There is one particular name that is now popping up among Republican insiders and the GOP establishment as the leading candidate to become the Vice Presidential nominee.
Who is it?
From Buzzfeed:
There is no doubt in the minds of Republican National Committee members that Mitt Romney will be their standard bearer in the fall, and already consensus is building behind one potential vice presidential nominee — Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.
In an informal survey of more than half of the Republican State Chairmen and national committee people at this weekend’s State Chairman meeting at a resort here, two-thirds said they believe Portman is the most-likely and best-qualified running-mate for Mitt Romney. The committee members spoke to BuzzFeed only on the condition of anonymity.
“He’s from Ohio, and we need to win Ohio, it’s that simple,” said one state chair.
Portman, a former Congressman from the Cincinnati area who was director of the Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush administration, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. And the warmth Republican elites express for him stems much from a desire to avoid another risky, flamboyant pick like Sarah Palin as it does for his ability to help carry an important swing state.
“Romney needs to make a safe pick, and keep talking about the economy — and that’s Rob Portman,” said one committeewoman from the West.
Portman’s seeming inability to overshadow the vanilla Romney gives him a rare qualification — and potentially a leg up over the rest of the field.
“He’s not going to be Palin — he’s not going to be fighting to get in front of cameras, [Portman] knows his place,” he one Midwestern committeeman.
“He was born to be the guy standing next to the guy,” said another member. “He’s the type of guy who ran for vice president of his high school student council.”
You have got to be kidding? Portman is a non-distinguished moderate. You have to ask the question, is Romney really serious about winning the nomination?
Assuming this is true, it is classic Romney and classic GOP establishment. They are solving for X. Instead of the passion of patriotism and the desire to help save the nation, all this is, is simply a business problem. It is simply a math problem.
No, there is much more than that. Romney has not reached out to the conservative wing of the Party. He does not seem to care. TPN surveys have shown a quarter of conservatives say they will not vote for Romney.
While we have not yet surveyed it, the number who will not go out and campaign fir him is going to be much higher.
Who the hell does he think is going to be the boots on the ground? Members of the country club?
Here is a clue for Romney and the GOP establishment. It is conservative activists who do this.
Romney is worried about someone who will help him win Ohio? He had better worry about the Conservatives who are not going to be out working for the campaign.
Tags: establishment, mitt, ohio, portman, president, rino, rob, romney, vice
The key to all of us getting most of what we want is to support Romney AND elect conservative majorities in the House and Senate. Romney has never had the luxury of working with a conservative legislature. If we bungle this election, we'll be living in the USSA soon.
Permalink Reply by Billy Bowlegs on Thanks Debrajoe,
Can you convince him that anyone is good but that damned Rubio or Bush.
Permalink Reply by Ronald Sorrells on Billy B:
I don't think anyone will have a vote on the VP but the "National Republican Committee". Just like Romney...they tapped him and "that was it" !
Ron
Permalink Reply by Ramon E. Greene on I am from Ohio and I don't know who Portman is! If Romney doesn't dramatically reach out to conservatives, I will vote for him vs. Obama, but campaign for him-- I have more important things to do like cutting the grass!
Permalink Reply by Nancy on Ditto--as an Ohioan, I'm not certain I know much about Portman other than he's a GOP and how he's voted recently.
See the following links to view Portman's voting info:
http://www.ontheissues.org/oh/rob_portman.htm
http://www.votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/27008/rob-portman
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/robert_portman/400325
I don't think this would be a smart move on Romney's part:
#1-not many folks outside of OH know who Portman is (and I'd be willing to bet that there are still too many folks in OH who don't know he's their Senator/how he votes/background, etc).
#2-I feel the G. Bush association would be devastating--still too many folks in the country who don't like Bush/have animosity towards Bush and I think this connection would drive people to vote for BHO simply because they don't like Bush (JMHO).
#3-Winning OH will probably be necessary for the GOP, however, I'm not certain that is possible and here's why. In our March primary--if you look at this map that breaks down how votes were cast across the state between Romney and Santorum--the majority of the state's counties were colored in for Santorum. However, the areas around Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy--the urban areas with the highest concentration of our state's population went for Romney and that's the problem (IMO).
Can't speak for Columbus/Cincy--but unfortunately, here in NE OH--Dems rule and have for a very, very, very. . .long time and there is also a very heavy union presence here in NE OH as well. What concerns me is that while the majority of the counties would go for Romney, BHO could still win OH simply by having a good showing in/around these cities like Romney did over Santorum in the primary (the same concern can be applied to Sherrod Brown winning re-election over Josh Mandel if Mandel doesn't have a strong showing in/around these major urban areas).
Permalink Reply by Nancy on An article written (today) by Sen. Rob Portman for everyone's consideration (since his name is being bantered about as a possible VP--might give some insight):
Ohio can deliver a message that can be heard across the country
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/05/05/ohio-can-deliver-message-...
Permalink Reply by JEAN MACALLISTER on Sarah Palin was not ":fighting to get in front of the cameras". That sounds a tad jealous. Sarah Palin was outspoken and when she mentioned Obama "hanging out with terrorists (Bill Ayers), she was moved to the back of the bus. The McCain people would not allow her to speak with reporters, go on Fox, etc. Frankly, I think McCain was intended to lose. When Sarah Palin proved to be so popular, they went along with the Alinsky people ridiculing her.
Permalink Reply by Janice Albrecht on I agree
Jean, I think you hit it right on the head!
Permalink Reply by Irene D Aldrich on Right on, Jean.
Permalink Reply by Janice Hall Waddell on McCain would not have gone as far as he did, nor get as many votes as he did without Palin. What she is doing now is standing against the President. Speaking out against his policies - much more firmly than Romney is doing. He needs to take a lesson from the "Pit Bull", as she was called. He is acting more like a weiner dog than the fighter that we need.
Permalink Reply by Gene J Austin Jr on If the Socialist Romney is the nominee, the VP slot is irrelevant since that is a forgone loss of the election right then and there. Whomever is VP slot should consider how bad it will be to be on the losing ticket in the last free elections in our lifetimes.
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