Not Romney Please

Perhaps publicly vetting a Vice Presidential candidate at a time when the Republican Party is beginning to coalesce around the McCain candidacy isn’t wise, but here goes.  I’m really hoping that McCain doesn’t select Romney as his VP pick. 

It seems that Romney is the choice of many of the beltway types, or as Jonah Goldberg put it, the “rightwing wonkosphere”.  But I just don’t get a sense that he does much to excite the grassroots base of the party.  Dick Morris penned a great article that exposes just how weak Romney was and is as a candidate.

My hope is that McCain finds a conservative running mate with the credentials and philosophy to excite the base.  It wouldn’t hurt to find someone who can help in either a target state or with a key demographic group.

A few names have been mentioned that have the potential to excite the base, but also have some deficiencies.  Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska and Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana, both have a lot to offer but both are in their first term as Governors.  Huckabee excites part of the base but turns off perhaps an even bigger part with his protectionism and tax positions.  Carly Fiorina just doesn’t have a track record that will convince conservatives that she’s one of them.  Charlie Crist, like Jindal and Palin is pretty green plus comes off as more of the pragmatist than the true believer, ironically, in part, because of his endorsement of McCain in the primaries. 

Of the most talked about candidates I like Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota and Rob Portman, former OMB director and U.S. Congressman.  Both have the executive and legislative experience, are right on the issues, and have appeal in midwestern battle ground states. 

But my personal favorite would be John Kasich, former Congressman from Ohio and some time Fox News television personality.  Kasich represents the type of populist conservatism that I think is underrepresented in the national Republican party.  He complements McCain’s fiscal conservatism very well and adds a strong record in opposition to corporate welfare, a long forgotten issue by both parties.  He’s conservative on social issues and hails from the ultimate swing state of Ohio via his Pennsylvania birthplace.  He comes from a working class back ground and his expertise on budget issues is unmatched by any of the candidates.

There’s not much chatter about Kasich which probably isn’t a good thing for his few partisans such as Quin Hillyer and Michael Novak.  Of course, Vice Presidential picks have very often been surprising so perhaps Kasich is in play but no one knows it.  He’d excite the base and bring solid expertise to the White House, while giving conservatives something to look forward to in the post McCain party.