Potential VPs join Romney’s campaign as decision nears
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) looks at corn with corn farmer Lemar Koethe in a cornfield on August 8, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa. Mitt Romney is campaigning in Iowa before traveling to New Jersey and New York for fundraising events
What you need to know:
- Ex-governor Pawlenty and Ohio’s Senator Rob Portman are among the favourites
WASHINGTON, Thursday
Two of the top contenders to be Mitt Romney’s running mate hit the campaign trail Wednesday, with co-favourite Tim Pawlenty saying “we’ll know soon enough” who fills out the Republican ticket.
Minnesota ex-governor Pawlenty and Ohio’s Senator Rob Portman are rumoured to be in the final running, and Mr Romney is expected to announce his decision soon, perhaps as early as this week ahead of a bus tour through four states.
Their mission today was to stump for the party’s presumptive nominee and challenge Mr Obama on various issues, including how to turn around the sluggish economy, as speculation mounted over who Romney would choose.
“As to the vice presidential thing, we’ll know soon enough,” Mr Pawlenty, who ran for president briefly before dropping out and backing Romney, told reporters in Jackson, Michigan where he helped open a Romney campaign office.
The feisty Minnesotan with blue-collar roots, who regularly appears alongside Mr Romney 65 on the campaign trail, would not be drawn on who might end up on the ticket, but said the Republican flagbearer has options aplenty.
“He’s got a lot of great people to pick from,” Mr Pawlenty told the Detroit Free Press.
US pundits point to six or eight serious candidates for the number two job, including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, governors Chris Christie of New Jersey and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
But Mr Portman has been mentioned perhaps most of all.
The low-key lawmaker is from the linchpin state of Ohio, which no successful Republican candidate has failed to win, and a Portman choice is seen as a logical bid to win over undecided voters in the crucial battleground. (AFP)
