Since this is a pro-Romney site it would be pointless to run a presidential preference tournament. So we are going to do the next best thing – pick the bottom half of the ticket. Click the image above to see the whole bracket. If you don’t like my seeding assignments… well… it was all pretty much arbitrary anyways.
The first round polls are below. Voting for this round will go until Sunday.
In each poll below pick which of the two candidates you’d most like to see as the VP pick in 2012.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
Thanks for taking the time to vote! Check back Sunday for the next round.
Nate owns and manages a small souvenir manufacturing business. He and his wife of 12 years have 2 children. Nate has been blogging for Mitt Romney since late 2006 and is co-founder and editor of MittRomneyCentral.com.
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Fun one. Here goes… my explanations at least.
Portman (over Rubio.) Rubio is too new and says he doesn’t want it. More economic experience out of Portman.
Haley (over Trump.) Youth and more consistency, despite being a 20 monther.
Boehner (over Palin.) Though I can’t see either really considering the position this time.
Cantor (over Barbour.) Youth wins despite Barbour’s fundraising, but Mitt will ultimately take Barbour’s protege, who is…
Jindal (over Giuliani) Jindal is the best choice of the bunch. Experience on most domestic issues and expertise on health care.
McDonnell (over Perry) A hard pick to make. I think Perry wants to stay top dog in Texas though, plus head of the RGA.
Ryan (over Huckabee) Easy. Romney and Huck aren’t exactly friends. Ryan is a rising star.
Rice (over Brown) Another hard pick. Ultimately went with Condi she would more likely appeal to the base and add foreign policy cred.
Christie (over Brewer). Charisma. Christie has it. Base appeal. Christie has it, despite being a Northern Republican.
Pence (over Santorum). Pence is liked by most wings of the party. I think he’ll go for IN-Gov though.
Talent (over West). Probably the hardest pick to make. West is on the rise, but I went with experience, and Talent.
Petraeus (over Gingrich) Military vote. Petraeus is a good man who deserves consideration.
DeMint (over Bachman) Both strong conservatives who are friendlier to Romney than their base wants to admit. DeMint has better experience.
Daniels (over Huntsman) Both weak right now. Daniels is a good fiscal hawk though.
Pawlenty (over Walker) Another very hard pick. Took T-Paw on experience. Walker still has more work to do in Wisconsin.
Cain (over Thune) The base loves Herman Cain and the man can speak. Thune is a little lukewarm, but can accomplish more in the Senate.
I think Walter E Williams is the best choice for VP, he’s not a politician, he’s an economist.
http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/vita.html
We need the best brainpower we can get and I hope Romney considers him, anyway. The two of them could rock the house.
Rubio over Portman because he could draw the Latino vote. He also is a great speaker and is exciting. Portman was in the Bush admin, and that would hurt the independent vote.
Nikki Haley over Trump. Trump is seen as a joke by a lot of people, and Haley is a rising star.
Boehner over Palin. Picking Palin as VP would be a disaster of epic proportions.
Cantor over Barbour. Barbour’s racist comments would damage the ticket in an election against a black man.
Jindal over Giuliani. Giuliani is pro-choice and too moderate for the ticket.
Perry over McDonnell because we need a Republican gov. in VA. Perry is likeable, and we could make chair of the RGA someone else.
Ryan over Huck. Huck is a liberal.
Condi over Scott Brown. Scott would dilute the ticket with MA candidates and Condi has good foreign policy experience. Can’t beat the woman VP chance either.
Christie over Brewer. I’m afraid the left would demonize Brewer like they did to Palin. We need to pick up the growing Latino vote, and Brewer would hurt the effort.
Pence over Santorum. He has a good demeanor and Santorum seems sort of shady.
West over Talent. West would bolster the ticket’s military exp. and excitement. He would court the TP better too.
Petraeus over Gingrich. Can’t beat the foreign policy/military exp.
DeMint over Bachmann. Bachmann would be the next Palin (demonized by the press)
Daniels over Huntsman. 2 Mormons (unfortunately) would not win.
TPaw over Walker. Walker would draw the unions out for Obama BIG TIME.
Cain over Thune. Thune belongs in the Senate and Cain is exciting.
My 2 Favorites are West and Jindal! If I didn’t choose some couples it is cause I wouldn’t want any of them! You need Mitt and West would be best asst cause he knows the world and history of each country! Of Course Jindal can handle an emergency @ the drop of a hat! He knows how to run a stateand balance a budget!
I like Georgia’s choices .. I would add DeMint in with West and Jindal ..
Romney/Jimmer 2012!
I like Romney because he is mature and experienced on many levels, especially on business and the economy. Of the younger people listed, Paul Ryan seems very intelligent and knowledgeable about it, too. That’s the number one issue and we should stick to it, if we want to win the White House back. So from the choices you’ve given us, I pick Ryan.
Anyone who acts like Romney’s HC plan and Obamacare are the same things when they aren’t won’t get my vote. It’s either disingenous or stupid…. a deal breaker, either way.
PS I don’t care if someone is young, someone else here brought that up. I am not for pulling a sitting Repub Governor out of office, before he finishes the job.
It is lonely @ Huffington Post. Need ur
comments there too.
More MR articles all the time.
I love this. The whole thing is to win the White House.
Romney/Christie is the winning ticket!!!
I dislike Huntsman Jr.
My dark horse – Liz Cheney
I’ve been hoping for a Romney Petraeus ticket for a while now. Romney brings the strongest organizational, economic and development skills of any candidate. He needs a running mate with plenty of foreign relations experience. Who better than a General who has traveled the world seeing developing civilizations first hand.
I think Jim Talent suffers mostly from name recognition. I seem to recall his name, but can’t remember in what context.
That being said, the only two picks of mine that went against the majority were Jan Brewer over Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell over Rick Perry.
Chris Christie is great on the economy, and a tough fighter/debater; but none of his individual strengths complement Romney’s. Instead, they almost mimic them. Romney needs a border state governor who understands the immigration issue and can intelligently debate VP Biden on the subject. Both Christie and Brewer are well-versed in the law, the one being a former federal prosecutor and the other a former attorney general, so both can help him on that front; but immigration is the one area in which Romney is deficient that only one of them can address.
Now, why, if that’s my criteria, would I not pick Gov. Perry? Because McDonnell has a host of strengths that Perry does not. Like Brewer and Christie, he’s well-versed in the law, being a former AG. He’s up on energy policy, fighting in Virginia for nuclear energy as well as offshore drilling. Obviously, that’s an issue in Texas as well, but McDonnell, I feel, has a steadier helm than Perry. They’re both conservative southerners, but McDonnell is closer to the evangelical base, having graduated from Pat Robertson’s Regent University. And between the two of them, McDonnell is the only one to not talk, one way or another, about seceding from the union. It’s unfair, but it’s the plain truth. Of the two of them, McDonnell would be better on the stump.
I realize that this poll is just for fun, but I want to be serious for a moment. The choice of a vice-presidential candidate will depend on how the other presidential contenders do in the primaries. If one of them performs very well and can be a unifying choice, then he/she would vault to the top of my short list. If the field is fractured and damaged by the primary process, then we need to look outside the field.
I agree with the comment that we should not take anyone out of an office that he or she has just entered. Doing so looks bad, and we’d end up with a poorly experienced running mate.
In terms of picks, I also picked Rob Portman over Marco Rubio because of experience and the need to keep Marco Rubio in that senate seat.
I picked Nikki Haley over Donald Trump because he’d be a joke as a candidate, but neither of them has any business on the ticket.
I picked Sarah Palin versus John Boehner, but again, neither of them has any business on the ticket. She has too many image problems even though she would help Mr. Romney secure the base. He might help win Ohio, but he needs to stay in place and do the job he’s been given.
I picked Haley Barbour over Eric Cantor, but I don’t feel good about either of them as a running mate. House members typically don’t do well on the presidential ticket, and Haley Barbour has too much baggage.
I picked Bobby Jindal over Rudy Giuliani because Rudy Giuliani is too wrong on too many issues. However, Governor Jindal is not interested in running. We’d do better with someone who really wants that job at that time.
I think I picked Rick Perry over Bob McDonnell, but I don’t like either choice. Swing voters aren’t ready for another Texan, and Bob McDonnell needs to finish his term in his current job.
I picked Mike Huckabee over Paul Ryan. Again, House members don’t do well on the presidential ticket. Paul Ryan needs to solidify his accomplishments in the House and gain experience. As a running mate, he would look too much like a long lost sixth Romney son. In spite of what we sometimes think of Mike Huckabee, he has executive credentials and a following with the base of the party. If he could put aside his ego enough to be the running mate, he might be able to help the ticket.
I picked Scott Brown over Condaleeza Rice, but neither should be on the ticket. For the record, the Constitution says that the president and vice president must be from different states. On that basis, Scott Brown could not be the running mate. Condaleeza Rice is rumored to be in favor of legalized abortion. A Romney/Rice ticket might just lose the pro-life base after all that Mr. Romney has done to build bridges.
I picked Chris Christie, but as someone said previously, he adds nothing to Mr. Romney’s ticket. Neither should be on this ticket. Jan Brewer would be too easy a target for liberal media distractions.
I think I voted for Rick Santorum, but I don’t feel all that good about either of these. Mike Pence needs to continue his plan to be governor of Indiana. If he does well, he’s a very strong candidate in the future. Rick Santorum would help solidify the base and might put Pennsylvania in play. He might hurt us with independents.
I picked Jim Talent over Allen West because Allen West needs to serve in his current office before jumping towards the top. Jim Talent is from Missouri which is another swing state and has a better chance of swinging the state than Allen West does Florida.
I picked Newt Gingrich over David Petraeus, but neither of them should be on the ticket. The Democrats talk about running Generals because the Democrats need to escape their image as sissies. Republicans could run a general without political experience as long as he won a very popular war the way Eisenhower did. Newt Gingrich is a good man in many ways, but he really doesn’t add much to a Mitt Romney ticket.
I picked Jim DeMint over Michele Bachmann because he could be taken more seriously as a running mate. I’d rather keep his leadership in the Senate.
I picked Mitch Daniels over Jon Huntsman, Jr. for many reasons. We don’t solve the “Mormon problem” by putting two Mormons on the ticket at once. The fact that one of them has close ties to the Obama administration only makes the choice worse. A VP candidate should help the ticket win a state. Does anyone think Mitt Romney will need help winning Utah? Mitch Daniels is one of those candidates who seems unlikely to do well, but if he surprises us in the primaries, he could be a good choice. His “truce” comment probably means that he can’t be a unifying candidate in a Romney ticket.
I picked Tim Pawlenty over Scott Walker for many reasons. First, Scott Walker needs to finish his current job and prove that he can make and implement the tough decisions and see them through to success. Tim Pawlenty is another candidate who could be a second or third place finisher who could unify the party. He has good rapport with the non-Mormon religious conservatives. He has pretty good executive experience. He might swing Minnesota and could help swing Iowa. If Ohio and Florida voters like him in the primaries, he needs a serious look. Of course, if he flops in the primaries, he will be out of contention.
I picked Herman Cain over John Thune because John Thune is already out of the race and has important work in the Senate. Herman Cain isn’t doing anything all that important right now.
On a serious note, I believe Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee would be an excellent choice for vice president. Check her voting record and how will she keep her constitutents informed. Ms. Blackburn has town hall meetings via phone and an excellent website keeping people informed. I would vote for her for president!! Don’t get me wrong by that comment. I strongly support Mitt. He would diffenitely carry TN with Marsha as Vice President. We are tired of seeing the same old names out there who really have done nothing the help the current status of the US. We need some new, but seasoned Rep. with Mitt. Mitt needs to distance himself from throwing snow balls with the Dems, current WH, and Oprah’s tv power when the going gets rough. Other comments I have heard from people is they like Mitt, but he needs to admit his error in the healthcare blunder. Stay strong Mitt!!
The ONLY ones I would consider are first Paul Ryan and then Jim DeMint. I think Rick Scott would be awesome as he is the best thing going in the GOP. The only other person would be Marco Rubio, but his stance on Immigration is bad imo.
How is it Mitts healthcare when what he wrote was vetoed, and what they have has been greatly altered since he left office?
If I were looking for a viable final four, in real life, I could really get behind Christie, Rubio, Pawlenty, and Perry. They would come in vetted and with solid contributions both on the campaign and in governance. And all of them would be solid successors in 8 years.
Although I think the best match up would be Romney/Huntsman, I don’t think this ticket could win. so the winning ticket to me is Romney/Rice.
-”I think Jim Talent suffers mostly from name recognition. I seem to recall his name, but can’t remember in what context.”
Stephen, Jim Talent is a former Senator from Missouri who has done great work with The Heritage Foundation these past couple of years. Possibly you remember his name from being one of the leaders (alongside Mitt) of the fight against the ratification of the new START treaty – really an intelligent man. He has declined to run against McCaskill next year, and hopefully will be a strong ally for Mitt during the campaign and/or in the upcoming administration.
Forgot to add, Talent was also an early supporter of Mitt’s ’08 campaign.