Romney's VP choice won't be worth a bucket of warm piss

By Richard K. Barry

A way with words.

Mark Halperin was on Morning Joe last week and made one of those comments that are at the same time obvious and a little silly. He said that if Mitt Romney is able to pull off a particular kind of trifecta between now and election day, he would be in a good position to win the election. The trifecta he was referring to is: having a good convention, doing well in the debates, and getting a good bump from his VP choice. In other words, if Romney does well between now and November, he could do well. You know what I mean.

Even at that, I don't think the VP choice is going to be worth much more, in John Nance Garner's words, than a bucket of warm piss. In Garner's case, he wasn't referring to any potential electoral bump a VP selection could provide but to the value of the job itself. Still, whatever choice Romney makes, that's what it'll be worth in terms of improving his chances of beating President Obama.

Heck, even crazy Texas Gov. Rick Perry thinks so:

 

There are great and talented people out there, but vice presidential candidates are interesting choices that will probably only make two or three days worth of news, unless they make some huge gaffe.

 

I'm not sure what Perry means by a "huge gaffe," but since Sarah Palin is probably not on the short list, I don't think we'll see a big mistake made.

 

And Daily Kos adds this:

 

Perry's observation is correct. If Romney thinks he can change the direction of the campaign with a VP selection, he's deluding himself. This is the sort of thing that you can either get right and get no bump, or blow it completely. It certainly will not make questions about his tax returns go away. In fact, the press will want to know if he or she submitted tax returns to the Romney campaign.

 

So, yes, I agree with Mark Halperin that this is going to be a close race and that, if Romney doesn't screw up too much, he could win. But I also think he has few opportunities for anything like a knockout blow, and his VP choice is not going to be among them.

 

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)