The burning question is who close-to-presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama will pick as his running mate. The question is better asked of his GOP foe John McCain. His vice presidential pick is far more crucial than who Obama picks.
He has no choice but to implore Mitt Romney to sign on to the ticket.
The reasons for Romney go beyond McCain's image problem and party doubts. Romney was the first GOP presidential candidate to publicly warn back in January that Obama would be the likely GOP opponent, and then say that he could beat him. This was not mere political braggadocio. He like Obama sold himself as the change guy who can go to Washington cut the cronyism, bureaucratic and congressional inertia, and restore public confidence. McCain is the walking embodiment of the much loathed Washington insider establishment.
Romney is a social conservative, but he's also one that social conservatives like, have confidence in, and have gotten behind with passion. McCain isn't.In nearly all polls, affordable health care worries ranks close behind the economy as a major concern of millions. Obama will tell what he will do if elected to provide affordable care for millions. Romney can tell what he actually did to provide it.
McCain will have to spend time and money building name identification for any VP pick other than Romney. Romney has that name identification, and more importantly, name identification that is not saddled with a trunk load of negatives.
Romney is a decade younger than McCain. Age, as race with Obama is a great X Factor, for McCain. He will be the oldest president ever on inauguration day. This, and health questions, is a big concern of many voters.
The most successful presidents have been governors (with one very current exception). They bring the administrative and management skills crucial to the office. Romney would put the minds of many voters at ease that if McCain succumbed to health problems, he could immediately step in and ably run the affairs of state.
He's a team player. When he shut down his campaign in February he immediately met with and smoothed over the ruffled feathers with McCain, and urged his delegates to support him. He then went to a couple of states to pitch him. One of them was Michigan which is very much in play for the GOP given the large number of social conservatives there and his strong roots there during his father, George Romney's, years as governor.
McCain bets the political bank that his strengths on national security, the war against terrorism, and strangely, even winning the war in Iraq on his terms, will resonate with millions of voters. He'll need more than that to offset voter and party doubts, divisions, and the X Factor of age and health. Romney gives him added insurance to help offset these potentially deal breaking liabilities for him. Romney poses a bigger threat to Obama than McCain.
>> read the full Opinion here: The Huffington Post
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