Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Opens Campaign for Vice Presidency

Adamant Denials Just Further Evidence of How Much He Wants It

No one runs for the nomination of Vice President.  The Vice Presidential nominee is selected by the Presidential nominee, the selection in most cases being based on who can help the Presidential nominee the most, (see Mr. Biden in 2008) or in some cases who can do the least damage to the nominee (see Dan Quayle in 1992).  In a few cases the selection has no rational explanation (see Sarah Palin in 2008).

Just because the office of Vice President is inconsequential (the main job function being to get up every morning and inquire as to the health of the President), this does not mean it is not desirable.  The office is frequently on the path to better things, see Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, George H. W. Bush, Al Gore.  But the key to being considered and selected for the VP nomination is to show a total lack of interest in the position, and if possible, outright hostility.





Mr. Rubio running for
the VP Nomination



Such is the case with Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio.  Mr. Rubio is the ideal VP candidate, particularly for Mr. Romney.  He brings Florida to the table, he brings youth to the table and he brings Hispanic heritage to the table, which will be particularly helpful to Mr. Romney given his hard line stand on immigrant children.



Another positive factor for Mr. Rubio is that he is positioning himself as a “stealth” Conservative.  Unlike other radical conservatives, Mr. Rubio has adopted the mantle of relative moderation.  Unlike, say Ms. Palin or Ms. Bachmann, a smart conservative politician knows that the conservative agenda is an anathema of a majority of voters  and so he or she tends to blanket their radical views so that they appear to be reasonable people.  The advantage of this is that hard line conservatives know what is going on, while others who do not follow politics with a passion may be fooled.

The strongest evidence that Mr. Rubio desperately wants the nomination is his firm denial of such intentions.  In a report in the WSJ Mr. Rubio said

“I’m not going to be the vice presidential nominee. I’m not going to be the vice presidential nominee. I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on my job right now. And the answer is probably going to be no.”

Realizing that that sounded equivocal, Mr. Rubio restated, “The answer is going to be no.”

This of course is sheer silliness.  If asked Mr. Rubio would answer yes in all of about 5 seconds.  And his denial just makes him that more attractive, so that if he were asked he has the position of “the office seeking the man, not the man seeking the office”. 

It’s not a sure thing, but at this point the smart money would be betting on ticket of Romney and Rubio, it has a nice beat and you can dance to it.