Will Romney Tap Hillary Clinton for VP Slot? Olympia Snowe?

If he picks either one of those two, I will sit out the election.

Well Naran, this will certainly get the ideological virgins all up in arms. I fear that Eric Brakey might just stroke out with the thought.

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.

Romney/Rice
The "presidentially qualified" would be in the VP position.

Rice would certainly cover the ethnic/female side of the requirements. I also think she has the brains and the political chops, but if she agreed to run, I would be surprised.

The reason I say "Clinton" is because of her appeal to the Democratic side of the aisle. Female/strong Dem/influential foreign secretary.

I am not a Clinton fan, but I still think it would be an unbeatable combination for Romney. President Obama is praying Romney doesn't head in that direction, nor toward Rice.

If he picked Clinton heads would explode on both the Republican & Democrat side. It would be fun to watch. The only down-side to Condi would be her close association to the Bush years which might turn off independents. Krauthammer seems to think Romney will go for a dull choice to emphasize the serious over the slick.

Either Clinton or Snowe would be appropriate, but even more appropriate would be for Romney to choose Obama and Obama to choose Romney.

Jeez, Mike, it was hard enough for me to post Clinton as a possible pick ---- Obama???
Are you trying to make me nauseous? (...quick.....must find pepto....)

:)

If he picks Clinton and wins, he would need a food Taser to avoid being poisoned.

It would still be fun to watch.

Have been speculating about a Snowe VP pick for some time now.

There is, I suspect, another reason for her "retirement" that we are not being told about, and may have been in the works ever since '08... at least.

A solid Yankee RINO bloc might not fly well in the deep South, but they would have the ABO vote sewn up regardless.

Then if Maine sends Marxist King or RINO establishment Snowe-Clone Summers to the Senate and whatever liberal to the House (does it really matter?) the establishment will have their dream team all in place to ruin whatever Obunga leaves behind.

Welcome to serfdom, if not Sharia by 2014.

It won't make a bit of difference because Romney isn't going to win anyway. The wagon riders have got us outnumbered and Obama will scare the bejeesus out of the undecided by telling them the Republicans are going to take away their goodies, which is exactly what needs to be done to save the republic.

Nikki Haley would be a 2012 version of Sarah Palin - in other words, a GOP disaster in the making.

Having Condi Rice one heartbeat away from the presidency makes more sense.

But in this election, anything is possible.

Condi Rice is no dummy. She would not waste her time on this jamoke.

Rice would be an excellent choice and second would be Fallin...Nikki has little hope as she has as many against her as for her in her own state - and there is no way Hillary Clinton would say yes, nor should he even ask unless he plans on losing and wants to sabotage her hopes for a future election. Im not impressed with Ayotte after listening to her in maine at a caucus in winter.

I hear from observers in New Hampshire that Rob Portman, the junior US Senator from Ohio, was spotted three different days around the Romney compound on Lake Winnipesauke. That would fit the reports of a "duller-than-me" running mate.

That is not to say that Portman doesn't have heartbeat-from-the-presidency qualifications: he was White House Counsel and later Director of the White House Office on Legislative Affairs for George H.W. Bush. He then got elected to the US House from the Cincinatti suburbs of Hamilton County. He left office to become George W. Bush's United States Trade Representative to the World Trade Organization. He was then appointed by Bush as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. In 2010, he won the open U.S. Senate seat of Democrat George Voinovich by a 57-39 margin over the Democrat Lieutenant Governor.

That said, there is very little to excite the GOP base. He is Romney Lite: a priviledged rich kid from the finest schools and part of the old guard Republican Establishment. Plus, to the media and the general electorate-at-large buying into Obama's "humble background" populist class warfare kool aid, a Romney-Portman ticket would be perceived as two rich white middle class suburban guys from the northeast!

Leave it to the GOP Establishment to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!

Then again, maybe not...... http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/08/ohio-portman-vp-maybe-but-no-...

I'm Mitt Romney bitc...

" In case you haven't noticed, they're still all coming to me. I've been running them through the obstacle course up here all week. Jindal's parking cars, and Pawlenty's almost got the entire pool cleaned out, and Portman mixes a fine dark-and-stormy for the cocktail hour every day. Ann's got Portman cleaning out the stalls. Fine man with a shovel, that Portman"

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/mitt-romney-new-stump-speech-10388...

So Mike G, what are we to conclude from this farcical blog versus FOXNews? Do tell.

The funny thing is, the headline would be equally interesting if rewritten to ask: "Will Obama Tap Hillary Clinton for VP Slot? Olympia Snowe?"

To be honest, the first time my eye scanned the thread list I passed right over it assuming it read "Obama..." And the Olympia Snowe reference didn't shock me a bit. She is unpredictable and we have the precedent of so-called Republican Bill Cohen serving without shame in Bill Clinton's Cabinet!

Then I skidded to a halt and back-tracked to see that it read Romney!

Nicki Haley makes no sense because Romney already has South Carolina wrapped up by 20 points.

Blue jay

"Portman said he was a Bush budget official "when we had a strong economy -- at a time when we had deficits that we would die for today."

He has played an active role in several presidential campaigns, most recently as the debate partner for the 2008 GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain.

"I want to help in any way I can," he said." snip end

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/08/ohio-portman-vp-maybe-but-no-...

I'd guess it might be that last quote from Fox News, pool boy :)

Pawlenty might not serve, but seriously do you think that Ron Paul would serve as a Romney's budget official or be asked to serve?

I see that Ron Paul and others in the house have a bill out of committee that wants a complete AUDIT of the FED, will Romney be backing this Bill will he use his bully pulpit as the nominee of the Republican Party to push it through the senate?

Or does he fear that as many expect that the FED has no clothes and would be best for us not to know?

How can you have exuberance when the FED is a house of cards?

Condi . . "I'm very often asked to speak about our current foreign policy and the challenges that lie before us. However, we, as a country, are not going to be able to address any of those international challenges unless we first get our domestic house in order."

At this moment, Drudge is leading with an 'exclusive' that amounts to strong Condi speculation.

I think it's fair to say that no politician in their right mind would ignore Drudge. (oxymoron noted)

VB ought to be able to field this: Vic! Assuming there's an RNC or Romney analyst moitoring Drudge's post, what sort of criteria would they use to evaluate the response to his 'exclusive'? I'm assuming that Drudge didn't just make it up and that it was probably fed to him as a trial balloon.

I remember Condi Rice being very supportive of and compliant with the Wahabbi Saudis when she was Secretary of State.
I even drew a cartoon about her relationship with the Saud family at the time which would not be considered very politically correct. I just drew it for my own entertainment and never expected it to ever get published anywhere. Probably just as well is wasn't.
(You probably don't want it posted here either... trust me.)
"Condi Rice Speaks on Behalf of Palastine..."

At the time I suspected that Secretary Rice may have secretly converted to Islam somewhere along the way. I still wonder if she might be a closet Muslim... like I am confident that Obama is.

Unlike the titillating speculation I recently fwd. around about the GOP cabinet "Dream Team" with Congressman / Lt. Col. Allan West as VP (Dream on!), I fully expect Romney to appoint at least one Muslim to his cabinet, and there will probably be at least a couple of MusBro members among his close confidantes.

Have heard and read rumors of an an old if not ancient and very secretive Muslim / Mason / Mormon connection somewhere along the line, and am beginning to wonder if there might be something to it(?). "Conspiracy theory"?
Perhaps.

If Romney does pick a Muslim as a VP (which frankly would not surprise me in the least) and "wins" in November, I would not expect him to serve out his first term.... one way or another.
Oh well; his replacement won't be the first Muslim to inhabit the White Rabbat.

Romney or Obama?... What a choice.
Does it really even matter any more?

Welcome to the Caliphate, Dhimmies!

(Well;.... What are our options? ...Do we have any left??)

4G&C ~ UJ.

Obama is too openly worshiping a slightly diluted form of Marxism to be a closet Muslim.

Condi would be a game changer and all but ensure a Romney win.

The Neo-Cons are hyping this Affirmative Action cipher, particularly on the The Drudge Report, as Romney's best bet for VP. Rice would be an utter disastrous choice. It would prove that Romney and the GOP political establishment have learned absolutely nothing from the experience of the GWB Administration in the last twelve years. Rice has the albatross of the Iraq War hanging around her neck and her tenure as Sec. of State was an embarrassment, especially with the Russians, who laughed at her incompetence. She was hyped as "brilliant" and "fluent in Russian", but she was neither. She will win no black votes and she will not help carry a single critical swing State. She is just Fox News' Bill Kristol latest Great Black Republican Hope that will just alienate the GOP base. The "game-change" would be that the Romney Presidential campaign would quickly collapse.

Romney needs to win more white, male, working class votes in the critical Midwestern States of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, as well as Virginia to prevail in this close election. And he needs to appeal to them by saving their jobs from the competition of illegal and even legal immigrant labor, halting unfair trade policies, and ending race-based employment programs which discriminate against them and their off-spring, via "Disparate Impact" and Affirmative Action.

Rice's selection as VP would signal to these critical voters that the GOP is brain-dead and cares nothing for their interests. They might as well stay home rather than vote for the clueless, rich Mormon and probably would. Romney should, instead, pick Sen. Bob Portman of Ohio, a smart, experienced GOP pol (former Trade Rep, former Budget Director, former Congressman, and sitting Senator) who could be President on Day One if necessary and carry Ohio to boot.

If Romney listens to the Neo-Cons, he'll fare no better in 2012 pandering to the mythical "black vote" that stupid GOP advisers are always fruitlessly chasing than John McCain did with the elusive Hispanic vote with his record of Amnesty proposals in 2008. If Romney is so dense as to pick Rice, the GOP will go the way of the Whigs. But before a better alternative can be formed, we'll be stuck with BHO and perhaps a Democrat Congress for another four years, a blow from which America may never recover.

Uncle Jaque: Take off the tin foil hat!!!!! I am a Mason -- Past Master of two Lodges and who was also the Grand Masonic Lodge of Maine Representative to the Grand Masonic Lodge of Israel. There is NO "ancient and very secretive Muslim / Mason / Mormon connection," as you phrase it.

1) Masons profess belief in deity and the fraternity respects differences in the form of worship or belief. I've sat in Lodges here in Maine with Christians, Jews and un-church affiliated. Many Christian minister of various denominations are active Masons. In Israel, I sat in a Lodge where Jews sat in brotherly harmony with Palestinan Arabs and Marronite Christians. The brotherly love and affection for the fraternity extends even to when they are on opposite sides of a political battle -- at Gettysburg, Masons who fought on the Union side saw to it that Confederates who wore a Masonic ring or belt buckle were given full dignity in death or defeat.
2) Masons do NOT discuss politics inside a Lodge. Inside, even if we differ in the outside world, we are brothers in harmony. But, once we step outside the Lodge, we could even run against each other for public office. Some 14 Masons have been President of the United States from George Washington to Gerald Ford and 31 Masons have been Governor of Maine. This is not due to any intrigue or conspiracy but because Masons, as a service fraternity, believe in service to the community and the common good which, for some, means serving in public office.
3) The Morman connection myth started because Joseph Smith was a Mason before he ever claimed to have received the tablets from the angel Maroni and there are rumors that he adopted some of the Masonic intiation ritual into the Morman Temple ritual. I asked a Morman once if it were true that some of the rite in the Morman Temple resembles the Masonic initiation rituals but he declined to discuss it. Without giving away Masonic "secrets" I hinted that it might have to do with the bullding of King Solomon's Temple and the Morman didn't react and simply declined to comment. That is about as far a "connection" as you will find - merely an historical coincidence.

As a Mason myself Vic, thanks for the great post.