Ron Paul or Sarah Palin: Romney Says He’ll Make an Early Summer VP Pick to Boost Fundraising

Impact

Unlike 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who picked “game changer” former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a running mate right before the Republican convention, Mitt Romney said he might change the GOP tradition of naming the running mate at the end of the summer (which is done with the intention of energizing the party’s grassroots) and select his vice presidential nominee early in the summer.

The Romney campaign said it hopes to use the hype generated by the selection of Romney’s running mate to fundraise through the rest of the summer. The former governor of Massachusetts will literally try to capitalize on the VP announcement to try to match up President Barack Obama’s fundraising numbers.

So far, the potential picks have been divided between the “safe picks” list, which would include “boring white guys” (BWG) such as Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Ohio Governor John Kasich.

The second group, allegedly being vetted by Romney’s close advisers Beth Myers and wife Ann, consists not of BWGs but of somewhat exciting white (well, one of them is Latino) guys. This would include New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Last but not least, the Romney campaign would be considering prospect “dark horses,” whom could fire up Willard’s stiff image while compensating for his lack of appeal among women and minorities. This list would include New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez (wild), Congressman Ron Paul (wilder) and former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin (wildest).   

Besides guaranteeing that the 2012 Republican presidential ticket would adhere to conservative-libertarian principles, a Ron Paul pick would help Mitt Romney legitimize himself as the party’s leader as it would heal the divisions caused by a long primary battle in which supporters of the libertarian leader continue to accumulate delegates towards a potential showdown in the August RNC convention in Tampa, Fla.