Patterico's Pontifications

2/7/2012

Tell Romney: If He Wants Your Money, It’s Rubio

Filed under: 2012 Election,General — Patterico @ 7:15 am



A new friend and I were discussing the sad state of the Republican field on Saturday. We agreed that the current crop of candidates is wholly uninspiring. We also agreed that a Romney ticket, which seems very likely, could gain some excitement if he were to pick a young, articulate, energetic VP like Marco Rubio.

“I would send him money if he picked Rubio,” I said. “It’s hard to imagine sending him money under any other circumstances. But if he picked Rubio, I would donate to Romney.”

There are good reasons to think Marco Rubio would be a perfect VP candidate. He has the support of both the establishment and the Tea Party — a rarity in today’s divisive Republican politics. That ability to garner support from both factions of the party would be a key unifying force. Rubio would bring principle to a ticket that sadly seems to lack it otherwise. He cuts into Obama’s “Western strategy” (which is really a Latino strategy) and shows the party that we are not giving up on Latinos — but we are not giving up on conservatism either. And finally, Rubio is simply a galvanizing force: well-spoken and vigorous.

I still remember the excitement I felt when John McCain picked Sarah Palin. But she proved prone to gaffes in unstructured settings. This was a manufactured media narrative, but she unfortunately played into it. Rubio wouldn’t. He would bring the excitement without the same negatives.

My friend agreed, and it occurred to us that we should try to enforce this. That we should tell Romney: pick Rubio and I’ll send you a donation. Pick some tired mushy moderate like yourself and you get nothing. I’ll vote for you, sure — but you’re not getting a dime.

Yes, I agreed, we should tell Romney that.

So, I just did.

65 Responses to “Tell Romney: If He Wants Your Money, It’s Rubio”

  1. Yeah, we don’t want another Dole-Kemp sleepfest.

    aunursa (0687cf)

  2. A dynamic speaker who isn’t a fool, has a terrific life history and rock-solid conservative credentials?

    It’ll never work!

    Pious Agnostic (7c3d5b)

  3. Pitiful if you ask me.

    Dohbiden (ef98f0)

  4. Here is to hoping that there isn’t some kind of skeleton in the Rubio closet. NTTIAWWT.

    The part that bothers me, is that “negatives” or “gaffes” only seem to matter on the right side of the aisle.

    Again: Joe Biden? Really?

    But that didn’t matter.

    So: yes, I like what I know of Rubio. He has said before he isn’t interested. Either that is posturing, or he has a reason.

    Fingers crossed.

    Simon Jester (eeefa4)

  5. Even Rubio could not get me to donate to Mitt.

    JD (e6fe35)

  6. I like Rubio… he’s a great speaker. I do not like the idea of picking a candidate just to play into what I see as a democrat game of ‘he’s hispanic, and now you can see the GOP likes hispanics because we picked one’. It’s a bit too ‘Michael Steele’ for me.

    Also, the man is not experienced enough to be qualified. Granted, it’s the VP slot… does it even matter? Probably not. But the message I want to send to Hispanics is the same I want to send to everyone else: the GOP is the party of putting qualified and experienced leaders in the oval office.

    Romney just barely qualifies. He wasn’t reelected as governor and his flip flopping is unseemly for a ‘leader’. But he’s got a lot more experience than Obama and Biden had.

    Palin just barely qualifies. She too has never been reelected and I just don’t count lower levels of executive experience.

    Newt barely qualifies either. Accomplishments or not, his leadership role was speaker rather than a true executive role.

    This year is clearly a disaster for the GOP, but I would love to see leaders like Jindal, Daniels, and even that RINO Christie be favored for the oval office.

    I’d like to give this country a choice between what appears to be a reckless and short terms administration that was overhyped and underqualified, and something completely and obviously different.

    Dustin (401f3a)

  7. short terms

    Don’t know how that happened. I meant to type “short term solutions”.

    I’m talking about things like Romneycare, which are financial disasters that radically increase demand and government control of economic choices just because they serve as an attempt at a solution. Or the GOP’s spending in the 2000s. Or the GOP’s consent to the debt ceiling hike.

    And yes, I know the democrats are super scary, but these solutions are short term solutions which create long term problems. Spending generally is not an optional fix, so if both parties are not going to fix it, this election doesn’t ultimately matter enough.

    Dustin (401f3a)

  8. My only qualm with Rubio is that every vote in the Senate counts, and Florida has an annoying habit of sending Democrats to Washington. I’d go with Jindal instead.

    Kevin M (563f77)

  9. You’ll keep your money? Yeah, that will scare him. That amounts to little more than a rounding error in the total that Romney will pick up as the nominee. With or without you, Romney will have no problem coming up with money and from people writing bigger checks than you or I can ever come up with. And don’t forget the big bank account he can dip into to make up the few checks he doesn’t get. The fact is that Romney doesn’t need your money and he knows you’re not going to not vote for him… in other words, you have very little to threaten him with.

    BTW, I agree that Rubio would make a good VP pick. But making empty threats like this isn’t a good way to be taken seriously.

    steve (369bc6)

  10. plus he makes tasty fish tacos

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  11. Lol

    Dohbiden (ef98f0)

  12. It would be a good move if he wants to win Florida.

    Nels (905f0f)

  13. And if Rubio says no? Not to mention that this will undoubtedly be the dirtiest campaign ever–is it really the best plan to expose one of the party’s rising stars to the onslaught from Obama and his minions (plus, apparently, at least some of the birther morons who have decided that he’s their new object of obsession) before he’s had time to build any real resume in the Senate?

    M. Scott Eiland (003254)

  14. #13: Obama’s goal in going after Rubio would be to taint Romney as defective by virtue of Romney picking Rubio, and make some number of voters scared of having Rubio that close to becoming President if something happened to Romney.

    It only works Rubio was as spectacularly unprepared as Palin was or if Rubio had positions that, frankly, scared people. I don’t think the former is remotely possible (nobody could be that bad) and I haven’t seen anything to indicate the latter.

    Thus, I doubt the Obama campaign would spend much effort targeting Rubio, all of their fire would be aimed at Romney.

    steve (369bc6)

  15. You’ll keep your money? Yeah, that will scare him. That amounts to little more than a rounding error in the total that Romney will pick up as the nominee.

    You do realize he’s blogging this to thousands if not hundreds of thousands of readers, right?

    But making empty threats like this isn’t a good way to be taken seriously.

    He was offering a constructive way for Romney to improve his sorely awful reputation with those who like promise keeping leaders or conservatives. I don’t think the tendency some have lately to make every argument a personal affront of some kind is very serious or constructive.

    Your point seems to be “romney doesn’t need you anyway”.

    It’s something I’ve heard a few times from Romney fans. One actually has insisted they actually want Romney to win without the tainted support of folks who criticize his (awful) record.

    That’s not exactly serious.

    Dustin (401f3a)

  16. It only works Rubio was as spectacularly unprepared as Palin was

    Executive Experience. Palin was the most prepared for the oval office of the four people on the two tickets. Which I admit, is not saying much, but she sure improved Mccain’s chances. A lot of people refuse to realize that and try to use Mccain’s failure as a way to show that candidates like Palin are the wrong idea.

    But actually, for all of Palin’s flaws, she was direct, ethical, honest, and ran a government pretty well. I don’t think she’s qualified for the White House, but she’s less underqualified than most of her foes.

    Dustin (401f3a)

  17. I know this isn’t helpful to the cause but primary nite polling in FL showed a Rubio VP tab would nick the McBain ticket 3 percentage points in FL.

    Add to this, Rubio is 40 and would disappear for a dozen years as VP. Great speaker but his resume would become that of Romany’s.

    He may figure different but I say its a mistake for everyone but Greaser.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  18. I could be wrong of course, but I think Rubio’s constant denials that he wants the spot might actually be sincere. My guess is he’s assuming a narrow Romney loss and figures he’ll actually have a better shot at 2016 if he’s not associated with it.

    mike (b7ef2e)

  19. Yup, absolutely right. Great item.

    Kevin Stafford (1d1b9e)

  20. 16. Indeed, with a majority McConnell’s days are numbered. Rubio has kept a stept or two away from DeMint and if not poised for Majority Leader is in good position for Lieutenant as Whip.

    Meanwhile the approaching disaster can’t but help Palin, Walker, et al., those untainted by slease.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  21. everything will work out for the best I can feel it

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  22. As if on cue, the borehole runneth over:

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/3-year-bond-prices-bid-cover-slides-directs-take-down-most-3-years-indirects-flee

    So? Interest rates not affected, who cares? Well the primary dealers will turn their purchase around to the Fed next week and reap big commissions.

    Your debt goes up just that much more, sucka.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  23. Yeah, pick Rubio — then flip the ticket.

    foxbat (28d32b)

  24. Let’s just get a brokered convention. This primary is a total disaster.

    Let’s find someone who can win, and also isn’t a complete jackass ideologically.

    It’s the ultimate curveball for the democrats, too, and there is no united party right now anyway.

    Dustin (401f3a)

  25. 5 & 18 contra 9. “empty threats”

    Today’s polar bear dips in MN and MO probably help Celestial Sleaser but look for a slide in CO turnout behind another “Awesome, fantabulous, supercalifragilistic win for the anointed crossing all demographics and signalling a GOP juggernaut to the WH”.

    What a Santorum win in MN tells me is Obama wins by 10K here. Indies watch satellite, rubes.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  26. Somemore help for Greasy Sleaser from K-street retreads:

    http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/barbour-recalls-reagan-as-no-purist/?partner=rss&emc=rss

    Evidently Halely has passed his expiration date.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  27. Attack of the Greasy Sleazer Surrogates:

    http://bigjournalism.com/jjmnolte/2012/02/07/beck-site-attacks-sarah-palin-over-trig-article-writer-calls-palin-supporter-whore/

    Coulter, Sununu, Rove, step up your game, “you’re letting us down”.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  28. Dustin: thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of readers… only some of those who share his thinking… and only some of those contribute to political campaigns… and only some of those contribute in amounts that their absence would be felt. So, at the end, there’s Patrick and a handful of contributions that Romney doesn’t get… all of which is easily made up by money from others and/or Romney’s bank account. It isn’t that ‘Romney doesn’t need you’, it is more that we (the royal connotation) aren’t important enough for Romney to change his behavior. Were there thousands of big dollar donors who were threatening to not support him? Or if Patrick spoke for (and not merely ‘to’) hundreds of thousands of voters in key states? Yeah, then maybe they’d get somewhere.

    But he doesn’t. And to me, being serious means recognizing the reality of a given situation and not pretending to have more power or influence than one really does.

    As for your comment on Palin, my use of ‘spectacularly unprepared’ applied to the campaign and media exposure and not to the substance of her qualifications. When one is made to look silly by the likes of Katie Couric, it is hard to argue that Palin was ready for prime time.

    steve (369bc6)

  29. The panhandler is getting downright surly:

    http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/06/business/china-imf-eu/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  30. Dustin: thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of readers… only some of those who share his thinking… and only some of those contribute to political campaigns… and only some of those contribute in amounts that their absence would be felt.

    True. I disagree with this, for example, and I tend to agree with Patterico.

    As for your comment on Palin, my use of ‘spectacularly unprepared’ applied to the campaign and media exposure

    eh… you’re probably right, but it still bugs me because she was more qualified than the others (none of them measure up to my standard).

    Dustin (401f3a)

  31. being serious means recognizing the reality of a given situation and not pretending to have more power or influence than one really does.

    Also, I know were headed for a particularly preachy time where it’s just given that if you’re serious, you unify behind Romney.

    I think this is ignorant of how the GOP has ever been useful in our lifetimes. Their best reforms to spending came after conservatives refused to support RINOs and the GOP congress were scared sober for a little while. That’s the only time we really got reforms we needed. Since the GOP regained trust, the deficit has exploded.

    Now, the democrats are worse sure, but the GOP is useless as it is today. I think it’s pretty useless with a President Romney, and will attempt a lot of the excuses we hear about why Romney collaborated with democrats as Governor.

    But it’s not Romney’s fault. He showed up… the conservatives didn’t, at least not effectively. It’s not really Romney I’m complaining about here.

    Dustin (401f3a)

  32. Romney and Gingrich deserve to go away.

    Dohbiden (ef98f0)

  33. Romney and Gingrich are the only hope our little country has for the future god bless both of you gentlemen

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  34. It wouldn’t move me at all. In fact, I think it could backfire because Rubio, as the bottom of the ticket (and junior statesman), would just have to campaign on Romney’s centrist platform. How depressing would that be?

    I like Rubio, but I don’t think he has the gravitas to move Romney to the right on any issue.

    Y-not (e7d1c7)

  35. If you could make the case that one of the other Republicans running could draw enough votes from the mushy middle to beat Obama, then I’d be open to supporting that candidate… but I don’t think you can (Gingrich is crazy and Santorum would play right into the hands of the Democrats who have long successfully scared moderates of big bad social conservatives who will impose their draconian values on us all). So, yes, being realistic means uniting behind Romney. Not because we like him but because he presents the best opportunity to beat Obama (which I think we’d have to agree is job #1, everything else is a distant second).

    And then, as has been alluded to elsewhere, go out and elect as conservative a House and Senate as is possible. No matter how conservative Romney is or isn’t, without more conservatives in Congress, he won’t be able to implement squat of a conservative agenda.

    steve (369bc6)

  36. 28. “When one is made to look silly by the likes of Katie Couric, it is hard to argue that Palin was ready for prime time”

    Yeah, since Nicole Wallace pressed for the interview with her bud Cougar, she could have supplied a list of the heavyweight arcana to be covered, e.g., “What if anything do you read?”

    Can’t wait to see McDumbleDork sit down with David Gregory and eat him up.

    W/Baier: “I’ve already answered that question a thousand times. Well, Ok, let’s go through it all over again.”

    W/Ingraham: “Well, if you have a better line, I’d like to hear it.”

    I guess ‘ready for prime time’ is in the eye of the beholder, eh Stevie boy?

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  37. If you could make the case that one of the other Republicans running could draw enough votes from the mushy middle to beat Obama, then I’d be open to supporting that candidate

    Maybe we need a brokered convention.

    It is admittedly difficult to explain Newt’s path forward.

    The way I do it is to say this election will be about Obama, and we need to offer a clear alternative to Obama rather than a centrist who lacks credibility on really any policy matter.

    But I think that’s a weak argument.

    Dustin (401f3a)

  38. Seeing after they went after ‘banned books,’ rape kits, her pastor, instead of anything substantial
    about her record, because they didn’t care, you notice when they put you through the ringer, the
    portrait looks alien, to those who them best.

    narciso (87e966)

  39. btw, Steve, while I agree greatly with you on the tremendous importance of congressional races (TED CRUZ FOR US SENATE!), I want to note that Romney didn’t have very good coattails in MA elections.

    Part of that was that he shifted to being a GOP primary candidate before his governorship ended, but he lost so many endorsed state level races. I think it was 100. Newt actually has some success with progressing the GOP to takeover congress. He wasn’t the only one, but he was part of measurable successes on that front.

    It’s one of the reasons I am willing to stick to my guns until the bitter end on this one.

    Dustin (401f3a)

  40. JonahNRO: “Bizarrely, Chris Matthews stops talking about JFK the second stories about Kennedy shagging and “pimping out” teenagers makes news.”

    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/290424/chris-matthews-suddenly-stops-talking-about-jfk-charles-c-w-cooke

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  41. BuzzFeedBen Great @zekejmiller breakdown of the 2011 primary, through 6 charts reflecting the day-by-day fundraising figures http://t.co/I5akfOOp

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  42. Steve hearts simply conceding the rhetorical playing field to the Dems and their narrative, and simply advancing Dem-lite, only cheaper.

    JD (4fbc0a)

  43. “The MSM and Team Obama have quite an investment in extending the GOP primary season as long as possible. As they anticipate having a money edge, they want to drain Mitt Romney’s coffers of as much money as possible. Having the campaign extend beyond Super Tuesday would assist the Chicago Gang and the talking heads, so expect Rick Santorum’s strong showing in Minnesota tonight to get much more attention than Mitt Romney’s likely win in Colorado, even though the Rocky Mountain State is much more crucial to the GOP’s winning back the White House in the fall…”

    http://www.hughhewitt.com/blog/g/3901cc6b-dac7-4078-89bd-5aa0832a6075

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  44. I also think you overstate the need to offer a clear alternative to Obama. I think just being there will (hopefully) be good enough.

    People aren’t happy with the way things are going, even if their own personal situation is okay. They see the world in disarray, homes dropping in value, their friends and neighbors out of work or underemployed and so on.

    Analogize that to the fans of a sports team that is under-performing. When the fans aren’t happy, they aren’t going to listen to the coach argue that things were really (still) the fault of the coach from four years ago. Nor will they accept the line that the 5-11 season would have been a 3-13 season but for the great coaching. The fans want somebody else… and when they do, they’ll argue about which of the possible replacements would be best, but none of them make the argument that the coach they’re not happy with is better than the guys seeking to replace him.

    That’s just the way people are. The grass is always greener on the other side. We don’t always decide based on a long consideration of the facts and a comparison of the two candidate’s policy ideas. When the coach (or President) is winning, he gets his contract renewed. And when he isn’t, he gets tossed.

    The burden on Obama will be to prove that no matter how bad things have been, that the future would be worse with Romney… and that is going to be tough to do as of all the GOP candidates, Romney scares (non-conservative) people the least.

    steve (369bc6)

  45. my little brudder says this minnesota thing is stupid plus it’s 45 minutes away from where he lives PLUS they have a for reals primary in march so he’s not gonna play in that sandbox tonight

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  46. The candidates on Fannie and Freddie’s future. You’ll never guess which one is friendliest to the fannie/freddie model…

    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/290461/candidates-fannie-and-freddies-future-ramesh-ponnuru

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  47. Isn’t the daily pro-Romney, or anti everyone else, link splatter so entertaining?

    JD (4fbc0a)

  48. Newt and Callista
    Randy Toad and Helmet Hair
    Death March to Tampa

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  49. I will never give money to Newt, Callista or no Callista.

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  50. Isn’t the daily pro-Romney, or anti everyone else, link splatter so entertaining?

    Comment by JD

    Just as entertaining as the daily anti-Romney, conspiracy theories and saddle-bum sophistry is. Yes!

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  51. 3M is real deal
    Minnesota Mopery
    Mooking and Malaise

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  52. Oh, California
    your once golden teats run dry
    we’ve all hit bottom

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  53. Crikey they voted for ‘BetaMax’ Brown, and the rest of his peanut gallery, how can Dante’s rejoinder not apply;

    narciso (87e966)

  54. she-b*tch coyote
    just Romulus and Dustin
    suckle hairy teats

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  55. oh… mama… can this
    rilly be The End to be
    stuck outside Fresno… with the Merced Blues agin

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  56. Grandpa Simpson Brown
    what grew old is older still
    Ronstadt now balloon

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  57. dreams of my chopped-top Mercury and better days in California…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URm7Ze9a56o

    Colonel Haiku (a3006f)

  58. 47. Out of my hands, kiddo has a 100 degree temp, and having been cooped up for a week with RSV, is a raving banshee.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  59. 45. “While states like Ohio, Iowa, Nevada, and New Mexico have been arguably stronger indicators of political trends in recent years, Missouri has been a consistent swing state since 1904.”

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  60. 46. Going into tonight Greasy Sleazer is 10 and 16.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  61. feel better kiddo person

    happyfeet (3c92a1)


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