As the race for the Republican presidential nomination continues to narrow, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has emerged as one of the top contenders for the Republican vice presidential nomination on the ticket with former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., according to both the national media and Dartmouth professors.
Portman would give a major boost to Romney’s campaign because he hails from a swing state, according to professors interviewed by The Dartmouth.
“Portman is on the short list because he represents Ohio, a must-win swing state for Romney,” government professor Linda Fowler said in an email to The Dartmouth. “He has stature within the Republican Party and good relationships with Democrats in Congress, and he also has broad experience governing with past positions ranging from international trade to the budget.”
Portman is the former U.S. Trade Representative and was the director of the Office of Management and Budget under former U.S. President George W. Bush. In August, Portman was named to the 12-member bipartisan “supercommittee” that was charged with cutting $1.5 trillion from the national deficit over the next decade, through the group failed to reach an agreement by the Thanksgiving deadline.
Portman is largely perceived as an accomplished politician with a strong policy record and political resume, according to Thomas Mann, a government studies scholar at the Brookings Institution.
“Portman is a good choice and he’s seen as a safe choice because he’s got substantial experience in the executive as well as the legislative branch, and he’s got a reputation among colleagues for being a serious-minded guy,” he said.
Portman’s work under the last Republican administration, however, may disenchant some constituents, according to Mann.
“No one associated with the George [W.] Bush administration usually advertises that fact,” Mann said. “We went from a budget surplus to a budget deficit, while [Portman] and others were working on the budget, so there are some negative aspects.”
Government professor Brendan Nyhan said that it was important to note that vice presidential candidates often “don’t matter very much.”
“They might give you a boost of a few points in the state they’re from, and on the margin Portman might help Romney in Ohio a little, but I think these nominees are overstated,” Nyhan said.
A spokesperson at Portman’s Washington, D.C. office said that Portman was not interested in the position and that he did not think Romney would select him as his running mate.
One of the key roles for the vice president will be to reassure conservatives, according to Nyhan.
“Romney is still consolidating his base, and he’s going to be under pressure to pick someone who is acceptable to conservatives, someone who can speak on his behalf and convince them that he’s a president that they can support,” Nyhan said.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., may be better able to please the evangelical conservative base, according to government professor Joseph Bafumi.
“Romney may be concerned with keeping the face of the Republican party intact,” Bafumi said. “Evangelicals are a little hesitant about Romney’s nomination, and he might try to placate them by picking someone who shares their views, like Marco Rubio.”
Choosing Rubio would present both benefits and challenges for Romney’s campaign, Mann said.
“Rubio is distinctly more charismatic, he’s Hispanic, he’s Cuban-American and from a Southern state, but it isn’t clear whether he would bring a measurable advantage from the Hispanic community to the ticket,” Mann said. “He’s much more of a newcomer on the national scene, and there’s probably more risk associated with him.”
Romney has not yet decided what he is looking for in a vice president and so has “every interest in waiting and seeing how the contest takes shape,” Mann said.
Romney is unlikely to finalize his decision on a running mate until weeks after the Republican National Convention in late August.
“If there’s a lot of grousing within the Republican party among religious conservatives and Tea Party members, or if the economy has done reasonably well by that time, then he might consider something bolder,” Mann said. “He might opt for Rubio or [Rep. Paul] Ryan [R-Wis.] in order to transform the ticket in some way.”