Marco Rubio isn’t being vetted as VP: What does it tell us? (Or maybe he is)
NOTE: Mitt Romney said late Tuesday that Marco Rubio is in fact being thoroughly vetted by his vice presidential selection team — contrary to previous report that said he was not.
ORIGINAL POST
The news that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio isn’t being seriously vetted by Mitt Romney’s vice
presidential selection team is both surprising and enlightening.
FILE – In this April 23, 2012, file photo Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigning with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., talks to reporters in Aston, Pa. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)Surprising because many people — the Fix included — had touted him early and often as a potential frontrunner to be Romney’s number two. (Heck, we compared him to Lionel Messi!)
Enlightening because it provides us a window into the sort of person that Romney (and Beth Myers, his head of vice presidential vetting) are looking for in a running mate.
That person? Someone whose credentials and readiness are beyond question. And, more than likely, someone who calls to mind “plain” more than “pizzazz”.
Rubio — as well as New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte who, according to the Post’s Phil Rucker, are also not being seriously vetted — are relative newcomers on the national political scene with relatively thin resumes to date.
Romney’s decision not to consider the Rubios, Martinezes and Ayottes of the world suggest that the campaign is very aware of what we would call the “Palin factor”.
That is, Romney is committed — first and foremost — to not repeating the mistake made by Arizona Sen. John McCain when he tapped the unknown governor of Alaska to be his running mate in 2008.
While McCain almost certainly couldn’t have won under any circumstances, his picking of Palin, who went on to prove herself woefully unprepared for the job, sent the campaign into a deadly political tailspin — not to mention undermining McCain’s core argument that Barack Obama was not experienced enough to be president.
Comparing Rubio —
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Short URL: http://thepresidency.us/?p=17416
Posted by RobertButler
on Jun 19 2012. Filed under 2012 Presidential Campaign.
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