Conventional wisdom now has Mitt Romney's vice presidential
"short
list" down to four names:
Bobby Jindal,
Paul Ryan,
Rob Portman, and Tim
Pawlenty. While none of them would turn off conservatives, only
the first two would have any chance of actually exiting
conservatives and motivating an all-out effort by grassroots
activists, without which a Republican presidential candidate is
highly unlikely to win.
In that light, let's assess the state of the field, and some further arguments on why certain choices would be far better than others.
First, Portman. Frankly, if he were from any state other than the fiercely contested Ohio, he would barely be on the list. The Obama team desperately wants again to run against the memory of the Bush presidency/presidencies -- and Portman is the only elected official in the country who is so largely the creation not just of one but of both Bush presidencies. That, plus his status as Ivy-League son of Ivy-League father (to join Romney's as governor-wanting-to-be-president son of a governor who wanted to be president), both of them wealthy, is hardly a good lure for the cultural-affinity blue-collar or hard-scrabble rural voters who can be prone to wish poxes on both houses and refuse to vote at all. Unless Romney's camp has internal polling showing a very significant boost for Romney in Ohio due to a Portman selection, its decision-makers would be well advised to stay away.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/10/veep-veep-the-update
In that light, let's assess the state of the field, and some further arguments on why certain choices would be far better than others.
First, Portman. Frankly, if he were from any state other than the fiercely contested Ohio, he would barely be on the list. The Obama team desperately wants again to run against the memory of the Bush presidency/presidencies -- and Portman is the only elected official in the country who is so largely the creation not just of one but of both Bush presidencies. That, plus his status as Ivy-League son of Ivy-League father (to join Romney's as governor-wanting-to-be-president son of a governor who wanted to be president), both of them wealthy, is hardly a good lure for the cultural-affinity blue-collar or hard-scrabble rural voters who can be prone to wish poxes on both houses and refuse to vote at all. Unless Romney's camp has internal polling showing a very significant boost for Romney in Ohio due to a Portman selection, its decision-makers would be well advised to stay away.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/10/veep-veep-the-update
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