Romney's VP Announcement!!

[HoosierCougar]

I think the VP will be Portman. He's a cautious choice, but a solid one.
He's been vetted by the Senate a couple times for different positions, so he's unlikely to carry any unseen baggage. He can really help Romney navigate the policy, political, and legislative mazes of Washington as well.

He likely delivers OH.

Ryan is a lightening rod as has been said (though I think he'd be a great choice, as would Eric Kantor, but he has similar electrical conductivity).

Condi is an electoral novice. She could become a campaign liability and her pro-choice position plus Romney's Mormonism could put off enough Evangelicals to put supposedly solid states in play.

Rubio is my choice, but he won't be Romney's for these reasons:
1) If Rubio is ready, then so was Obama after 2 years in the Senate. You don't want to shore up the other guys weakness.
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2) A Cuban-American doesn't really win you any Mexican-American or Central American-American votes. Other Latinos see Cubans as a different group all together.
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3) Personality. Expect a policy wonk-ishness to Romney's ticket. Someone solid but quiet. That's not Rubio. You don't want the VP to overshadow you. Remember after the first VP debate in 2000 when people were saying "Wouldn't a Lieberman-Cheney ticket be awesome!" That's why it won't be Christie, either.
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4) Rubio's Mormon past (or, as sno put it, quasi-Mormon past). Don't give the conspiracy theorists (on the left or the right) anything that easy to hang their hats on.

I say there's a 75% chance they announce before the Olympics. Let the media and the masses investigate the Veep nominee while they are feeling all patriotic and are also distracted.

Then ram home his (cause it won't be Condi) credentials after the Olys and through the convention. Then make it about the economy and how no one who has ever hired Mitt Romney has been let down.

[Mars]

I think the VP will be Portman.

She is pretty good looking. Second-wife material maybe?

[Ddawg]

Ha ha ha!!! Excellent.

[scott715]

He gets my vote!

[Ddawg]

I am convinced now, with the shooing event at the Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, combined with the London Olympics starting in 5 days, there is no way Mitt Romney will announce his VP pick till after the Olympics.

Mitt will not want to detract from the horrible shooting event and the deep emotional healing that is taking place there. Also, he does not want any detraction from his announcement, as selfish as it sounds, it's reality. Mitt and his team need to springboard his VP announcement into the the beginning of the final push for the Whitehouse.

[snoscythe]

I am convinced now, with the shooing event at the Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, combined with the London Olympics starting in 5 days, there is no way Mitt Romney will announce his VP pick till after the Olympics.

Mitt will not want to detract from the horrible shooting event and the deep emotional healing that is taking place there. Also, he does not want any detraction from his announcement, as selfish as it sounds, it's reality. Mitt and his team need to springboard his VP announcement into the the beginning of the final push for the Whitehouse.

If negative headlines in general continue to drive the cycle (Canadians wealthier on average than Americans, worse than expected unemployment numbers, Aurora shooting, sex assault on children at PSU, etc., etc.), the pragmatic thing for Romney as the insurgent would be to just let it ride for now. Bain has gone to the back burner with all of this, so his need to redirect the news cycle has been muted.

The general feeling as negative news piles on becomes "something is wrong with the country," or "something needs to change;" both of which aren't good sentiments for an incumbent. Furthermore, with all these negative stories in general out there, Obama is in "damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't" territory as the incumbent. Take Aurora for example--Obama came out here on Sunday to visit the victims, and some are already accusing him of politicizing the shooting for free face time in a battleground state. Then again, if he doesn't visit, he gets ripped for being "distant" or more worried about re-election than the American people. When an incumbent is facing re-election and things are going south, every action or inaction gets distorted through the lens of political opportunism or panic. As long as these things remain in the limelight and Bain fades to the shadows, Romney no longer needs to redirect the cycle before the Games open.

[CougarClaw]

Politics is so dastardly. damned if you do or don't is absolutely right.

I did hear that Romney praised Obama for going to CO to visit victims. But that's just because he wanted to position himself as a caring individual to win an election. right?

[Ddawg]

Let's see ........ in the past year Obama has attended 109 campaign fund raisers, 0 meetings with his job council, and 1 well photographed visit to Aurora, Co.

Was Obama's visit to Aurora, Co. political? Well, the above data suggests Obama is in 100% campaign mode. You decide.

[Ddawg]

Flash - Breaking News - Mitt Romney will announce his VP choice tomorrow, Sat., Aug. 8 at 9 AM ESt, from Norfolk, Virginia.

This is going to be interesting! Paul Ryan? Marco Rubio? Rob Portman? Condoleeza Rice? Tim Pawlenty? David Patreus?

Or - a complete dark horse that no one see coming. I am excited.

[BroncoBot]

According to drudgereport, it looks to be Ryan. They are dropping some pretty heavy hints over there.