Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Veepstakes Edition

Visual source: Newseum

Ben Pershing at The Washington Post takes a look at who might fill out Mitt Romney's ticket:

Coverage of Romney's selection process has included a host of possibilities: Maybe he's looking for an ideological counterweight, or reinforcement for his own strengths, or excitement, or a swing-state boost or diversity. You don't often hear that he's looking specifically for a member of Congress.

Yet if you believe the latest speculation ' and really, why wouldn't you? ' there are at least three lawmakers attracting significant buzz to be Romney's running mate: Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.). A handful of governors also have drawn attention: Chris Christie (N.J.), Bobby Jindal (La.), Susana Martinez (N.M.) and Robert McDonnell (Va.).

History alone suggests that the members have an advantage.

Joshua Spivak at The Los Angeles Times also looks at the history of VP selection and possible Romney running mate nominees:

In the current race, prominent Republican names are getting a lot of media attention. They are mainly from key swing states and include Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (despite his many protestations that he's not interested).

Pundits will carefully examine the candidates for political benefits and drawbacks, focusing on whether the running mate can help pick off a swing state and what momentum boost he or she can provide to the ticket. Historically, Republican candidates have not focused on that, instead basing the selection on two more subtle factors. One is that the running mate can serve as an effective attack dog who will strongly criticize the opposing ticket. The other is that the choice be someone who will bridge an intra-party divide ' whether it is ideological, like Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush; generational, like John McCain and Sarah Palin; or experience, likeGeorge W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Few will mention that the only vice presidential choice in modern history believed to have made an electoral difference was Lyndon Johnson more than half a century ago. Even fewer will mention the fact that the Republican presidential candidates haven't chosen a VP candidate from a swing state in at least 50 years.

Josh Lederman at The Hill:

Romney called Arizona's policy a model for other states during a February debate in Mesa, Ariz., putting himself at odds with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the Cuban-American who is the odds-on favorite to be the GOP's vice presidential nominee this year.
Romney's campaign later clarified that the former Massachusetts governor was only referring to the part of the Arizona law that requires the use of E-Verify to determine eligibility for employment. An aide said Democrats are wrong to cite the line as evidence that Romney has embraced the Arizona law.

Jill Hanauer at The Huffington Post:

In order to gain a better sense of the effect that one of these three candidates might have on Hispanic presidential preference, PNA and PPP tested the complete Democratic presidential ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden versus a Republican ticket consisting of Romney-Rubio in Florida, Romney-Sandoval in Nevada and a Romney-Martinez New Mexico among Hispanic voters.

In each state, the presence of the home-state Hispanic Republican has a negligible effect on Hispanic presidential preference.

Meanwhile, Mark Hosenball at Reuters brings us the latest Romney clean-up effort:

Before joining Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign last week as a spokesman, Richard Grenell was a prolific - and inflammatory - voice on Twitter, posting biting commentary on subjects ranging from Newt Gingrich's weight to Michelle Obama exercising in the White House.

No more.

Since he joined Romney's campaign as foreign affairs spokesman, many of Grenell's most provocative musings on Twitter have been deleted in a cleanup that is the latest reminder of how social media has become a sideshow - and at times more - in the 2012 campaign.