(South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley - photo found at
http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2010/05/sarah-palin-endorses-nikki-haley-for.html )
Now here's a thought... if Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination, I wonder who he would pick as a running mate?
OK, so I gave it away by posting the picture above. But here is why:
Would Romney pick some far right politician as a running mate? Should he?
I really have no issue with Mitt being Mormon, but a lot of religious conservatives do. And with Mitt not being viewed as a conservative by so many right wingers (even though he is definitely right of center), he may feel the need to kowtow to the far right and pick somebody like Marco Rubio, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, etc. (one of the "tea party" young guns) in order to keep more right wing voters interested in going to the polls. After all, lots of their bluster has to with things like "If Romney gets the nomination, I probably won't vote."
Of course with public opinion where it is re. that group in general, I think choosing someone from Congress could be a serious miscalculation. To mollify the "tea party" element in the GOP, Romney would still need someone further to the right than he is. Where else might he look?
There are a number of state governors who might be available and willing. I could see him choosing someone like Jan Brewer (AZ), Mitch Daniels (IN), Sam Brownback (KS), Chris Christie NJ), Bobby Jindal (LA) or Nikki Haley (SC).
I don't think he would offer it to Rick Perry (TX). I also don't think he would choose someone who could be recalled during the next year, like John Kasich (OH) or Scott Walker (WI).
Would he choose a woman as his running mate? If he did, I think it would have to be Haley. She is the Indian-American daughter of immigrants, and that would provide for some good campaign public relations. Haley is also a "tea party" darling. Jan Brewer might be popular, but she has been in too much controversy over immigration in Arizona... so if Mitt chose a female running mate, I think Haley is likely.
My hunch is the choice would be from Haley, Pawlenty, Christie, Daniels, Jindal and maybe Sam Brownback. But if Romney wants to make his candidacy look more right wing, show diversity on his ticket, and kowtow to the "tea party"... then it's Nikki Haley.
The only thing that might scare Mitt away from Haley is that there have been past allegations that she had affairs. If that does cause him to not choose her, it seems any of the others mentioned in the previous paragraph might also suit Mitt's purposes. (For the record, I think all of them, including Haley, would be absolutely awful!)
I am just about always wrong when it comes to this kind of stuff, but remember... if Romney wins the GOP nomination, Nikki Haley will be his running mate.
You heard it here first! LOL!
