Which would you prefer as Romney's VP pick?

[Sparky]

It is all about beating Obama.  The only things I know about Rubio is that he is from Florida and Hispanic.  Therefore he should selected.  An alternative is condaleza rice; black and a woman....

Absolutely correct.  The VP pick should be based on who will best help Romney win.  He is going to need to attract Hispanic and women voters.  No need to go after black voters since they will all vote for Obama.

[Rubystars]

I don't think his Mormonism is going to help him attract women voters when they find out that women in mormonism must be married to a Mormon man and even if she's "saved" in that religion, she will be an eternal breeding cow. And in the past they were just one of many wives, and some break-off sects still do that today. He'd better have something good to offer women voters to offset that.

[Zelhar]

I don't think his Mormonism is going to help him attract women voters when they find out that women in mormonism must be married to a Mormon man and even if she's "saved" in that religion, she will be an eternal breeding cow. And in the past they were just one of many wives, and some break-off sects still do that today. He'd better have something good to offer women voters to offset that.

I am not sure that's a doctrine every mormon subscribe to. What you say isn't more problematic then for example a Catholic president because according to their doctrine he is supposedly under the guidance of a foreign sovereign, the Pope.

[Rubystars]

I am not sure that's a doctrine every mormon subscribe to. What you say isn't more problematic then for example a Catholic president because according to their doctrine he is supposedly under the guidance of a foreign sovereign, the Pope.

That's disturbing to a certain degree too although a president does take an oath to protect and defend the USA so I'm not sure if that would nullify that issue or not. I think it would have to go on a case by case basis.

However it's fundamental to the Mormon religion that their path to heaven inclues men (and only men) becoming gods of their own planets, equivalent in every way to the real God. Their wives become sort of like goddesses but not really. They end up producing lots and lots of "spirit children" through endless sex with their god husbands.

It's extremely demeaning to women and it's extremely arrogant of men or women to think they can be like God.

I also think it's still a legitimate question as to why would Romney wish to be president if his ultimate goal is to be a god of his own planet? Isn't he trading down?

These are all issues he's going to have to address in one way or another.

We may believe that Obama is a Muslim, but Romney is openly of a strange cultish religion and will have to, at some point, answer for that.

[eb22]

Although I like santorum more, I think rubio would be a better strategic pick for romney to win. 

Congoleeza would be disastrous.

This is exactly the way I view the situation.     

In addition to Marco Rubio realistically being the difference in the ultra important swing state of Florida,    Rubio is an excellent speaker.     Overall,   I believe Rubio would bring much needed energy and enthusiasm  to Mitt Romney's campaign.      Because Romney doesn't inspire many people,   he must choose someone as his V.P.  who people want to rally around.       

[eb22]

Absolutely correct.  The VP pick should be based on who will best help Romney win.  He is going to need to attract Hispanic and women voters.  No need to go after black voters since they will all vote for Obama.

There's no question that the VAST majority of black voters will vote for Barack Hussein Obama regardless of who Mitt Romney or any Republican candidate chooses as running mate.      I have serious doubts that Romney will receive even 10 % of the black vote.       Right now,   I would even settle for Romney to get 7 % of the black vote.       

[eb22]

Santorum had to stop his campaign to help take care of his daughter. I think people will remember this and he might not be the best choice for VP because he may not be able to give 100% to the campaign or to his job as VP because his daughter might need a more significant portion of his time than a child without a trisomy condition. This was one of the criticisms that was brought against Sarah Palin too last time, that she should be focusing on caring for her son. Of course he wasn't nearly so sick and did not have as life threatening of a condition as Santorum's daughter does.

I think that Romney should however pick a conservative VP to balance his ticket. If he doesn't, a lot of evangelicals may stay home not seeing a significant difference between liberal Romney and liberal Obama (they'd be wrong about that, but I can see why it will be discouraging). Romney needs to energize this base if he's going to win, and picking a liberal like himself is not going to do that.

I'm in total agreement that Mitt Romney must choose a Conservative VP candidate that appeals to Evangelicals.      For Romney to have any chance at winning the general election,    he needs a large turnout from Evangelicals. 

My concern is even a strong Conservative candidate might not be enough for a significant number of Evangelicals to come out to the polls.       Especially when combining Romney being a Mormon AND being far from a Conservative.       My hope is that enough Evangelicals realize that the dangers of Barack Hussein Obama remaining in the oval office exceed everything else.   

[eb22]

Although I like santorum more, I think rubio would be a better strategic pick for romney to win. 

Congoleeza would be disastrous.

Agreed.      If Mitt Romney picks her as his running mate,    Romney is toast and so is the United States.   

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katehicks/2012/07/12/romney_sources_condi_for_vp


Romney Sources: Condi for VP
Kate Hicks
Web Editor, Townhall.com
Jul 12, 2012 07:33 PM ESTSign-Up  Drudge has an exclusive up right now, citing some Romney insiders with knowledge of his Veep search, and they claim that former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is the new frontrunner. The scoop:

Late Thursday evening, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign launched a new fundraising drive, 'Meet The VP' -- just as Romney himself has narrowed the field of candidates to a handful, sources reveal.

And a surprise name is now near the top of the list: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice!

The timing of the announcement is now set for 'coming weeks'.

MORE

It was Condi who received two standing ovations at Romney's Utah retreat a few weeks ago, and everyone left with her name on their lips.

Rice made an extended argument for American leadership in the world.

In recent days, she emailed supporters.

"2012 is perhaps a turning point for the United States," she warned.

"The upcoming elections loom as one of the most important in my lifetime. 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."

This jives with what Ann Romney said about Mitt considering a woman, and it would seriously bolster his ticket in terms of gender, race, and experience (Condi was also Bush's senior National Security Advisor for his first term, and if Iran becomes more of an issue, she'd be good to have on hand). Romney has also said that his top consideration is that his second in command must be prepared to be president right away, and there's no doubt of Condi's competence.

On the other hand, Romney was adamant about choosing a pro-life Veep, and Condi's creds on that issue don't fall in line, as she's known to support abortion rights. For her to be the pick, either she's had a fast change of heart, or Romney's commitment to the issue isn't as strong as he claimed. Given that he's already faced heavy criticism for his flip-flopping on the matter, it's unlikely he'd choose someone who would open him to more skepticism on the right.

We'll know for sure in a few weeks, but this little surprise annoucement succeeded in changing the conversation from the Bain non-troversey Guy wrote about earlier, so there's that. And hey, even if it's not true, let's all revel in the imagined debate between Condi and Sheriff Joe...

[Confederate Kahanist]

Congoleeza Rice?

Is he kidding?

[Dayenu]

Rubio is affirmative action schtick, like Republicans have to act like Democrats; forget him.  Santorum is so far over to the right, he's like Mussolini; fuggedibaudit.   We need an old fashioned WASP male.  You political geniuses pick it.

[Ephraim Ben Noach]

Rubio is affirmative action schtick, like Republicans have to act like Democrats; forget him.  Santorum is so far over to the right, he's like Mussolini; fuggedibaudit.   We need an old fashioned WASP male.  You political geniuses pick it.

Whatever!

[Ithaca-37]

Like other posters here, I don't get this enthusiasm for Condi Rice.  For one thing, it looks like a game of trying to do one better:  we must beat a mulatto marxist, so we'll run a black woman.  There's no sense in trying to beat the Dems in a game of identity politics ...... for instance, Obama can just come out of the closet, and he's one-up again. (grin)

But even more than that, there's an expression among seasoned political operatives:  "never run a guy for high office unless he's won at least one election before, even if that's for dog-catcher."  To my knowledge, Condi Rice has never run for office in her life.

37

[Rubystars]

Pat Buchanan once tried to pick a black woman for his running mate and that didn't help him at all either, because he still stayed at the very bottom tier (which is a good thing, but still, having a black woman on his ticket didn't help him). Juan McAmnesty skipped over Romney last time to pick a woman for affirmative action purposes and that didn't help him either. When will republicans learn that they need to appeal to their base, not try to get diversity points? Picking Congoleeza will only hurt Romney because it's a very transparent "rack up diversity points" move, much like choosing Rubio would be, only worse.

Rubio is affirmative action schtick, like Republicans have to act like Democrats; forget him.  Santorum is so far over to the right, he's like Mussolini; fuggedibaudit.   We need an old fashioned WASP male.  You political geniuses pick it.

I want a WASP male in the presidency again, preferably someone closer to Reagan's philosophy than Romney's, but right now I despair that we'll ever have a president like that again.