Perry and McDonnell: A Sign Of Things To Come?

Email from Pat Mullins just came out that Texas Gov. (and GOP front-runner) Rick Perry will be headlining the RVP grassroots luncheon on September 14th in Richmond.  Mullins frames Virginia as a battleground state and compares Perry to McDonnell, governors who have balanced the books without hitting the taxpayers up.

McDonnell is on the veep short list, and he clearly wants the job.  Folks I've talked too who know these things are telling me that McDonnell would very much like to be on the GOP ticket come November 2012.  I have argued with some of my friends about this and at first I wasn't sure how smart it would be . . . McDonnell can be kind of dull and mechanical on the stump.  But if Perry (or Romney or Bachmann or whoever) truly wants to frame the GOP message on "jobs, jobs, jobs" why not choose the originator?  McDonnell was way out in front on this issue back in 2008/9 - I remember going to his kick off at the Annandale fire station and seeing "Bob's for Jobs" signs everywhere, before the Tea Party and before every other GOP candidate ran on the issue.  He's also a winner - having never lost a race, and puts a key state Obama won back in play.  He would be a perfect balance especiallyu for Perry, who can be bombastic and flamboyant, hardly adjectives associated with McDonnell.  But most importantly, McDonnell's job performance would fold nicely into the narrative Perry is trying to run on and having two governors who have job creation in their states as the GOP ticket bolsters the reason why Republicans want voters to vote for them.  Perry mentored McDonnell at the RGA as well (setting him up as his succesor), and in the past has often brought McDonnell's name up when talking about state job creation.  It would be a nice balance  The only baggage McDonnell would have is that we would probably have to live through the thesis problem again - however they simply need to handle it the exact same way they did in 2009 and they should clear it. 

Perry-McDonnell, we could see it folks.  And the first real sign of it could happen in two weeks.

Comments

[Dan]

I think you are doing a disservice to Bob McDonnell by comparing his work on the Virginia budget with Perry's record in Texas. McDonnell did a good job with the budget. It was unfortunate to have to skip a payment to the state employees pension fund, but a reasonable move given the economic circumstances. Even though that payment must be caught up later I believe McDonnell can legitimately be said to have balanced the Virginia budget.

Chris, you seem to be a Perry fan. I would suggest that you might want to take a closer look at the facts of the Texas budget before you further tarnish McDonnell's image by comparing him to Perry. Perry had Republican super majorities in both houses of the Texas legislature and boy did he make full use of them to do the smoke and mirrors thing. Changing the law in order to make it legal to make a multi-billion dollar payment to the public schools one day later so the payment "disappeared" from the current budget. Strong arming state agencies to produce estimates for expected expenditures based on ZERO population growth in a state that has one of the fastest growing populations in the nation. And there is plenty more. Perry is a fraud. I feel sorry for the guy who follows Perry into the Governor's mansion and has to deal with his Texas "miracle".

You'd do better to promote McDonnell for president rather than Perry. McDonnell has a record that would support national ambitions. Perry doesn't.

[Malone_Labe]

Yeah Perry would be a good Veep candidate for McDonnell.

[Dan]

"Yeah Perry would be a good Veep candidate for McDonnell."

I haven't adjusted the snark meter, but I assume you are kidding. Perry doesn't belong anywhere near a national ticket. Period.

[Isophorone]

Dan,

Neither does Obama, but I am guressing that doesn't bother you. ;)

[Dan]

Isophorone, since you obviously think Obama should not be re-elected, I would think you would have a strong interest in seeing that the Republican nominee not be a complete fraud whose record will not stand up well to close scrutiny. In other words, I would think you would not be anxious to see Perry as your nominee.

I have many differences with Bob McDonnell, but I give him reasonable marks as governor. I am completely sincere when I say that his record as a governor is far superior to that of Perry. Should the Republicans win the White House in 2012 (a prospect I'd bet good beer against at this point) I would greatly prefer to see Bob McDonnell at the top of the ticket than Rick Perry.

Some folks always hope their opponents will nominate a weak and flawed candidate so that victory is made easier. I've never felt that way. Things can happen and then the country has to live with it.

Suppose, for instance, John Edwards had been the Democratic nominee in 2008 and his tawdry affair with whatsername had come out? John McCain might well have won the election and placed Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. That's a pretty terrifying thought.

While I knew the day McCain announced Bible Spice as his running mate that he had thrown away any chance he had at victory, I took little comfort that someone like that was on the ticket. If he really thought that simply picking a running mate with ovaries would magically garner the votes of Hillary Clinton supporters (one of the most monumentally stupid political calculations I've ever seen) I wish he had picked someone like Sen. Hutchison who would have made a credible vice president.

Knowing that either ticket can win I don't want the opposition to be cringe worthy.

And no, I have no problem with Obama on the ticket.

[Isophorone]

Dan,

I figure that none of you labor union goons have trouble with Obama on the ticket. Most post-election polls show that for 2008, the presence of Sarah Palin was a net benefit to McCain, despite your Alinskyite attempts at demonization. Remember, the ticket with her on it did better than that other major party ticket that had a female running mate. And anyone who has trouble with Palin being "one heartbeat away" has no business supporting a ticket with Joe Biden "one heartbeat away." 30+ years of gaffes and incompetence in the U.S. Senate combined with his recent pearls of wisdom. I'll take my chance swith "Bible Spice," thank you very much.

[Sam Adams]

Dan,

How much good beer do you have? (or should I say- how much are you willing to part with?)

[wholesale jerseys]

But most importantly, McDonnell's job performance would fold nicely into the narrative Perry is trying to run on and having two governors who have job creation in their states as the GOP ticket bolsters the reason why Republicans want voters to vote for them. Perry mentored McDonnell at the RGA as well (setting him up as his succesor), and in the past has often brought McDonnell's name up when talking about state job creation. It would be a nice balance The only baggage McDonnell would have is that we would probably have to live through the thesis problem again - however they simply need to handle it the exact same way they did in 2009 and they should clear it.

[Fairfax conservative]

I think Gov. McDonnell has done a good job so I think he would be a fine candidate for vice president. But I think there are several others who should receive strong consideration as well: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, General David Petraeus, etc.

[female obgyn]

Scary if you understand it clearly. These are true signs that is going to happen in the near future.