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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2012 / More GOP Nightmare Fuel: Romney/Bachmann

More GOP Nightmare Fuel: Romney/Bachmann

by Anne Laurie|  December 20, 20119:28 am| 103 Comments

This post is in: Election 2012, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

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Jonathan Chait at NYMag‘s Daily Intel raised a horror I had not previously imagined:

… Michele Bachmann is a member of the [Romney] team as well. After her presidential bubble faded, Bachmann now seems to be hoping for a spot as Romney’s vice-presidential candidate. Accordingly, she joined Paul in assailing Gingrich and largely leaving Romney untouched. Byron York reports that Romney is sending signals of encouragement to her to keep up the good proxy work:

And afterward, Romney aides were happy to put in a good word for the congresswoman from Minnesota. “Michele Bachmann is good,” Stevens volunteered. “She is good. She’s cogent, she’s smart, unflappable — she must have been a heck of a lawyer. Very, very good. Very strong.” The message to Bachmann: Keep at it.

Obviously, you’d have to be delusional to think that Romney would put a massive liability like Bachmann on his ticket. Luckily for him, Bachmann is delusional.

Well, yes, Mr. Chait, but then, Romney is… not very clueful about the range of emotional behavior we humans call “normal”, is he? Assuming that Romney is merely stringing Bachmann along implies that he (or someone among his handlers) doesn’t believe that Bachmann can bring along the Evangelical voters, and yet she does seem to be popular with her fellow Dominionists. With any other candidate, it could be argued that playing McCain 2012 to Bachmann’s Palin-Mk-II would be a level of pandering too undignified for anyone certain to garner a minimum 40% of the national vote just by virtue of being the Not-Democrat. But Willard’s done his best to make it clear to the meanest intelligence that “dignity” is a concept he’ll willingly shed in return for even a handful of votes.

What bugs me most about this possibility, however distant, is that I feel it would be a nasty setback for all female politicians. The odds of President Obama crushing Romney — which are, IMO, quite good anyway — increase sharply if Romney sets himself up as “the less attractive version of that guy Obama beat last time”. And while Romney’s loss will immediately damage only Willard and perhaps the most visible of the handlers helping him waste his kids’ inheritance, such a “bipartisan” failure by a female politician will be spun, by politics-as-sporting-events analysts and the low information voters they cater to, as the third item on a trend line: If neither Palin nor Bachmann nor That-Woman-Who-Lost-to-Obama-in-the-2008-Primary can defeat The-Black-Guy-with-the-Middle-Name-Hussein, then maybe women just aren’t ready to compete at the top level, eh?

Yes, it’s a surpassingly stupid construction, but you have to admit it’s just the sort of stupid that Fox News will happily mainstream for its geezer demographic, with the avid assistance of every David Brooks and Ross Doubthat…

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Reader Interactions

103Comments

  1. 1.

    Social Outcast

    December 20, 2011 at 9:39 am

    Mitt Romulan lacks the normal range of human emotions, but he does have the calculating mind of an intergalactic businessman. What will Bachmann bring to the table that will help him win? Not enough. He’s going to need someone that helps him bring in a big swing state he might not otherwise win.

  2. 2.

    Svensker

    December 20, 2011 at 9:44 am

    What bugs ME most is even the possibility that someone like Bachmann could be a heartbeat away from the presidency. If Mitt should put her on the ticket my only hope is that she is so nuts that the moderates, like my former straight-Dem ticket stock broker friend, will not vote for the “sane” Romney after all.

  3. 3.

    Roger Moore

    December 20, 2011 at 9:45 am

    @Social Outcast:

    What will Bachmann bring to the table that will help him win?

    She can bring teh crazy like nobody’s business.

  4. 4.

    merrinc

    December 20, 2011 at 9:46 am

    If neither Palin nor Bachmann nor That-Woman-Who-Lost-to-Obama-in-the-2008-Primary can defeat The-Black-Guy-with-the-Middle-Name-Hussein, then maybe women just aren’t ready to compete at the top level, eh?

    As we’ve seen, there’s just no telling what idiotic narrative the mainstream media will adopt and endlessly promote. But I think it would be a stretch to blame this on women and expect that to fly. We all know Hillary ran a shitty campaign against a transformational candidate. And everyone who isn’t a wingnut Christianist knows that Palin and Bachmann are both fucking idiots and not representative of the GOP’s best and brightest. I think (hope, really) that the real danger in this proposed Bachmann as VP scenario is that smart women will start leaving the Republican party because they are offended over the party’s BIMBOS ONLY policy for top offices.

  5. 5.

    The Sheriff's A Ni-

    December 20, 2011 at 9:47 am

    If neither Palin nor Bachmann nor That-Woman-Who-Lost-to-Obama-in-the-2008-Primary can defeat The-Black-Guy-with-the-Middle-Name-Hussein, then maybe women just aren’t ready to compete at the top level, eh?

    A notion that is quickly dis-spelled within the next ten to twenty years by Kristen Gillibriand or Liz Warren.

  6. 6.

    PeakVT

    December 20, 2011 at 9:47 am

    I can’t see Romney picking Bachmann. If he’s going to put a woman on the ticket, it will be a business type like Carly Fiorina.

  7. 7.

    Kirbster

    December 20, 2011 at 9:51 am

    Goopers don’t usually pick running mates from their former rivals for the nomination, do they? And won’t Mittens need a Southerner to “balance” the ticket?

  8. 8.

    dmsilev

    December 20, 2011 at 9:52 am

    @PeakVT: Would that mean that we get to see the demon sheep in more ads? Count me in.

    More seriously, I doubt Romney would go with another business type like Fiorina. A not-obviously-crazy evangelical like Nikki Haley would make a lot more sense in terms of balancing the ticket and so forth.

  9. 9.

    dmsilev

    December 20, 2011 at 9:56 am

    @Kirbster: Well, Reagan picked Bush I. I think that was the most recent counterexample; none of Quayle, Kemp, Cheney, and Palin ran in the respective primaries.

    Side note: With the possible exception of Kemp, that’s quite a pathetic lineup. Two morons and one Sith Lord.

  10. 10.

    S. cerevisiae

    December 20, 2011 at 9:58 am

    @dmsilev: Isn’t she a little too “ethnic”? Although if she can win in SC then maybe the MILF factor outweighs the “scary furriner” factor.

    I’m betting on Rubio since the GOP knows “those people” will all vote for someone with a similar name. After all, Messicans just lurves them Cubans, amirite?

  11. 11.

    Jeff

    December 20, 2011 at 9:59 am

    Its going to be Rubio. Of course its going to be Rubio.

  12. 12.

    catclub

    December 20, 2011 at 10:00 am

    @Kirbster: Actually, they often do. Reagan-Bush for example. Ford -Dole?

  13. 13.

    Schlemizel

    December 20, 2011 at 10:01 am

    I think your analysis is spot on – both as it pertains to Romney / Bachmann but also as it relates to female candidates.

    I’m sorry but I guess I have to hope women get set back a generation if ‘ol Batshit is on the ticket. The alternative is to horrific to contemplate.

  14. 14.

    DanF

    December 20, 2011 at 10:01 am

    @PeakVT: I would expect to see someone like SC gov Nikki Haley. She’s already endorsed Romney and she has that Southern cred he desperately needs.

  15. 15.

    johio

    December 20, 2011 at 10:02 am

    Nope – I would bet large sums of money that Romney will pick Marco Rubio. He’s from an important state, conservative and Latino.

  16. 16.

    Linda Featheringill

    December 20, 2011 at 10:04 am

    If the Romney team is merely stringing Michele along, playing her, the game might not play out they way they’ve planned. I have no idea what she would do if she realized that she had been really screwed, and publicly at that.

  17. 17.

    Paul W.

    December 20, 2011 at 10:05 am

    @Svensker: You didn’t get over that after the debacle that was the last GOP VP candidate?

    @The Sheriff’s A Ni-:

    Democratic women don’t count, duh.

    Although, I do think that Gillibriand has been a fantastic Senator (I did vote for her after). I sincerely hope she does run somewhere down the line.

  18. 18.

    Schlemizel

    December 20, 2011 at 10:05 am

    @Jeff:
    Not so sure about Mr. Rubio – his “Cuban Refuge” story fell apart & some of the birther crowd went after him. If he wants a woman Haley would be a smarter choice, affairs or not. If he needs a Latino there must be one from TX or AZ maybe, mayor or Congressperson that would not bring Rubios baggage

  19. 19.

    JPL

    December 20, 2011 at 10:06 am

    It’s going to be the party of white men. I expect the nomination to go to Romney and he’ll choose Ryan as his running mate. They will run with the plan to save Medicare. Politifact already gave them cover. Obama can be quoted as praising Ryan.

  20. 20.

    B W Smith

    December 20, 2011 at 10:07 am

    @dmsilev: I don’t think Haley helps him. Barack Obama is more popular in SC than she is by almost ten points. She has been a disaster as Governor. She’s hated by Dems, not popular with establishment Republicans, and not trusted by tea party grass roots. If Romney can convince him, it will be Rubio. If Michele believes Romney will offer her anything, she’s more delusional than I thought.

    AL, you are correct that women like Bachmann and Palin hurt women in politics. There are many more strong and competent women in the Democratic party than the Republican party.

  21. 21.

    debg

    December 20, 2011 at 10:07 am

    @merrinc, I wish I agreed that a negative meme about female politicians wouldn’t fly for normal people. But I don’t. There are just too many idiots out there. Honestly, if many of the Repub ladies weren’t relatively good-looking, they’d never have a shot at higher office, because so many of them don’t have the smarts. FOX gets a lot of its staying power from its blond robots, after all.

  22. 22.

    brettvk

    December 20, 2011 at 10:08 am

    @Linda Featheringill: Maybe she’s angling for a Cabinet post. HHS?

  23. 23.

    Egg Berry

    December 20, 2011 at 10:08 am

    @merrinc:

    And everyone who isn’t a wingnut Christianist knows that Palin and Bachmann are both fucking idiots and not representative of the GOP’s best and brightest.

    Assumes facts not in evidence.

    also: @B W Smith: AL, you are correct that women like Bachmann and Palin hurt women in politics.

    Can you name one GOP female officeholder who doesn’t hurt women in politics? I’m drawing a blank. I suppose the Maine Twins.

  24. 24.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    December 20, 2011 at 10:10 am

    @Schlemizel:

    Yep, the birfers have already declared him ineligible (at least they’re consistant, although I suspect that they are doing it to prove that they are not racist, then again many of them hate hispanics as much as they do blacks so what do I know?)

  25. 25.

    Linda Featheringill

    December 20, 2011 at 10:11 am

    @brettvk:

    Cabinet position: Maybe. The odds of that happening are better.

  26. 26.

    Yutsano

    December 20, 2011 at 10:15 am

    @Linda Featheringill: My nightmare: commissioner of the IRS. I’d seriously have to consider quitting.

  27. 27.

    Quincy

    December 20, 2011 at 10:16 am

    Not a chance it’s Bachmann. Once primary season is over, Romneybot will switch his pander setting to general election mode and distance himself from the other clown car passengers as much as possible. My money is still on Bob McDonnell. He’s strong with the evangelicals but superficially appears mainstream (read: white guy in suit). He’s also governor of Virginia, which is arguably as important any of the other swing states. Romney’s camp surely knows that it has to win one of Virginia or Colorado in addition to Florida and Ohio.

  28. 28.

    harlana

    December 20, 2011 at 10:17 am

    @S. cerevisiae:

    Isn’t she a little too “ethnic”? Although if she can win in SC then maybe the MILF factor outweighs the “scary furriner” factor.

    as a native, I believe the fact that she was a former Sikh was lost on most SC voters because they are so ill-informed (considering how they feel about their version of Christianity, this should have played a major role in her “electibility” here). If Sheheen had once worshipped some “exotic” religion in the past, that information would have been disseminated so fast it would have made your head spin and it would have been pounded by the media 24/7. But I heard barely a peep about her East Indian roots and religion. She won anyway, because most SC voters are apparently dumber than they are racist and of course, she has a purdy mowth.

  29. 29.

    B W Smith

    December 20, 2011 at 10:20 am

    @Egg Berry: After thinking about it for a few minutes, no. Their deference to male, white, authority is overwhelming. Republicans have no one in office to compare to Gillibrand, Pelosi, or even Wasserman-Schultz.

  30. 30.

    gnomedad

    December 20, 2011 at 10:21 am

    @PeakVT:

    I can’t see Romney picking Bachmann. If he’s going to put a woman on the ticket, it will be a business type like Carly Fiorina.

    IMO, enthusiasm for a “candidate” for freakin’ POTUS who has never held elective office is a good litmus test for teh crazy. Another reason to dislike Ralph Nader.

  31. 31.

    Mnemosyne

    December 20, 2011 at 10:22 am

    Meh. I think Bachmann is so obviously insane that her failure as a VP candidate wouldn’t reflect on women politicians as a whole.

    If Elizabeth Warren loses to Scott Brown, that would be far more damaging to the image of women as capable politicians.

  32. 32.

    gnomedad

    December 20, 2011 at 10:23 am

    @Egg Berry:

    Can you name one GOP female officeholder who doesn’t hurt women in politics? I’m drawing a blank. I suppose the Maine Twins.

    They’re at least no hackier than mainstream male goopers.

  33. 33.

    eemom

    December 20, 2011 at 10:27 am

    @Svensker:

    What bugs ME most is even the possibility that someone like Bachmann could be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

    Wait — you mean you are concerned with the real world impact of a VP selection rather than how it will be spun by the bobblebots and spoon-fed to the idiots?

    How very…..quaint.

  34. 34.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 10:27 am

    @harlana: If she were a Dem, I am sure they would have called her an anchor baby. I don’t think her parents were citizens when she was born.

  35. 35.

    Amir Khalid

    December 20, 2011 at 10:28 am

    I don’t know if there are enough Sikhs in South Carolina to have a temple. But I am aware that the Republican base is suspicious of quasi-Christians like Mormons, let alone Sikhs, and from what I know Haley converted to Christianity without really renouncing her original faith. I think if someone digs up a picture of Nikki Haley attending temple — completely innocent to you and me, but still — people will be reminded of this. This, aside from her not-so-great record as Governor, might be a problem for the ticket, should Mitt pick her as running mate.

  36. 36.

    lamh35

    December 20, 2011 at 10:29 am

    There was an article somewhere showing that just cause GOP might pick Rubio won’t guarantee a flux of Latino voters. But I guess Florida is good enOugh.
    Besides Rubio would be a fool to hitch his train to ROmney

  37. 37.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 10:30 am

    @Mnemosyne: I have to agree. I also cannot understand how women, minorities or gay people can be Republican, when the Republican party seems to hate their very existence.
    What makes someone like Haley a Republican?

  38. 38.

    eemom

    December 20, 2011 at 10:33 am

    such a “bipartisan” failure by a female politician will be spun, by politics-as-sporting-events analysts and the low information voters they cater to, as the third item on a trend line: If neither Palin nor Bachmann nor That-Woman-Who-Lost-to-Obama-in-the-2008-Primary can defeat The-Black-Guy-with-the-Middle-Name-Hussein, then maybe women just aren’t ready to compete at the top level, eh?

    I don’t see this.

    If Elizabeth Warren loses to Scott Brown, that would be far more damaging to the image of women as capable politicians.

    Or even this.

    Maybe it’s the lingering traces of last night’s idiocy, but I just don’t see a ready audience for this kind of bend-over-backwards twisted-pretzel theory of sexist-mongering in today’s world. This is just silly.

  39. 39.

    eemom

    December 20, 2011 at 10:34 am

    bleh, duplicate comment fail.

  40. 40.

    MattF

    December 20, 2011 at 10:34 am

    One thing that occurs to me– Since Romney doesn’t understand the difference between ‘true’ and ‘false’, he might not realize how nuts Bachmann really is. He may think ‘Well, Bachmann’s saying whatever she has to say to keep her constituency happy, and I want that kind of person on the ticket’ rather than ‘Bachmann’s a lunatic, and I don’t want that kind of person on the ticket.’ Weird times ahead, in any event.

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 20, 2011 at 10:35 am

    but you have to admit it’s just the sort of stupid that Fox News will happily mainstream for its geezer demographic, with the avid assistance of every David Brooks and Ross Doubthat…

    Not to mention the utter crap that constitutes Politico, which boasts of being horse race watchers.

  42. 42.

    Jim C.

    December 20, 2011 at 10:35 am

    @PeakVT:

    Don’t even joke about Carly being on the GOP ticket.

  43. 43.

    eemom

    December 20, 2011 at 10:39 am

    @Jim C.:

    Not only has she never held elected office, she failed the last time she sought one — after golden-parachuting out of a gazillion dollar company that she fucking ran into the ground. Those are her qualifications. What’s NOT to joke about?

  44. 44.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 10:40 am

    @eemom: I hope you are right. Although the media/Republicans push silly memes and they become conventional wisdom in no time.

    * Iraq was responsible for 9/11
    * Bush who went to Andover, Harvard and Yale, grandson of a senator and son of a President was an average Joe and not an elite.
    * Death Panels
    and on and on it goes

  45. 45.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 10:41 am

    @eemom: I once saw Carly with her daughter on M street in Georgetown. She is very tall.

  46. 46.

    Legalize

    December 20, 2011 at 10:42 am

    Um, I don’t think there’s any question that Mittens would very seriously consider putting Crazy Eyes on the ticket with him. I think he pretty much has to.

  47. 47.

    Jim C.

    December 20, 2011 at 10:44 am

    Haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere at all, but I wonder if President Obama would consider switching up his VP on the ticket this upcoming election.

    Adding Biden the last time around was at least partially based on smoothing over some of the concerns that Obama wasn’t ready for a jump to the Presidency as he hadn’t spent enough time in elected office. It was a quiet, ticket balancing, strategy in a sense. After four years in the presidency, I don’t necessarily think that Obama needs the same thing any longer.

    This is not a knock on Biden, whom I think, overall, has done a rock solid job in the VP slot. But if the Obama campaign thinks that they might need to shake things up a little bit, maybe HE considers putting a woman on the ticket?

    Now, granted, I wouldn’t want to be standing anywhere near a Fox News viewer when they announced a Non-White Guy and a woman ticket and their tiny little brains exploded out of their ears, but the idea could go a long way towards bringing back some of the “excitement/wow/history in the making” feeling from President Obama’s first presidential campaign.

    Obviously Team Obama couldn’t add Hillary to the ticket the last go around or he’d look weak, like he needed his main rival to sign off on him after she should had conceded weeks earlier if not for her grandstanding. But this time around?

    Obama/Clinton? She’s done a great job as Secretary of State during the last three years.

    Hmm.

  48. 48.

    eemom

    December 20, 2011 at 10:44 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    this one is just too convoluted. The kind of people we are talking about are not celebrated for the ability to connect that many zig-zaggy dots. Hell, by next year half of them won’t even remember WHO ran for president in 2008.

  49. 49.

    Redshift

    December 20, 2011 at 10:44 am

    @Quincy: Yeah, I agree he’s got a good shot, and he’s definitely campaigning for the job.

  50. 50.

    Amir Khalid

    December 20, 2011 at 10:47 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    Minority/immigrant communities in the US tend to be socially conservative, so I hear. For this reason, Muslim Americans tended to be Republicans until they became a target of right-wing bigotry post-9/11. I guess the right hasn’t made Indian-Americans much of a target — yet.

  51. 51.

    eemom

    December 20, 2011 at 10:49 am

    @Redshift:

    Ugh.

    It’s going to be such a treat living in this state the next two years — between that, and the reanimated corpse of George Allen, and Kookinelli running for governor. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

    Let’s talk NoVa secession!

  52. 52.

    dmsilev

    December 20, 2011 at 10:49 am

    @Jim C.: Pretty unlikely unless Biden has a health issue or something. Replacing a running mate is a pretty drastic event, and we’d never hear the end of the “Administration in chaos” stories unless it was clearly due to external factors like illness.

  53. 53.

    Zifnab

    December 20, 2011 at 10:49 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    What makes someone like Haley a Republican?

    She’s from South Carolina and she got into politics. She wasn’t suicidal or painfully idealistic and she had her eyes on the Governor’s mansion, so the Republican Party was really her only option.

    I will say that I disagree with Annie. Seeing Clinton and Palin running for these high offices doesn’t discourage me in the least. Thirty years ago, Geraldine Ferraro ran for VP and then we had a complete drought of non-male candidates. Seeing women gun for the top job repeatedly isn’t bad at all. It’s great. President is a tough job to get into. Dozens of the richest, politically well-connected, charismatic men in the US try every four years and fail. Watching a few rich, politically well-connected charismatic women fail in their stead isn’t a step down, it’s a step up. Now that the stigma of “Woman for President” is being torn down, you’ll see even more women reaching for that brass ring. One of them will get it sooner or later. Just like any other Presidential contender, the stars have to align and the mood has to be just right. But the more ammo in the hopper, the more likely you’ll hit your mark.

  54. 54.

    Bubblegum Tate

    December 20, 2011 at 10:51 am

    Well, rank-and-file wingnuts have taken it even further. This one made me bust out laughing:

    If I could wave a magic wand and skip the election, and just put a team into the White House, it would be Santorum/Bachmann or Santorum/Bolton. I actually think either of these teams could beat Obama, but it is getting the nomination that is going to be the speed bump.

  55. 55.

    Jim C.

    December 20, 2011 at 10:52 am

    @dmsilev:

    Yeah, the administration in chaos stories I could definitely hear happening endlessly if the transition wasn’t handled well and is the most obvious downside to the idea.

    On the other hand, Vice President Biden is 69 years old. He could legitimately claim he’s retiring because of age/bad health.

    Maybe I’m just spoiled. I like the idea of being involved in two history making campaigns back-to-back and, unlike Republicans, Democrats actually have no shortage of ACTUALLY QUALIFIED, INTELLIGENT AND IMPRESSIVE woman candidates.

    Obama/Pelosi? Would certainly reinvigorate the portions of the liberal base that aren’t 100% satisfied with Obama at times.

  56. 56.

    KXB

    December 20, 2011 at 10:53 am

    Back when we were talking about The Roots/Michelle Bachmann, I wrote:

    No, but it is not hard to imagine the likely nominee (Romney) try to shore up weakness among Evangelicals by selecting Bachmann as a running mate. She looks good on camera, speaks relatively sanely about Pakistan, and has an admirable back story given her work with foster kids. I could see her holding her own in a debate with Joe Biden, to a degree that Sarah Palin could only dream about.

    The longer she can stay in the race, the greater her chances to be the VP nominee.

    I still think there is a pretty good chance she will be the Romney running mate.

  57. 57.

    JPL

    December 20, 2011 at 10:53 am

    @Zifnab: Where were Haley’s parents born? For some this is a big deal cuz they are whackos.

  58. 58.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 10:55 am

    @Amir Khalid: The Indian Americans are less 1% of the population, so making them targets is not politically all that productive. Most Indian Americans tend to be Democrats, but there are some prominent Republicans who are Indian American, Dinesh D’souza, Ramesh Ponnuru, Tunku Varadarajan come to mind among the Pundits and
    there is Haley and Jindal but I don’t think they are representative. Just like Bill Kristol and Krauthammer are not representative of Jewish people.

  59. 59.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 10:57 am

    @JPL: India, I think.

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    December 20, 2011 at 10:59 am

    @Jim C.:
    I don’t know, man. Somehow I don’t see Obama replacing Biden as VP unless Biden wants out. The “gaffe machine” jibes about Biden, overblown to begin with, have subsided; and as you say, the man’s been a rock-solid VP. If the Democrats are planning to run in 2012 on being The Party That’s Doing The Job, he’s a guy they’ll want to keep.

  61. 61.

    Schlemizel

    December 20, 2011 at 10:59 am

    @merrinc:

    And everyone who isn’t a wingnut Christianist knows that Palin and Bachmann are both fucking idiots

    No – Bachmann is crazy but she is not stupid. Palin is stupid but she is not crazy.

    Bachman has an education & can read and write but she believes her BS.
    Palin is dumb as a post but knows she is selling soap while she enjoys the wealth.

  62. 62.

    PeakVT

    December 20, 2011 at 11:00 am

    @Jim C.: I didn’t say she’d be a good Veep, just that if Romney goes with a woman, it will be a business type because the economy will be his main line of attack on Obama. I think he’s much more likely to go with a male selected on the basis of geographic considerations.

  63. 63.

    Jim C.

    December 20, 2011 at 11:03 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    You’re probably right that it’s highly unlikely. In particular, if the Democrats want to present themselves as the “adults in the room” alternative to the circus act of chaotic fail that has been the Republican nomination process, they probably don’t do this.

    Biggest thing that Democrats in general, and Obama in particular, has going right now is that they’re looked at as the cooler headed ones.

    Still, I would be surprised if there hadn’t been discussions and gameplanning based on “What happens if Romney is the nominee and he chooses (fill in the blank)?” type questions.

  64. 64.

    Jim C.

    December 20, 2011 at 11:05 am

    @PeakVT:

    I know. I agree. I was half-joking because I absolutely loathe Carly on a personal level and not just for her politics.

  65. 65.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 11:07 am

    @Schlemizel: How are you this morning?

  66. 66.

    Schlemizel

    December 20, 2011 at 11:07 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    What makes someone like Haley a Republican?

    Its were the smart money goes these days. 50 years ago if you wanted to get elected in the South you had to be a Dem so everyone was. Today those are the same people but they rebranded to maintain employment.

    These people are mostly empty suits pursuing their own gains not public servants. Here in MN we and a particularly egregious example. Norm Colmanspit went from being a “Wellstone Democrat” to a Reagan Republican in 2 short years. He is neither, he is a blood sucking leech bent on furthering his own filthy interests.

  67. 67.

    djork

    December 20, 2011 at 11:08 am

    Nikki Haley is about as popular with SC Republicans as a wet fart. I don’t see it happening. The mere fact that she is from SC won’t give her much southern cred considering all of the good old boys Romney would hope to attract by naming her would make it pretty clear how they feel about her.

  68. 68.

    Keith G

    December 20, 2011 at 11:10 am

    I think it is possible that a Mitt-Bach ticket (no sure thing considering the personalities) could easily lock up 30%-35% of voters. Could they somehow entice another 15+%? That would be their ultimate challenge.

  69. 69.

    Amir Khalid

    December 20, 2011 at 11:11 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    Whenever I see a picture of Nikki Haley, I see an unmistakably Punjabi person. Malaysian Sikhs, like most of that faith, are ethnically Punjabi — Punjab is both Sikhism’s birthplace and where its holiest sites are. So I’d guess that her parents are from that state in India.

  70. 70.

    ET

    December 20, 2011 at 11:11 am

    I strongly suspect that we haven’t hit the bottom politically yet.

    Considering the GOP slate I can see Obama being re-elected. I can also see Republicans keeping the House and retaking the Senate because local elections matter here and people always think my Rep./Sen. is OK it is everyone else’s that sucks.

    So we end up with both house in GOP hands and there be even less done for the economy, no new legislation beyond appropriations legislation (that will get bogged down in whatever bull-shit the backbenchers are whining about) and make the GOP feel good stuff like the light bulb legislation. More judgeships and other political appointed jobs will go unfulfilled and Americans will say our government isn’t working and they won’t be wrong. And yet, they won’t understand the correlation between continuing to elect people who don’t believe in any government and want the government to fail it’s various mission. They want the missions to fail not because they want smaller government (’cause considering they are all at the money trough too), they want it to fail its missions so they can point to it and say it is failing the American people and the answer is less government. Of course throw in the corporations can do better, some of this can be provided by nonprofs/churches, Americans are whiny, and whatever other canards they come up with -they want the US to be the US post WWII with a dash of the Gilded Age thrown in and you have got what passes for “political philosopy” of the modern GOP.

    Sorry for the rant.

  71. 71.

    Yutsano

    December 20, 2011 at 11:13 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa[11] in Bamberg, South Carolina on January 20, 1972. Her parents, Dr. Ajit and Raj Randhawa, are Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, Punjab, India.

    Source

  72. 72.

    Schlemizel

    December 20, 2011 at 11:16 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    A little better – I think I may have had a virus of some kind that was really knocking me out the last 3-4 days. Yesterday was the worst, a real downer all around. Then last night I started to fell a bit better. Thanks

  73. 73.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 11:16 am

    @Amir Khalid: I thought so too but was not sure whether her parents were from India proper or a part of the Sikh diaspora. There is a sizable population of Sikhs in Canada, for example.

  74. 74.

    Schlemizel

    December 20, 2011 at 11:25 am

    I have thought all along that Willard would pick Huckabee for VP – he has a good brand with the American Taliban and has remained unsullied by the mud fighting.

    What do you guys think? He never gets much mention here. I get the reasons for Bachmann but it is a risky choice particularly if Willard wants to hew back toward mainstream once he has the nod. & Mikey puts a big ol smiley face on his fascism so it would be a smart move – IMO

    Also – are Republican races still winner take all? Its been a hundred years since I caucused with them the biggest vote getter got all the delegates even if they only had 25% of the votes. (for those not familiar (shame on you for starters for not attending your precinct caucus!) the Dems apportion so if you got 25% of the vote you only got 25% of the delegates). This makes Willards path to the nomination a lot easier. If he can just finish first a few times & not have one candidate win all the rest his tiny vote totals could run up a big delegate count.

  75. 75.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 20, 2011 at 11:28 am

    @Jim C.:

    The woman drove a once great company into the ditch, and didn’t bother to call for a tow truck.

    There is precious little reason NOT to loathe her.

  76. 76.

    Mnemosyne

    December 20, 2011 at 11:29 am

    @ET:

    I can also see Republicans keeping the House and retaking the Senate because local elections matter here and people always think my Rep./Sen. is OK it is everyone else’s that sucks.

    Here’s the thing about that, though — it’s all about constituent services. I have a feeling a lot of the freshman House members didn’t bother building good relationships with their constituents. Heck, you have Republican Joe Walsh screaming at his constituents at town hall meetings.

    People aren’t attached to their one-term House member, so some of those purple seats could flip without a huge amount of work.

  77. 77.

    Paul in KY

    December 20, 2011 at 11:29 am

    @Social Outcast: Maybe he thinks Bachmann might win him Minn. That would be a torpedo in our side.

    Don’t think she could do it, but maybe he thinks she could.

  78. 78.

    amk

    December 20, 2011 at 11:34 am

    willard, if he makes it that far, is more likely to go with susanna martinez of NM, both for geography and demography.

    And she is MILF enough for the ‘thugs.

  79. 79.

    Paul in KY

    December 20, 2011 at 11:35 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: Her family is very wealthy. Plus, she must be some type of evil.

  80. 80.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 11:38 am

    @Paul in KY: Or an opportunist. The GOP seems to be a haven for them, case in point Michael Steele.

  81. 81.

    Paul in KY

    December 20, 2011 at 11:40 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: I work with a bunch & I think they used to trend Republican (these are IT folks), but the last 10 years of crazy have sent alot of them to the Democratic Party.

  82. 82.

    Zifnab

    December 20, 2011 at 11:43 am

    @Jim C.:

    Obama/Pelosi?

    There is so much wrong with that statement. First and foremost, if Dems take back the House then Pelosi will likely reclaim the Speaker’s gavel. And Speaker holds enough weight that VP doesn’t really have much appeal as an alternative.

    Second off, Pelosi is terrible on camera. She does not interview well at all. You want someone closer to an Elizabeth Warren caliber of politician in your VP slot, or someone like Biden that functions as an able adviser and influence peddler. I could see Obama putting Clinton on the ticket if she retires from Sec State, or I could see him picking up Gilbrand or Sebelius. I could also see him taking whomever is leading the Dem Governor’s Association right now. But Pelosi? No way.

  83. 83.

    Hal

    December 20, 2011 at 11:50 am

    @Schlemizel:

    I have thought all along that Willard would pick Huckabee for VP – he has a good brand with the American Taliban and has remained unsullied by the mud fighting.

    I was under the impression that Huckabee hated Romney and had made that very clear the last round in 2008. Plus, Huckabee seems to smart to wade into this cesspool of candidates.

  84. 84.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 20, 2011 at 11:54 am

    @Paul in KY: My sample is from the academia (sciences). I knew a Chemistry Prof who used a wear T-shirt that said friends don’t let friends vote Republican.

  85. 85.

    Q

    December 20, 2011 at 11:56 am

    Wait a minute…
    You mean to tell me these are the actual republican presidential hopefuls? These are the candidates the party has put up to potentially face Obama in the general election? Seriously?
    I admit I watched the debates from a distance but that’s because in the back of my mind I thought I was seeing some kind Fox news roundup of their usual motley mob and Herman Cain? That looked like pure slapstick!
    This should be amusing…

  86. 86.

    Schlemizel

    December 20, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    @Hal:
    He wouldn’t be the first VP who hated his boss. See Johnson or Poppy Bush

  87. 87.

    JPL

    December 20, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    John should set up a intrade type of system for the candidates. For example, I think the nominee will be Romney and he’ll select Ryan. Others have different ideas. In stead of the “winner” being rewarded though the money could be donated to the dog rescue site. Not sure how it would work but just an idea.

    also, too the money could go for the candidate of your choice as long as it’s a democratic candidate..

  88. 88.

    JGabriel

    December 20, 2011 at 12:17 pm

    Yes, it’s a surpassingly stupid construction, but you have to admit it’s just the sort of stupid that Fox News will happily mainstream for its geezer demographic …

    Do all generations become stupid and reactionary after reaching their 60th or 70th year? Or is this just a consequence of the nutritional deprivation in their developmental years, during the Great Depression and/or WWII, that the current generation of old people must have experienced?

    .

  89. 89.

    El Cid

    December 20, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    It would seem logical to have Romney choose an evangelical Christian type as his VP candidate to dilute fears that he’s the Mormon anti-Christ, but I’m not convinced that Bachmann is necessarily the leading pick.

    But it would be interesting if it became a pattern for Republicans to nominate crazy right wing women as their VP candidates.

  90. 90.

    brettvk

    December 20, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    @Hal: OTOH, maybe the Huckster would accept the VP slot in a show of party unity and to get that great setup for 2020. It’d be his turn then.

  91. 91.

    brettvk

    December 20, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    @JGabriel: I’ve always thought that geezer reactionaries are motivated by the fears that overtake you as you age — you’re losing your physical strength, you’re getting sick and/or fragile, your world is too different and you can’t keep up, other people no longer respect/fear you. And you’re gonna die soon! You’re losing so much every day, and it’s all the fault of Those People. Because if it’s their fault, there’s a chance the whole process can be reversed if they are defeated and driven back. (I speak as an incipient geezer, and I have the losses to prove it.)

  92. 92.

    trollhattan

    December 20, 2011 at 12:48 pm

    @JPL:

    From today’s foggy perch, I’d think Romney/Ryan would be the most likely and I’ll go with Romney/Rubio as a distant second (Rubio has proven quite good at shooting off his own political toes whilst aiming generally at his foot).

    For the sheer horror of the idea, how about Romney/Paul? Not dad, Aquabuddha.

  93. 93.

    Violet

    December 20, 2011 at 1:20 pm

    @amk:

    willard, if he makes it that far, is more likely to go with susanna martinez of NM, both for geography and demography.

    Agreed. She’d be a much smarter pick if he’s looking for a woman to be on the ticket.

  94. 94.

    Judas Escargot

    December 20, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    @ET:

    I agree with most of this: 2012 is about keeping Obama as the ‘firewall’ against an almost-inevitable GOP Congress. A GOP Congress which then gives us more of the same obstruction (or worse).

    Then 2014 has to be about taking back Congress, using GOP bad behavior as the wedge issue… and hopefully getting a good two years of decent work done before the Cycle of the Stupid begins anew in 2016.

    Not a very thrilling outcome, I realize, but again IMO that’s the “best” realistic outcome between now and 2016. And it hopefully gets us a better Supreme Court by mid-decade.

  95. 95.

    Paul in KY

    December 20, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    @JGabriel: The Great Depression folks are all dead or in their late 80s. The ‘old’ demographic right now is people who were kids right after WW II & into the Korean War.

    They don’t really remember the evils that brought about the Great Depression. They remember selfless businessmen who helped build the armada that defeated Nazism & the first President they really remember was Ike.

  96. 96.

    JPL

    December 20, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    @trollhattan: UGH…
    How many heads would be trampled on during that campaign…

  97. 97.

    Ian

    December 20, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    @lamh35:
    Yeah most of the rest of the extremely prolific and diverse ethnic group we call Hispanics do not particularly care for Cubans. A major reason is that once the Cubans arrive illegally they are granted amnesty. This unfair preferential treatment granted only cause ‘we hate the commies’ while denying refuge to Nicaraguans or Salvadorians fleeing from a U.S. sponsored right wing Junta… well long point short Latinos are more complicated than Rethugs like to think

  98. 98.

    brantl

    December 20, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    If you’re going to write his name incorrrectly, at least go for ‘Douche-hat’ since it matches his personality so well.

  99. 99.

    Calouste

    December 20, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    @Jim C.:

    I think Obama will stick with Biden. First, because if he picks someone else as VP, he’s basically hand-picking his own successor, and I don’t think he’s that kind of guy. Second, sitting VPs have a terrible record in presidential elections. So another round of Obama/Biden in 2012 and both retire to have an open primary in 2016.

  100. 100.

    S. cerevisiae

    December 20, 2011 at 5:14 pm

    @Bubblegum Tate: First sentence from your link:

    I still have a fond hope of a surge for of Santorum.

  101. 101.

    4jkb4ia

    December 20, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    EW has been playing around with a sexy female VP candidate on the twitter, but the only specific name she had was Ayotte. Then Martinez of NM is an obvious VP candidate anyway that I don’t think I mentioned here before.

    As I look at what I just wrote, Romney/Ayotte is two candidates from New England and will never work.

  102. 102.

    4jkb4ia

    December 20, 2011 at 10:10 pm

    I don’t know. The extent to which Romney has to appeal to never-vote-for-a-Mormon types is the extent to which they do not despise Obama so much they will find themselves voting for a Mormon. So Romney can pick someone who is credible with them but is not one of them. If Romney is seen as picking someone like Palin he harms his image as non-crazy.

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