Ah spring, when during presidential election years political pundits’ fancy lightly turn to thoughts of possible running mates. Usually these speculations try to construct so-called ‘dream tickets’, combinations that its advocates think would either increase chances of victory due to providing balance or satisfy a felt need for ideological consistency if the presidential nominee’s credentials are suspect. Campaigns at this time float many names as trial balloons in order to gauge reactions as well as placate the various factions in their parties that they are being respected and included, and so these rumors should not be taken too seriously.
But despite those reservations, my heart leaped up at the rumor that Ted Cruz was considering Carly Fiorina as a possible running mate. These two are clearly soul mates when it comes to advocating ghastly policies in the most hateful way possible. I took an instinctive and deep dislike to both and I am sure that I am not alone in having that feeling.
Rather than being a dream ticket, it is more like a nightmare ticket. The both have such grating personalities and speaking styles that the only redeeming feature is that if we can just get through the election, that we can hope that they will suffer such a catastrophic defeat that they will be consigned to political purgatory where we will not have to encounter them ever again.
Samantha Bee has more to say on this and other recent political developments.
All I know is that Trump is going to pick a really great running mate. A truly, great, classy running mate. A real winner.
Funny thing about that WaPo article you linked — the premise that more time makes for better veep selection is a little undermined by the fact that the longest “decision time” shown on that graphic (between clinching the nomination and announcing the running mater) was McCain, who spent 179 days to come up with … Palin. (Of course, part of the problem was that they didn’t actually spend all of that time on vetting candidates generally, and they botched the vetting of Palin specifically.)
I’m of the mind that VP selection makes little difference politically. I just don’t think that there are that many people who are politically engaged enough to have a strong opinion on the VP candidates, who aren’t already pretty much decided. Maybe Palin cost McCain a non-trivial number of votes, though if you believe Game Change, his own campaign team figured they wouldn’t do better than a close loss even if they picked someone “respectable” like Pawlenty. In 1988, Quayle was seen as a lightweight, and he ran into a vetting issue right off the bat with the Vietnam War issue, while Bentsen was respected and arguably better-liked than Dukakis — yet GHW Bush still cruised to an easy win.
Of course, if I’m right that VP selection doesn’t make much political difference, then that’s all the more reason for the candidates to choose somebody genuinely capable.
I still remember the debate in which Quayle confused greenhouse gases with the ozone hole. And I remember that the media didn’t pick up on it.
Baffling response. Baffling. Have you heard about this guy Trump?