Romney's Veep?
This piece suggests that Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire might be a potential Romney veep pick. Late in the article, former Missouri Senator Jim Talent also is mentioned as a potential Cabinet member.
In the interest of full disclosure, I know Jim Talent a bit from Missouri politics, and I like him enormously. That being said, let me make an argument that, of the two, Talent would be the superior veep pick. If Gregg were to leave the Senate, the enormously popular Democrat incumbent governor, John Lynch (a prohibitive favorite for reelection) would pick his successor until the next election, and with New Hampshire trending ever bluer, it's not clear that a Republican would necessarily succeed Gregg, who won reelection easily. What's more, New Hampshirite Gregg lacks the geographic balance that a Midwesterner would offer a former Massachusetts governor -- and Missouri is the classic bellwether state . . . bringing it securely into the Republican camp is no small feat.
Finally, Jim Talent's record is conservative enough -- socially, fiscally, and national security-wise -- to reassure any segment of the party. And his campaign style is disarming and low key; it's hard to paint him as a mean, scary guy. In fact, he performed something little short of a political miracle in 2002 by successfully defeating Jean Carnahan, the widow of the former governor, for his Senate seat without ever coming across as anything but the nicest guy in the world.
No small feat.
He's got a bright, accomplished wife, Brenda, a lawyer who was formerly in JAG, and a nice family.
Romney could do much, much worse.
In the interest of full disclosure, I know Jim Talent a bit from Missouri politics, and I like him enormously. That being said, let me make an argument that, of the two, Talent would be the superior veep pick. If Gregg were to leave the Senate, the enormously popular Democrat incumbent governor, John Lynch (a prohibitive favorite for reelection) would pick his successor until the next election, and with New Hampshire trending ever bluer, it's not clear that a Republican would necessarily succeed Gregg, who won reelection easily. What's more, New Hampshirite Gregg lacks the geographic balance that a Midwesterner would offer a former Massachusetts governor -- and Missouri is the classic bellwether state . . . bringing it securely into the Republican camp is no small feat.
Finally, Jim Talent's record is conservative enough -- socially, fiscally, and national security-wise -- to reassure any segment of the party. And his campaign style is disarming and low key; it's hard to paint him as a mean, scary guy. In fact, he performed something little short of a political miracle in 2002 by successfully defeating Jean Carnahan, the widow of the former governor, for his Senate seat without ever coming across as anything but the nicest guy in the world.
No small feat.
He's got a bright, accomplished wife, Brenda, a lawyer who was formerly in JAG, and a nice family.
Romney could do much, much worse.
posted by LadybugUSA at 7:39 PM
1 Comments:
Coyote here.
If Huckabee's candidacy doesn't collapse, it will be hard to keep him off the ticket. If he's on top, Talent won't be needed. Also, Talent lost his Senate reelection bid; running him as VP puts a recent loser on the ticket.
Look for Talent as Attorney General, a kinder and gentler John Ashcroft. (Maybe he'll recommend Carol for the 9th Circuit.)
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