But isn’t that what they all say? In one of my earliest posts here at Wizbang I speculated that it would greatly benefit the eventual nominee to tap Rubio or perhaps Allen West as a running mate. Today, in an interview with Fox News, Marco Rubio said that he’s not interested in being Vice President. You can see the video at the link below.
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air makes a pretty good argument as to why Rubio shouldn’t join either Romney or Gingrich’s ticket. And to be quite honest, it’s a great argument that I had not considered before:
Rubio would be smart to refuse an invitation to join the ticket. Few Vice Presidents have won the Presidency on their own after serving another President without ascending to the office through death or resignation. George H. W. Bush did it in 1988, and Richard Nixon in 1968 — but it took him two tries to get there. Before that, one has to go back to Martin Van Burento get to the next example. Vice Presidents tend to turn into historical footnotes or acccidental Presidents at best. If Rubio has ambitions for the top job, he would be better served by finishing his Senate term and then running for governor in Florida to build the kind of resume that would make him formidable in a national fight.
With all of Rubio’s talent. it’s easy to remember that he only started serving in the Senate last year and still has no executive experience in electoral politics. The GOP has other options for running mates among the governors who could help build outsider, reform credentials for a nominee who might really need that kind of boost within the party. I mentioned Bobby Jindal earlier today, but the tough-DA-turned-Governor Susana Martinez has served in her new capacity as long as Rubio has in his; both Nikki Haley and Bob McDonnell have fought ObamaCare from their executive positions in South Carolina and Virginia, respectively. We need Rubio to grow to his maximum potential rather than get lost in the musty archives of history so soon in his career. I believe Rubio understands that as well.
While I agree with Morrissey for the most part, his argument is mostly based on historical evidence. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the political landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade or so and some of these trends might not apply as much anymore. For instance, it’s doubtful that Sarah Palin, VP candidate in 2008, will be relegated to a “historical footnote”, as much as most lefties would love for her to be.
Romney and Gingrich both, no matter which one wins the nomination, will need to do something to galvanize the conservative base. Picking the right Vice Presidential nominee will be the quickest way to do that.
For now, Rubio seems content to battle Obama and the liberals war on the Catholic Church.
