Comprehensive List of Potential VP's for Top 5 Candidates

[presence]

Note to add... we had Paul Ryan collectively picked 1st for Romney sometime before 4/30/12

RON PAUL
Andrew Napolitano, Former New Jersey Superior Court Judge

Hinted by Ron:
4/25/12(VERY SINCERE THIS TIME, watch video)
2/19/12
6/17/11


(Tier One)
Rand Paul, Senator Kentucky
Jim DeMint, Senator South Carolina
Gary Johnson, Governor of New Mexico


(Tier Two)
Mark Sanford, Former Governor South Carolina
William "Fox" Fallon, Retired 4 star Admiral US Navy
Chuck Baldwin, Presidential Candidate 2008, Constitutional Party
Michael F. Scheuer, Former CIA Intelligence Officer
Pat Buchanan, Senior Advisor to Reagan, Nixon, and Ford
Mike Lee, Senator Utah
Tom Davis, Senator South Carolina
Jim Forsythe, New Hampshire Senator
Andy Sanborn, New Hampshire Senator
Doug French, President of the Mises Institute
Barry Goldwater Jr., Former Congressman California '69-'83

(Often mentioned in Internet Buzz but unlikely, given above choices)

"mentioned but largely dismissed"

Wayne Allyn Root, former VP Nominee for Libertarian Party
Doug Wead, Senior RP2012 Campaign Advisor, Presidential Historian
Bruce Fein, Constututional/International Lawyer
Douglas Macgregor, Retired U.S. Army Colonel
Walter Williams, economist, commentator, and academic
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods
Dennis Kucinich, Congressman (D) Ohio
Peter Schiff, Economist
Jim Grant, former Barron’s columnist
Andre Marrou, Former Libertarian VP Candidate
Robert Murphy, Austrian Economist
Jesse Ventura, Former Governor of Minnesota
Jon Stewart, Political Satirist
Steven Colbert, Political Satirist
Lew Rockwell, Chairman of the Mises Institute
John Stossel, Libertarian Investigative Journalist FOX/ABC
Raul Labrador Hispanic, Mormon congressman from Idaho
Brian Schweitzer, Governor Montana
Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida
Mitt Romney, Businessman / Venture Capitalist, 2012 Presidential Candidate

MITT ROMNEY

(Tier One)
Paul Ryan, Congressman Wisconsin
Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey
Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota
Ron Paul, Congressman Texas, 2012 Presidential Candidate
Marco Rubio, Senator Florida
Nikki Haley, Governer South Carolina
John Thune, Senator South Dakota
Rob Portman, Senator from Ohio
Bob McDonnell, Governor of Virginia

(Tier Two)
David Petraeus, General, Director of CIA
Tom Coburn, Senator Oklahoma
Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire Senator
Rick Santorum, Senator Pennsylvania, 2012 Presidential Candidate
Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana
Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House, 2012 Presidential Candidate
John McCain, Senator Arizona
Jeb Bush, Former Governor of Florida
Condoleezza Rice, Former Secretary of State

Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana - DECLINED CONSIDERATION

NEWT GINGRICH

Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida

Sarah Palin, Former Governor of Alaska
Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas and 2008 Presidential Candidate
Andrew Cuomo, Governer of New York
Michele Bachmann, Congressman Minnesota, Former 2012 Presidential Candidate
Thomas Sowell, Professor / Economist


BARACK OBAMA


Joe Biden, Current Vice President
Elizabeth Warren, Advisor to Secretary of Treasury
Deval Patrick

Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State "That is not going to happen"

OTHER

Rick Perry OUT
Herman Cain OUT
Jon Huntsman OUT
Rick Santorum OUT


---------------------------

To create each list I ran a search for "ron paul vice president", "mitt romney vice president", etc. and read through the first 10 pages or so of results. I also scanned some comments on a similar youtube search. I have also updated the OP many times on your input. In short, this is a report on the overall Internet VP buzz.

A few things I noticed when I was writing this... I couldn't think of or find too many for Santorum, he's kind of a lone wolf; feel free to chime in. Ron Paul and Romney have a lot of options. Gingrich and Obama... not so many. Truthfully I can't see either Gingrich or Santorum pulling together a real ticket. And former candidates Perry, Cain, and Huntsman I just can't see behind any of the frontrunners. Rubio on the other hand... has a ticket in any Republican campaign with his Florida swing. Finally, Paul seems to have the best list of options. After this bit of research, it really seems like a three way race between Romney, Paul, and Obama.

If you have any to add, or think I should make changes, let me know and I'll edit the OP. I tried to create some sense of "order of likelihood" which I'm also open to suggestions on.

Your thoughts?

presence

ps... consider this list in a constant state of flux. I'll be using your opinions to add, update, and rearrange. So give good reason, and links if you have them. (I'm working right now top-down to hyperlink each veep to wikipedia, if someone wanted to help me from the bottom up, much appreciated)

 

[GeorgiaAvenger]

Fine list, though not perfect.

 

[sailingaway]

I can think of others for Ron. Forsythe, Sanborne, etc. I wouldn't include some of those on your list, as well.

 

[rp2012win]

Marco Rubio is the most hyped hand picked establishment status quo elitist in modern history.

 

[AlexG]

Marco Rubio is the most hyped hand picked establishment status quo elitist in modern history.

Yea, I hear him speak and I don't know what the big deal is. I guess conservatives just want a high-profile hispanic neocon.

 

[GraniteHills]

Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) has been tossed out there in the past, perhaps as merely a Palin Lite, but she's been in lockstep with Graham/McCain/Lieberman so maybe she gets rewarded.

I think I also saw Deval Patrick (D-MA) mentioned as an Obama VP candidate. That would give Michelle "Haute Couture" Obama someone to shop with; the first thing Deval did was buy expensive curtains & furnishings for his new office.

 

[GeorgiaAvenger]

Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida Not very good on lots of issues, pretty good on others. Helps electability but I don't see it.
Andrew Napolitano, Former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Likely, though I don't like it politically
Jim DeMint, Senator South Carolina Good choice
Rand Paul, Senator Kentucky Shouldn't pick his own son
Tom Davis, Senator South Carolina Too inexperienced, his mentor is more likely
Doug French, President of the Mises Institute Impossible
Michael F. Scheuer, Former CIA Intelligence Officer Not likely; too controversial
Wayne Allyn Root, former VP Nominee for Libertarian Party No experience, not like Paul
Doug Wead, Senior RP2012 Campaign Advisor, Presidential Historian Impossible, no experience
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Bad political move
Dennis Kucinich, Congressman (D) Ohio Terrible Congresssman
Peter Schiff, Economist No experience
Gary Johnson, Governor of New Mexico Great choice
William "Fox" Fallon, Retired 4 star Admiral US Navy Picking a military man would be great for Paul
Bruce Fein, Constututional/International Lawyer No experience
Jim Grant, former Barron’s columnist No experience
Andre Marrou, Former Libertarian VP Candidate No experience; too old
Robert Murphy, Austrian Economist No experience; anarchist

(often mentioned but unlikely, given above choices)
Jesse Ventura, Former Govenor of Minnesota Crazy
Jon Stewart, Political Satirist WTH, I am more qualified
Steven Colbert, Political Satirist WTH, I am more qualified
Lew Rockwell, Chairman of the Mises Institute No experience; controversial
John Stossel, Libertarian Investigative Journalist FOX/ABC Great guy but no experience

 

[Drex]

I was trolling Santorum's page today and they were all saying Santorum/Rubio 2012! So put Rubio under santorum

 

[rp2012win]

I was trolling Santorum's page today and they were all saying Santorum/Rubio 2012! So put Rubio under santorum

Those same people have no idea what either santorum's or rubio's policies are. The only thing they know about santorum is he says he believes in the bible and he wants to kill iranians.

 

[cindy25]

for Ron: Raul Labrador Hispanic, Mormon congressman from Idaho
Mike Lee Utah senator
Gary Johnson former Gov NM
Mitt Romney former Gov MA (if we have to, we have to)
Jeff Flake congressman AZ
Jenny Sanford former first lady of SC

Rubio is a Bush candidate, Labrador is far better if Hispanic is the criteria.
Rand is not politically possible
Kucinich, not on a Republican ticket (but if 3rd party a viable choice)

 

[trey4sports]

If Ron were to pull out the nom. I think his veep pick would really be someone none of us are all that familiar with. Maybe Walter Jones, or even some little-known state senator (Hello, Glen Bradley)

I think if Romney gets the nod he will offer the VP spot to Rand Paul. I don't say that lightly, and I don't say things on-the-fly. This is something I've thought about and really believe will happen. Now, I don't know whether Rand would accept. My guess is he'd say yes, but I do believe he will be the first one offered the position.

 

[trey4sports]

for Ron: Raul Labrador Hispanic, Mormon congressman from Idaho
Mike Lee Utah senator
Gary Johnson former Gov NM
Mitt Romney former Gov MA (if we have to, we have to)
Jeff Flake congressman AZ
Jenny Sanford former first lady of SC

Rubio is a Bush candidate, Labrador is far better if Hispanic is the criteria.
Rand is not politically possible
Kucinich, not on a Republican ticket (but if 3rd party a viable choice)

There is no way he'd pick the two i've bolded. Ron would, for better or worse, never pick a VP candidate who isn't at least pretty solid on the issues. Jenny Sanford, i really have no idea why she is on the list. Has she ever held any office? I doubt he'd pick Raul, seeing as he doesn't have much of a voting record.

 

[eduardo89]

RON PAUL

Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida
Andrew Napolitano, Former New Jersey Superior Court Judge
Jim DeMint, Senator South Carolina
Rand Paul, Senator Kentucky
Tom Davis, Senator South Carolina
Doug French, President of the Mises Institute
Michael F. Scheuer, Former CIA Intelligence Officer
Wayne Allyn Root, former VP Nominee for Libertarian Party
Doug Wead, Senior RP2012 Campaign Advisor, Presidential Historian
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods
Dennis Kucinich, Congressman (D) Ohio
Peter Schiff, Economist
Gary Johnson, Governor of New Mexico
William "Fox" Fallon, Retired 4 star Admiral US Navy
Bruce Fein, Constututional/International Lawyer
Jim Grant, former Barron’s columnist
Andre Marrou, Former Libertarian VP Candidate
Robert Murphy, Austrian Economist

(often mentioned but unlikely, given above choices)
Jesse Ventura, Former Govenor of Minnesota
Jon Stewart, Political Satirist
Steven Colbert, Political Satirist
Lew Rockwell, Chairman of the Mises Institute
John Stossel, Libertarian Investigative Journalist FOX/ABC

 

[GraniteHills]

I think if Romney gets the nod he will offer the VP spot to Rand Paul. I don't say that lightly, and I don't say things on-the-fly. This is something I've thought about and really believe will happen. Now, I don't know whether Rand would accept. My guess is he'd say yes, but I do believe he will be the first one offered the position.

It is intriguing for a few reasons:

-The GOP wants to court Ron Paul Republicans, and knows they either win or come very close in 2012 with a number of these voters on their side.

-Even if Romney/Rand loses in 2012, the GOP wins -- by deflating the career of "the next great hope," Rand Paul, and in their eyes wresting "their" party back from the pesky "libertarianish right" (thanks for the quote, Santorum).

 

[neverseen]

Marco Rubio is the most hyped hand picked establishment status quo elitist in modern history.

Sorry my state elected him. Didn't know what I know now back then or I would have helped get Snitker in.

 

[GeorgiaAvenger]

There is no way he'd pick the two i've bolded. Ron would, for better or worse, never pick a VP candidate who isn't at least pretty solid on the issues. Jenny Sanford, i really have no idea why she is on the list. Has she ever held any office? I doubt he'd pick Raul, seeing as he doesn't have much of a voting record.

I agree.

 

[cindy25]

I only included Jenny Sanford because she was sort of a co-governor (at least as much as Hillary was co-president), and Mark Sanford is too damaged to be considered.

Judge Nap still offers the best balance.

 

[GeorgiaAvenger]

I only included Jenny Sanford because she was sort of a co-governor (at least as much as Hillary was co-president), and Mark Sanford is too damaged to be considered.

Judge Nap still offers the best balance.

Really?

First of all, a first lady is not politically qualified, let alone a first governor. Also Hillary was qualified to run for President because she had been a U.S. Senator.

I doubt Jenny Sanford ran much of anything with their marriage being so far apart.

 

[Lavitz]

It is intriguing for a few reasons:

-The GOP wants to court Ron Paul Republicans, and knows they either win or come very close in 2012 with a number of these voters on their side.

-Even if Romney/Rand loses in 2012, the GOP wins -- by deflating the career of "the next great hope," Rand Paul, and in their eyes wresting "their" party back from the pesky "libertarianish right" (thanks for the quote, Santorum).

Serious question: Why do you think being picked as the VP nominee and losing would deflate Rand's career? It seems to have worked out fine for Sarah Palin.

 

[Time for Change]

Marco Rubio is the most hyped hand picked establishment status quo elitist in modern history.

+1
he is a scum bag