Tim Pawlenty’s Problem is an Empty Parking Lot

Is he choosing Ryan because he’s hot or to pull his trouble making (for the country club) asterisk from the House?

As for the other two, does TPOS Rove really think they will carry the South?

Portman strikes me as this generations Bob Dole. I’ll take a pass TYVM.

I am not sure why you would like that.  I have nothing against Rick Perry, but I see him adding nothing to Romney winning.  Even less than T-Paw.  

That is not particularly fair (he has been a competent governor), but Rick hurt himself in the primaries.  So he is damaged good for the immediate future.  

I support Thomas Hendricks for VP.  

Any “sources” anyone has at this point in the Romney camp are putting out exactly what he wants out right now.  Sometimes this is done to throw the press and pundits off the track to give a surprise twist with the naming.  Other times it is a trial balloon to see how the base reacts, or if a dozen young girls – or boys – come out of the woodwork.

The problem is you can never tell which purpose is being pursued, or even if another, just to keep speculation and interest high, for example, is the real reason.

So it’s all just speculation.  Kristol and Hayes are good pundits, but they don’t have better sources in the Romney camp than anyone else, and I bet there are only a handful who even know if a decision has been made.

Maybe Ryan’s going on vacation because . . . it’s August, Congress is in recess, and his kids are out of school.  Sometimes a camping trip is just a camping trip.

Mitt Romney will choose someone he feels comfortable working with the next four years. That has never been in question.

Those expecting him to “go bold” and step out of his comfort zone will be sorely disappointed.

 Good point, however; the people have to vote first to enable them to work together.  He moved out of his comfort zone to run for the presidency. The GOP could be sorely disappointed if he does indeed choose someone that does not add to the ticket.

The VP never much mattered before, until 2008. The GOP has been disregarding their base for many years, we are used to it.

With the country in the fiscal mess it is in today, this election should be a slam dunk for the GOP. It is not, that is pretty scarey. Personally I would suggest he do something very bold.

Of course I will add one thing. I lived through Carter, Obama is worse than anything Carter attempted to do. If Obama wins in this climate then the electorate has changed to one of an entitlement society. We go the way of Europe, a once free people who ushered in socialism with no real way to get it back. If indeed the electorate of this country has changed it does not matter who the republican nominee is, it will not matter for many years to come. If Obama can win in this climate, we are in far worse shape than we even imagined.

Not if Larry Craig goes along.

They are two big names who would unite the party factions and win big.

“If indeed the electorate of this country has changed it does not matter who the republican nominee is, it will not matter for many years to come. If Obama can win in this climate, we are in far worse shape than we even imagined.”

Sadly, your analysis is correct, Sheryl.  The electorate has changed.  The inexorable march of demographics is the key, and I see little hope of fighting it.

Hmmm.  The “dead white man” strategy.  Good thinking!

As a loyal Minnesotan, I’d like T-Paw, if only so we don’t vote for Obama en-mass, although he’s lost the Iron Range already.  However, what does he really add to the ticket is the question?  And not much is the answer to that.
 
Ryan wouldn’t be bad, but then actual leadership is needed at all levels.  That’s the problem there.

Portman is the establishment’s man, FWIW.

“Ryan is the man with the motivation to focus on cutting the debt, govt spending and entitlements.”

Apparently he has had a change of heart since he voted for TARP, NCLB, Medicare Part D and the auto industry bailout?

Somebody [wink, wink] once said:

There is nothing — nothing — in politics that is less useful than pundits sitting around blathering about who the presidential nominee is going to choose as his running mate.

And this puff piece is a classic of the media veepstakes speculation genre. Olympic-level semantic gymnastics to avoid attribution, which is always a tell that the journalist’s primary source is his imagination. Nothing substantive from anyone who might actually know something about whom Romney is considering — not that voters would care if there were. I’ll give you a dollar for every Obama voter for whom the selection of Biden tipped the balance.