Who Will Romney Tap as VP: Hillary? Snowe? Other?
Sat, 07/07/2012 - 11:16am (new)
Posted by eagleisland
The names being bandied about are:
Kelly Ayotte (US Senate, NH)
Nikki Haley (Governor, South Carolina)
Cathy Rodgers (US House, Washington)
Mary Fallin (Governor, Oklahoma)
Susanna Martinez (Governor, New Mexico)
Condoleeza Rice (no introduction necessary)
Rice has already flatly stated that she isn't interested (though I suppose she could be persuaded, and she would certainly be formidable and provide Romney with foreign policy expertise he clearly lacks). Rogers potentially brings the most electoral votes (11) of the women under consideration, and is a 4-term Rep. But outside of the state of Washington just about no one has heard of her. Ditto for Fallin.
People HAVE heard of Haley - smart gal with good Tea Party street cred. But South Carolina probably isn't a swing state and it would be hard to argue that she brought a significant bloc of Electoral College votes to the table. Ayotte is appealing but she's awfully new to the game and besides, I can't see how the idea of a POTUS/VPOTUS team from two small New England states would play all that well elsewhere.
Martinez could be an interesting pick - could potentially help with the Hispanic vote. Small EC numbers, though (albeit that might be offset somewhat by womens' vote elsewhere). I still think Marco Rubio is likely at the top of the short list right now. Hispanic descent (although whether his Cuban heritage crosses over to the southwest is unknown) and potentially brings a huge batch of EVs from a state that's still very much a tossup.