-
Artur Davis Says Scandals Are Real
May 19, 2013 | 3 comments
-
Good New Book: ‘Precipice’
May 19, 2013 | 1 comment
-
A Long Record of Obamite Thuggery
May 16, 2013 | 4 comments
-
DeMint Supports Defense
May 14, 2013 | 5 comments
-
Update on Tom Perez
May 14, 2013 | 0 comments
The Spectacle Blog
Jennifer Rubin makes some great points here on the vice presidential selection, while favoring Ryan or Jindal. (And if you are a commenter more interested in trashing the source than in paying attention to the message, which is the point, then stuff it. Disagree with the message: Fine. Say so. Otherwise forget it) Here’s part of her take, which is absolutely on target throughout:
Likewise, the “safest” candidate according to conventional wisdom, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, might bring back the dreaded Romneycare vs. Obamacare debate. Moreover, the VP debate becomes a nailbiter with Pawlenty, who showed himself in the primaries to be a weak debater. Again, he’s a fine Republican but the idea that he is a “do no harm” candidate is a misnomer. More to the point, if Romney wants “do no harm,” he might as well nominate an empty brown bag. The point, of course, is to find a vice president who actually helps, even a little, and doesn’t deflate the base.
Empty brown bag! Well put.
View all comments (24) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Quin Hillyer
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/08/01/pawlenty-portman-arent-really
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Crassus| 8.1.12 @ 2:43PM
Sorry, Quinn, but Mittenz isn't going to pick your boy Santorum.
Reggie Love| 8.1.12 @ 3:10PM
He isn't picking either of them. It's going to be Rubio or Ryan.
Mike G| 8.1.12 @ 3:28PM
I hope it's not Jindal either. He was put in charge of Louisiana's health system right out of college, at the ripe old age of 23--no experience running anything. He's been feeding at the public trough ever since. He's unethical and part of the problem.
Quin Hillyer| 8.1.12 @ 6:31PM
Yeah, and when put in charge, he saved the state from bankruptcy, reformed the system, and provided better service for less cost. Meanwhile, how is he "unethical"
JimH| 8.1.12 @ 3:41PM
Regarding Pawlenty’s debating skills; remember that the vp candidate will be going up against Country Joe Biden. I expect Joe would have his hands full with anything more sophisticated than a mollusk.
lsudolemite| 8.1.12 @ 3:59PM
But he'll essentially have a rigged debate with what's sure to be a lib moderator running the show. If your top VP concern is debate performance, then you need someone who can neutralize that advantage.
ncatty| 8.1.12 @ 3:47PM
Ryan!
Reggie Love| 8.1.12 @ 4:27PM
Jindal would help Romney win Louisiana.
lsudolemite| 8.1.12 @ 4:45PM
Romney doesn't need help to win Louisiana. He does to win Florida.
JimH| 8.2.12 @ 7:56AM
If Jindal is picked, we can hope that Biden asks him for a Slurpee.
Ross Kaminsky| 8.1.12 @ 5:23PM
I agree. I still think it will, and probably should, be Portman. I see strong pluses for Rubio, but substantial negatives as well. And I don't think that Romney, whose strength is economics, needs Paul Ryan whose strength is also economics. (Though the same could be said of Portman.)
As for Jindal, I like him but boy does that idea make me nervous for some reason.
Fiscal| 8.2.12 @ 9:24AM
You're all looking at this as if Romney is a politician. He's not. He's a businessman. As such, he will make a strategic, not political, pick. His strategy is that he can turn the country around economically because he understands business. He will choose his VP based upon this strategy and thus it will be someone with business experience. That leaves out Ryan, Jindal, and Pawlenty. Besides, he can't choose someone who is a significantly better politician because that will make him look weaker. He must choose someone who will make him look better. Portman is the odds on favorite for this reason. Is that a good choice? It solidifies Romney's message and makes the choice clear with Obama. But this election is based more on how Obama is perceived, than Romney so I don't think the VP choice will make an iota of difference. He won't make the mistake of choosing another Palin, however, because he's analyzed the last election and knows that if you look at the data, she was a net negative after the interviews with Couric and Gibson.
Dai Alanye | 8.2.12 @ 11:16AM
Just what we need, another ignorant anti-Palin comment. Palin's main negative was McCain campaign staff. She gave the McCain's candidacy what little life it showed.
As for Portman, his "business experience" seems to be the business of lawyering. As a bonus, though, his wife is a former aide to Tom Daschle (not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.) But Portman will make Romney look dynamic by contrast, I'll give you that.
Fiscal| 8.2.12 @ 1:54PM
You are correct about Portman's business experience. He was a lobbyist.
If you tracked the Presidential polls and then saw the huge decline in McCain's numbers after the Couric and Gibson interviews, you'd know, objectively, that Palin pulled him down. While she was great at rallying the base, the huge decline in getting independents was the problem. She had the potential to be a winner but she refused to do her homework and instead just used her star quality. It's "ignorant" to believe otherwise in the face of all of the information that exists now.
Dai Alanye | 8.2.12 @ 2:07PM
And just who sent Palin to CBS while avoiding Fox News and talk radio? If I've hurt your feelings with the use of "ignorant," let me transfer it to Steve Schmidt and his ilk. But also to McCain, of course, who was ultimately responsible.
Sarah gave Angry John the only chance he had, and he muffed it. Put not the blame on Palin by repeating the self-serving propaganda of McCain's staff. You don't bring up a pitcher from the minors then use him as the designated hitter.
Sarah's biggest mistake was failing to go rogue from day two. Had she been used properly, and had McCain steered clear of TARP, he'd be President today.
Fiscal| 8.2.12 @ 3:04PM
Palin could have avoided CBS if she wanted. She chose it because she felt Couric, as a women, would go easier on her. Palin wasn't prepared, and that is her fault, not McCain's. If she wanted to be a heartbeat away from being President, she should make her own decisions and not have a staff put words in her mouth. That just proves my point. McCain would probably have lost no matter who was chosen as his running mate.
hrh| 8.9.12 @ 1:41PM
Really, please, stop lying before you besmirch yourself.
Fact: Nicole Wallace and Katie Couric are friends and worked together.
Wallace set up the Couric interview to help Couric.
Wallace also insisted that the interview process continue for 3 days over Palin's objections.
Stop lying about what you don't know.
Meanwhile back to the subject at hand.
Without your gullible regurgitating of the lying GOP Establishment meme that the Palin pick was a mistake.
Quin Hillyer| 8.2.12 @ 11:55AM
Jindal does have business experience, with McKenzie (sp?) and Company.
Fiscal| 8.2.12 @ 1:47PM
So let me get this straight...one year at McKinsey is equivalent to business experience? That's a real stretch, Quin. And his degree is in political science, not business. He has no education or experience in business... period. He has never been a business executive. I know you like him, but at least be objective...
Dai Alanye | 8.2.12 @ 2:12PM
To assume that business experience (or experience as a financier such as Romney) somehow automatically qualifies one to make economic and political decisions for the nation is naive in the extreme.
The true question is whether Romney will have the fortitude to cut spending and reform entitlements. He'd better start strong, using those first hundred days to the theoretical limit.
In the meantime, let's have Allen West for VP so as to supply the one quality most needed by Mitt -- raw guts.
Fiscal| 8.2.12 @ 3:10PM
Romney has never made controversial decisions, and he never will. That will actually help with independents -- the people who really will decide the next election. As for West, it would turn off independents because of his statement that so many Democrats were Communists and bring down Romney with independents. Romney will decide on someone who won't hurt him with independents -- not a firebrand right winger. Mark my words...
Leonard Gilbert| 8.3.12 @ 1:48PM
There is one Vice Presidential candidate that the Dems would be totally unprepared for and that would appeal to ALL the Concservatives that are wary of Romney. One that might even pull a large number of moderate Democrats. One who is endowed with a great volume of common sense and who has had successful executive experience...a candidate who would almost assure that President Clueless would be taking early retirement. A person who did not get scathed by a very nasty Presidential Primary...who, while unwilling to spend two years running for President, might be convinced to spend two and a half months running for Vice President for the good of his country......
Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you the next Vice President of the United States of America.....
MIKE HUCKABEE....
ROMNEY / HUCKABEE IN ....2012
Leonard Gilbert| 8.3.12 @ 1:50PM
AND...INDEPENDENTS TO A PERSON.