Santorum just announced that he's "suspending his campaign".

[Doktor Howl]

hxxp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2870368/posts

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

LOL THEY MAD?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Awesome!

[Doktor Howl]

HEAR ME NOW, BELIEVE ME LATER:

Romney will pick Paul Ryan as his VP.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Wow.

I want to learn how to do that. 

[Golden Applesauce]

Who's Paul Ryan?

[Cain]

Who's Paul Ryan?

Republic congressman with an insane plan to cut pretty much the entire social security net while expanding military spending in order to balance the US budget.

Economists are of the general opinion that Ryan's numbers do not add up, which is pretty bad, considering who is saying it.

He is, however, popular among a certain kind of Beltway commentator (David Brooks, Will Willkinson) because, despite not being able to do maths, he is a "serious" candidate, meaning unemcumbered with embarrassing public outbursts or religious affiliations.

Personally, I think Romney choosing him would be a mistake, and I think even Romney is aware of this.  It would please the pundits and no-one else, and Ryan has plenty of baggage that make him unappealing in addition to his modest political standing. 

Marco Rubio has also been tipped as a potential VP, because TEABAGGER-MENTUM and hopefully bringing in the Latino vote, but Rubio's political skills and influence are vastly overrated, and any half competent political operative could throw the Teabaggers into a frenzy over the inconsistencies in Rubio's past (Birtherism redux).

Romney has two choices, as I see it.  He can either pull a McCain, and have a Palin, or go with someone he trusts.  If he decides to go with the former, his pick is most likely to be Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina.  There are some issues with her, namely her Sikh background and allegations of affairs, but she was endorsed by Romney, Palin, and some major Tea Party groups.  In other words, she has political backing, owed favours, and credibility that Romney lacks with certain voting blocs.

If Romney decides to not go this route, and I cannot blame him, his pick is most likely to be Governor Rob Portman of Ohio.  Romney and him have a strong working relationship, Portman is not tainted by recent Congressional experience (namely, TARP), and is known to a bag-man for monied interests in Wall Street, who are also sympathetic to Romney (but are of course backing Obama, too).  Portman can also potentially peel off many moderate and Democratic votes, as he's known to be quite the bipartisan type among those who have worked with him on the Hill.

Also, I would not discount Romney entirely.  If the economic recovery slows, as it seems to be, Obama's not in a good place.  Romney is the most highly rated of the GOP front runners when it comes to facing Obama in the polls.  During the earlier stages of the primaries, he had about a 4% gap on Obama in approval polls, and if he can force Obama into making stupid mistakes, or if international conditions worsen, or if a number of other issues go down, he can easily close that gap.  Obama's lost a lot of 18-24 voters in the past few years, who were a critical component of his victory in 2008, and while Romney does not have the best credentials with the GOP, he doesn't cause polarized opposition in the way that, say, Ron Paul does.  Romney is frequently not the first choice for Presidential candidate, but he is a surprisingly popular second choice among a large range of GOP voters, and he's enough of a political chameleon that he can bring votes in from groups who might otherwise be put off by GOP rhetoric and policies, such as women voters and moderates.

A week's a long time in politics: 7 months is nearly an eternity.  Even the best programs and tools cannot predict from this far back who will win.  A small bet on either candidate would probably not be a bad idea.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that briefly before vanishing again.

[AFK]

HEAR ME NOW, BELIEVE ME LATER:

Romney will pick Paul Ryan as his VP.

Well, this has pretty much been the talk since it was clear Romney was going to be the nominee. 

Plus, it gives Ryan the chance to bloat his ego by running his GOP vision of doing things against Obama. 

[Doktor Howl]

Cain, everything you say makes sense.

Which is why the GOP most likely will not do it.

[Phox]

I vote Nikki Haley as governor of my pance. 


In all seriousness though, I appreciate your analysis Cain. I will be most interested in seeing what happens within the GOP in the coming months.

[East Coast Hustle]

She's not governing MY pance. Seriously, I'd be terrified of being crushed under the weight of her gargantuan chin.

[Phox]

She's not governing MY pance. Seriously, I'd be terrified of being crushed under the weight of her gargantuan chin.

The danger's part of the fun, though. 

[Doktor Howl]

She's not governing MY pance. Seriously, I'd be terrified of being crushed under the weight of her gargantuan chin.

And there go my nipples again.

[Deepthroat Chopra]

Kind of a funny article re: Santorum, using a mix of analogies, such as -

Rick Santorum's campaign for President was the political equivalent of drunk sex that goes on to the point of chafing in spite of the fact that neither party is capable of orgasm.
He was never going to get the nomination. Party establishment wasn't wet for him, and at times, Rick seemed like he was running for America Pope instead of President, especially when he said anti-constitutional things like how the Establishment Clause made him want to barf all over or that Barack Obama was a snob for suggesting that kids go to college. But he kept jackhammering away anyway.



http://jezebel.com/5900772/rick-santorums-campaign-was-so-unbelievably-bad

[Mangrove]

Yesterday I caught part of a local talkshow where the flamboyantly gay host (Scott Haney) looks at the camera with a smirk & a twinkle in his eye and says:

"Santorum's OUT."