WaPo: "It’s time to start speculating about Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick"
In this column, Chris Cillizza offers his thoughts about whom Trump might select as a running mate. Trump doesn't have the nomination locked up yet, but he's clearly the front-runner, so it's a question worth asking.
At one point, I thought a Trump/Cruz ticket was a good chance. Cillizza rules it out on the basis of the strong enmity that's developed between the two. It would certainly be a "team" with some teamwork problems, but picking a rival isn't unheard of. Reagan picked George H.W. Bush after the latter had (correctly) derided his "voodoo economics" proposals. Still, Trump/Cruz is looking unlikely.
The prospects Cillizza mentions ("in no particular order"
are: Nikki Haley, Rick Scott, Sarah Palin, Carly Fiorina, and a businessman to be named later (someone like Carl Icahn or Jack Welch). On that last point, Cillizza comments:
From a conventional point of view, either Kasich or Rubio would address that experience issue, by bringing on board someone who'd served in elective office, and either would also help in a key swing state. Of course, to pick anyone who'd served in elective office might undercut Trump's outsider appeal. One of the commenters suggests that Trump pick a general; that might be a way of adding experience without resorting to a politician. Too bad for Petraeus he couldn't keep his pants zipped.
Another commenter suggests Susana Martinez. IMO that idea makes more sense than Haley -- if you're going to pick a youngish female governor, might as well try to appeal to Latinos rather than Indian-Americans, and might as well go for a swing state.
Here are a couple other ideas, trying to walk the line between adding experience and not looking like a conventional politician:
* Joe Scarborough -- practiced law, then served in Congress but that was a while back, has made a successful third career in media, good name recognition, accustomed to being on camera, Floridian, nobody but a few diehard leftists would worry about the "dead intern" story.
* Gary Johnson -- successful businessman, then won two terms as Governor of New Mexico to give him the experience to complement Trump, but not a conventional Republican politician because he ran as the Libertarian candidate in 2012 and got more than a million votes.
OK, I know no one wants to contemplate the prospect of President Trump, but he could well be the nominee and he'll have to pick someone to run with him. Go ahead and speculate.
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:trumpvoice: "SHE KNOWS WHEA THE BODIES AH BURIED!"
