Running With/Against Your Enemies

Here's a thoughtful take on the currently in vogue Mitt Romney for VP idea from First Read:

" On the plus side, his business and managerial experience could benefit a candidate who once said “economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should"; Romney could also help McCain in Michigan, given that his father was the former governor of the state; and the former Massachusetts governor could assist McCain in the competitive Mountain West states, which have strong Mormon populations (for example, 7% of Nevada’s population is Mormon).

Among the minuses, McCain and Romney disagreed on several issues during the primaries (like immigration campaign finance reform); there were numerous reports that McCain didn’t personally like Romney (in fact, one McCain ad -- quoting the Concord Monitor -- called Romney a “phony"; then there are Romney’s highly publicized flip-flops (as a McCain Web ad back in January put it, “Mitt Romney’s flip-flops truly are masterpieces"); despite his good looks and impeccable appearance, Romney was never a natural campaigner on the stump; and there were plenty of polls suggesting that Romney’s Mormon faith was an obstacle with some voters."

If its not Romney, the guess from this corner is it will be the young, articulate Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota who says his party should be appealing to members of Sam's Club at least as much as country club members.

My guess is Romney is no better than fourth or fifth on McCain's personal preference list. If he does choose the Mittster, then McCain will be running with and against two of his least favorite people.

- Richard Holcomb