally the first thing she said. “Thank God SS isn’t in the stock market”.
pattonbt
Have always believed McDonnell, still do. But Portman seems a hot pick as well. Ryan is tough for Mitt – the whole overshadow thing. Basically picking Ryan makes Mitt second fiddle.
But I think Mitt should go with Pat Buchanan.
Anne Laurie
@smintheus:
I’m afraid that might actually happen, now that I’ve been corrected on the “VP can’t be from the same for-tax-purposes state as the nominee” issue.
Not that it will improve Romney’s chances, but it will quintuple the number of horse-race-hunting media crawling around here in the ‘Southern NH’ media market. Us Massholes should be safe from the swing-state attack ads, but apparently the strongest broadcasting signals in New Hampshire all belong to college radio stations, so Boston must “regretfully” suck up all those mud-buys.
Schlemizel
Because corporations are people my friend The Marquis Du Mittens will select Koch Industries as his VP
mclaren
Problems, man. Problems. Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character. Ed Gein is dead. Dennis Rader (the BTK killer) is in prison serving 10 consecutive life sentences.
What to do, what to do?
PaulW
Pawlenty brings nothing to the table: small state electorally, bland persona who couldn’t contend in the primaries from the get-go.
If Paul Ryan gets picked, he may energize the far right base but it will make his budget plans the Number One Topic of the election. You know, the budget plans that basically kill every social program that people actually like. I doubt there are enough undecided voters who are as suicidal as the Teabaggers.
Portman is the most sensible pick: still a relative unknown, no major scandals associated to his name, coming from a key swing state (Ohio) and with enough political experience to not be another Quayle/Palin fiasco. So of course it’s still 50-50 he’ll get tabbed.
Thing is, nearly every Veep selection I’ve been aware of – since Reagan’s 1980 run – seemed at the time to be an unlikely pick: who had Reagan taking Bush, or Mondale taking Gerraro, or Bush taking Quayle, or Clinton taking Gore (I still recall how Gore’s selection went against the conventional rules of regional and personal diversity of Veep selections), or Gore taking Holy Joe, or McCain taking Palin? I think the only times a Veep selection wasn’t a total shock was with Dole taking Kemp back in 1996 and Kerry taking Edwards in 2004.
Don’t be surprised if it’s someone that noone is talking about… say, Rush Limbaugh…
vhh
@David Koch: Well, Chuck Barris may have been a real CIA hit man. That contrast with the cowardly wimp Mitt is unfavorable. Hmm, while we are on Chucks, maybe Chuck NORRIS who is a Hollywood tough guy but not a real hit man. And I am pretty sure he is a gung ho Romney supporter.
lacp
@Anne Laurie: Hell, if he wants a woman from a state he needs, why not Pam Bondi from Florida?
rb
@maya: Or Joshh.
OK, it’s late and maybe I’m sleep deprived, but I’m sitting here with tears rolling down because that was so f-ing funny. You got me.
PaulW
@lacp:
Because Bondi is part of a very unpopular state gov’t right now and a very noticeable supporter of Rick “Medicare Fraud” Scott. If Mitt goes with ANYONE from Florida at the moment – Scott (insane choice), Rubio (weak choice), Jeb Bush (NO MORE BUSHES) – he’s bound to turn the state from “Leans Obama” to “Solid Obama”.
Cargo
If only Rafalca was a white horse, he’d be the veep for sure. Prophecy says so!
mainmati
I think the choice is obvious: Chuck Norris. Ka-Bam!
Quarks
Late to this, but whatever.
I’m hearing more and more buzz that Ryan’s the pick. It makes a certain sense for Romney — shores up the base, and convinces the general population that at least one of the Republican candidates is not a robot. Also, Ryan at least has policies and is able to articulate them, and does not come across as dishonest. Win for Romney.
But I don’t see this working out for Ryan well at all, and Ryan’s intelligent enough to see this. First, he can look back and see what’s happened recently to every vice president or vice presidential candidate except Bush senior — and it’s not the presidency. In a couple of cases it’s not even worth much on the speaking/endorsement track. And Ryan’s intelligent enough to realize that Romney’s chances of winning aren’t great — leaving him as a failed VP candidate. And what has that done for Kemp, Lieberman and Edwards? Not much. (Palin admittedly as an exception to this.)
So, yeah, Romney can ask. I’m not sure Ryan will accept.
Quarks
@lacp: Bondi barely has any name recognition in Florida. The response would be, “huh.” If the voter was then reminded, “And, she works with Rick Scott,” the response would be, oh, god, no. The only worse choice would be Rick Scott.
mai naem
No way on Brewer. Even Romney wouldn’t be that stupid. She is an older unattractive version of Palin – also too heavy smoker/alkie and not a college grad. And did I tell you old. Wrinkly and old. Worse on the stump than Romney. Romney would shine against her but seriously I don’t think he wants to shine that bad.
Forget all this , I want whoever Biden’s going to embarrass the most. Ryan is very thin skinned and would have a meltdown with Biden. Giuliani OMG can we say a noun, a verb and 9/11. Jindal would be crying like Bobby Brady by them time Biden was through with him.
mai naem
No way on Brewer. Even Romney wouldn’t be that stupid. She is an older unattractive version of Palin – also too heavy smoker/alkie and not a college grad. And did I tell you old. Wrinkly and old. Worse on the stump than Romney. Romney would shine against her but seriously I don’t think he wants to shine that bad.
Forget all this , I want whoever Biden’s going to embarrass the most. Ryan is very thin skinned and would have a meltdown with Biden. Giuliani OMG can we say a noun, a verb and 9/11. Jindal would be crying like Bobby Brady by them time Biden was through with him.
smintheus
@Anne Laurie: Who “corrected” you on that? I saw no mention earlier of Ayotte. Anyhow, Bush used Cheney to give the 12th Amendment the middle finger and the whole country fell in line, like fools, so I can Romney taking some pleasure in daring the Dems to make an issue of where he lives.
dww44
@LadyNorth: I agree with your take on Ryan and in particular that he will excite the GOP base and could well prove to be problematic for the Obama campaign. There are far too many folks, not just the GOP base, who believe in the utter brilliance of his PLAN. Saw John Nichols on one of the MSNBC shows the other nite and he provided some good insight into Ryan, who he says is dangerous because he comes across as a really nice guy and is therefore able to mask the extremity of his positions and policy proposals. Plus the fact he’s a creature of D.C. for better than the last 20 years and has all these contacts he can leverage from the Veep position. He would overshadow Mitt.
Origuy
What year, besides 2010, has Romney released? He hasn’t released 2011 yet; he hasn’t filed it. Was his 2010 tax filing 500 pages?
hojo
@Litlebritdifrnt: Agree, but if Ryan is the pick, my depression doubles down. I don’t advise being confident that Romney is toast — I thought it totally not possible that GW Bush would ever be (s)elected. As of the Bush 2nd term, I’ve never again assumed that American voters know shit from shinola.
karen marie
@piratedan: Never going to happen. Ha!
karen marie
@TS: I hadn’t considered Sandoval (google “Sandoval” and he comes up as one hit, way down the page, and it’s his election site from 2009/2010, briansandoval.com).
As much as I would love to have Romney pick Paul Ryan, Sandoval would be a very safe pick. He doesn’t have the Bush taint that Portman does or the budget issues Ryan would bring. And Romney probably wouldn’t have to worry about him saying something completely stupid.
Back in May it was the opinion of Public Policy Polling that Sandoval would boost Romney by only 2% in Nevada, which doesn’t get them over the hump.
Also, too, Sandoval is not only “pro-choice but he’s “raised taxes twice” in two years.
1badbaba3
frank booth – well he needs the south, amirite?
Anne Laurie
@Cargo:
Rafalca’s only in her teens — not even old enough to vote, much less campaign.
Although she might attract the all-important Horses’ Arses demographic…
DTGslu2K
Every single news outlet is now reporting that it’s Paul Ryan. I think Romney just handed Florida to Obama, considering Ryan’s most notable act in politics so far has been to propose killing Medicare.