Nothing is official yet, but at some point everyone’s going to have to admit that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has the Republican presidential nomination in the bag. After what seems like the longest primary in the history of ever (please can it be over yet?), GOP voters are looking forward to seeing whom Mitt picks for his running mate.

Let’s look at some of the potentials, shall we?

The speculated favorite on Romney’s VP list is Florida Senator Marco Rubio. The dude’s a dreamboat, and not just because he’s easy on the eyes. As the son of Cuban immigrants, he has a multicultural appeal to voters -- he’s the embodiment of the American Dream. He’s a family man, sharp as a tack, and not afraid to take on President Obama’s ridiculous economic policy of spend-until-there’s-nothing-left-and-even-then-keep-on-spending. He’s also been vocal in calling out Obama for his vitriolic rhetoric toward Republicans.

Nikki Haley is the current governor of South Carolina, having been voted in on the Tea Party wave of 2010. Although she has lost some support among conservatives, she continues to be a champion of the free market, and is actively fighting the National Labor Relations Board to open a completed Boeing plant and create jobs in her state. Plus it just sounds fun to say, “The Mormon and the Sikh went to the White House ...” 

Another governor on the list is Bob McDonnell of Virginia, voted in in 2009. He’s a solid conservative from a swing state, but expect Democrats to hit him on social issues -- he recently signed a bill into law that will allow women to see their babies fetuses on ultrasound before making the decision to stop their beating hearts. Because apparently being informed about what’s happening inside your body is a bad thing. Or something.

Cathy McMorris-Rodgers is the top Republican woman in the House of Representatives, and she’s awesome. She comes from a working class background (she was the first in her family to attend college), is married to a retired U.S. Navy commander, and has given birth twice in Congress. Her eldest, son Cole, has Down syndrome, a fact that led her to form the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus, which both educates lawmakers about the disorder and protects Americans who have it.

The last contender I’ll mention is Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who became a conservative superstar almost overnight when he famously pointed out to President Obama that hiding spending doesn’t reduce spending during the 2010 Health Care Summit. He has also come up with a federal budget that passed the House, something Obama failed to do even when his own party held the majority in that chamber.

We can speculate about whom Mitt Romney will pick as his running mate, but we can’t know for sure. What we can know is that whomever it is, he or she is bound to be better than this guy. 

Who do you think would be a good running mate?

 

Image via roberthuffstutter/Flickr