MORE ON MY LONG HELD ANTIPATHY FOR PRESIDENT BUSH AND THE PERFECT RUNNING MATE FOR MITT ROMNEY

4/9/12

A good friend and business associate sent me an e-mail this morning counseling me to calm down on my antipathy toward George Bush (See my 4/4/12 post HAS THE ROMNEY CAMPAIGN HIRED PAUL KERSEY AS AN ADVISOR? and my 3/20/12 post TIME FOR THAT QUADRENNIAL PARLOR GAME “WHO GETS THE WARM BUCKET OF (SPIT)?”) and pointing out that, over the Easter weekend, he ran my VP idea (See the aforementioned 3/20/12 post.) past his politically minded son, who was intrigued. I think my readers might enjoy my response:



While my venom on all things Bush only seems to grow as I look upon the man Bush's bumbling has bequeathed us, I should bear in mind that venom and anger do nothing to hurt their object and only serve to harm their dispenser (and especially with the dispensee is an ex-president of the United States and the dispenser is a seemingly random ranter!), so your advice is wise and insightful and doubtless sincere. However, being a sufferer from Irish amnesia, I can't say with any degree of assurance that it will be followed!

My nephew, who is the rough equivalent of a GOP precinct captain out here in the western 'burbs, and I discussed the Coburn possibility. He, arguing against the possibility, advanced the small and deep red state argument along with Coburn's tendency toward independence of thought and action, a trait that I, and most Americans, including my nephew, find endearing and attractive but that upon which Mr. Romney probably will not look kindly. Both are great points with which I do not disagree

For my part, I continue to think Coburn, for the reasons I outlined in my post, would be the best running mate for Mr. Romney. But, as you, and my nephew, know, the 3/20/12 post concluded with

Note I didn’t say that Mr. Coburn will be on the GOP ticket; I only said he should be on the GOP ticket. As loyal readers know, I try to refrain from making overt predictions.

The post was prescriptive rather than predictive; i.e., Romney should choose Coburn but I have no idea if he will. If I had to guess now, I'd say that he won't, judging only from Senator Coburn's name never having come up in any discussion I have seen regarding the Veepstakes. But none of us can get inside Romney's head.