GOP strategists: Puerto Rico Gov. Fortuno is a sleeper vice presidential pick

The Hill ^ | April 14, 2012 | Daniel Strauss

[Clintonfatigued]

Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno (R) is a sleeper pick for the No. 2 spot on the 2012 presidential ticket, according to GOP strategists.

Republican front-runner Mitt Romney has kept his cards close to his chest on vice presidential prospects, saying that it would be “presumptuous” to think about it before winning the nomination. But in a recent interview with Newsmax, he described Fortuno as “a solid conservative and a firm leader.” He also dubbed Fortuno “one of the great leaders of our party.”

[RegulatorCountry]

Too little rigor when dealing with legal terms of art such as “citizen at birth” and “subject to jurisdiction” might lead some to believe that that statute conferred natural born citizenship, which term itself is a legal term of art for a status that cannot be conferred via statute.

It doesn’t say what you’re implying it to say, in other words. Revisit my comments above and understand that it is possible to be born in an unincorporated territory not fully subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

[livius]

Whew!!! Thanks for correcting that!

[SatinDoll]

We’ve been over this before, you and I.

Read my post at #34.

Yes, Fortuno is a citzen. No, he is NOT a Natural Born citizen.

And yes, the eligibility requirements are the same for President as for VP.

[Vendome]

LOL

Do it...

[Scooter100]

After reading his book, “Keeping the Republic”, I really like Mitch Daniels, Gov. Indiana. He’s done wonders for Ind.

[MotorCityBuck]

Your speaking for the Republicans on this site I hope.

[Clintonfatigued]

Rob Portman is an acceptable running mate, but not a great one. On the plus size is that he helps in Ohio, has a middle-class background (but attended elite private schools as a child), and that conservatives have nothing in particular against him. But conservatives aren’t excited by him, either. Also, he’s tainted by having worked for the Bush Administration and is even more establishment than Romney. Also, remember that he’s only won one statewide election in Ohio so far, so he doesn’t guarantee it. I’d describe him as a middling choice.

The Protestant thing is not a big deal to most voters and I don’t think that a Mormom/Catholic Republican ticket will cause Evangelicals to support Obama.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory, not a state. The U.S. citizens born in Puerto Rico are not natural born citizens.

I'm not sure that follows. Someone born in D.C. would certainly be a Natural Born Citizen. No one questioned that Barry Goldwater was a NBC, and he was born in the Arizona Territory. I guess the argument on the other side is that Puerto Ricans are citizens by statute and not under the Constitution, but, if the issue ever got to court, I would predict that the courts would say that Puerto Ricans are natural born citizens.

[SatinDoll]

“Someone born in D.C. would certainly be a Natural Born Citizen.”

Not true. It depends on more than one factor, for example, if your parents are foreign nationals working in a foreign nation’s embassy. You are not a native born citizen unless your parents register your birth with local authorities in an attempt at dual citizenship.

Barry Goldwater was born in a territory with a different status than Puerto Rico. The Territory of Arizona was an ‘organized incorporated territory’ of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state. See post #25.

The Supreme Court would most likely NOT declare Puerto Rican citizens eligible to run for President or VP. Puerto Rico is NOT a state within the Union and has repeatedly rejected becoming a part of the Union.

[C. Edmund Wright]

wow...that I did not see coming....

Which in particular?

[Forward the Light Brigade]

No, No—Its Not a Latino Mittens needs—its a CONSERVATIVE! AS Juan McCain had Sarah Palin—Romney needs someone who is a popular conservative who has proven themselves—The list is a short one. Newt? Palin? Etc...

[AuH2ORepublican]

It’s not about Evangelicals switching to Obama; it’s about them staying home. President Bush was reelected in 2004, despite increased Democrat turnout, largely because he got millions of Evangelicals who hadn’t voted in 2000 to vote that year. Taking the attitude of “what are they gonna do, vote for Obama?” is a good way to guarantee low conservative turnout and an Obama victory.

And it is pretty clear that (i) Romney can’t win if he doesn’t carry at least one of OH, PA or MI, (ii) Romney would likely lose to Obama in all three states if the elections were held today, and (iii) none of the trendy VP picks would deliver one of those states to Romney while helping him hold must-win VA, NC and FL (Romney will be on his own to pick up the one extra state he needs, be it NH or NV). While Portman has only won statewide in OH in a single election, that’s the same number of statewide wins as Rubio in FL or Martinez in NM, and one more than Ryan in WI, and Portman won handily in a year in which the gubernatorial election was very close. If Romney can’t carry OH without Portman on the ticket, then he won’t carry it with any of the other VP candidates and Obama will be reelected.

[Verginius Rufus]

Al Gore was born in DC. That did not prevent him from being Vice President or from running for President.

Woodrow Wilson was born in Virginia, which left the Union when he was 4. I think he was living in Georgia by then, but Georgia also left the Union. Both states were "readmitted" in 1870, when Wilson was 13. For several years of his childhood he did not consider himself a citizen of the United States.

I don't think being born in Puerto Rico disqualifies someone from becoming President or Vice President, but being from a place with no electoral votes is a definite obstacle...plus are people willing to vote for someone with a tilde in his name? I doubt it.

[Scanian]

Yes-—since WWI.

But has there ever been an adjudication of NBC status for such people? I can’t find anything.

[ak267]

Has anyone done any serious vetting of this guy?

[PowderMonkey]

"And, of course, he has strong Hispanic appeal."

Nonsense. Let's everybody stop and take a deep breath here. He's Puerto Rican. Sectionalism is alive and well throughout Latin America. Mexicans dislike the Guatemalans. The Bolivianos clash with the Peruvians, and most of South America hates the Argentinians, but they all look down their noses at the Puerto Ricans. Don't expect Fortuno to swing the Hispanic vote to the Republican party. Lumping all Hispanics into one big happy family is simply naive.

[raybbr]

Why in Hell should we have a VP or President from a place that doesn’t want to join the Union?

Why, to garner the most important voter in the history of the U.S. - the hispanic.

Don't you understand the "hispanic voter" has been elevated to supreme status?

[BillyBoy]

>> CF, we’ve been over this before. No freaking way. Fortuño has very little charisma, is pro-life but otherwise rather moderate, and brings literally 0 electoral votes to the table. <<

I agree 100% with AuH2ORepublican. Fortuño is NOT conservative and is NOT acceptable. If the ticket is Romney/Fortuño, I'm voting third party (and since I'm from Illinois, spare me the "you'll cause Obama to win if you do that" argument). I will NOT support two dopes who lent their support to Obamacare at the time it was passed.

I'm sick of hearing the birther conspiricies about how you're not a "natural born citizen" unless both were parents were born American citizens, but with Fortuño the more important point is he doesn't even govern a state but a U.S. territory. He wouldn't help Romney win any more votes (areas of the U.S. mainland with large Puerto Rican populations, like NYC, would still vote RAT) and I would seriously question Romney's sanity if that's the guy he wants to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Saying it's OK because he's was born a U.S. citizen is like David Cameron tapping the Premier of Bermuda to be Deputy Prime Minister of the U.K. and shrugging off the fact she lives on the other side of the globe by pointing out she was born a British citizen and her head of state is Elizabeth II. While she's "british" on paper that argument won't fly.

In Fortuño's case, there are numerous Hispanic Republicans (ESPECIALLY after the 2010 election) that are more conservative than him and have won elections in the U.S. mainland. Thus there's no reason to even put him on a short list of veep choices.

I'm not saying no to Fortuño, I'm saying HELL NO.

[livius]

I voted for a conservative VP the last time around, and we can see where that got us. I’m not doing it again.

I don’t care who Mittens buys for his VP. I’m not voting for him.

[little jeremiah]

We aren’t stuck with him.

Defeatism will help us be stuck with him though.

I want to see a convention gone wild.

[Texas Fossil]

Did Statehood Support Help Romney in Puerto Rico?

Pic: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/03/18/us/politics/538-puerto/538-puerto-blog480.jpg

“New Progressive Party” voted in GOP Primary?

—

Did Voter Fraud by Puerto_Rico’s Pro-Statehood New Progressive Party Taint Local & GOP Primary Results?

http://latinorebels.com/2012/03/22/charges-of-voter-fraud-by-puerto-ricos-pro-statehood-taint-local-and-gop-primary-results/

—

Did Statehood Support Help Romney in Puerto Rico?

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/statehood-support-should-help-romney-in-puerto-rico/

New Progressive Party, voted GOP? Don’t understand

[BillyBoy]

>> I don't think being born in Puerto Rico disqualifies someone from becoming President or Vice President, but being from a place with no electoral votes is a definite obstacle...plus are people willing to vote for someone with a tilde in his name? I doubt it. <<

I'm not a birther and I don't think being born in Puerto Rico disqualifies you either (as someone else noted, Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona territory to U.S. citizen parents). However, people are forgetting the other part of the constitutional requirements for presidency, residency. It makes it very clear: "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States .

Even if you assumed they meant "non-consecutive" residency within the U.S., if you add up Fortuno's years in Washington when he served in Congress and his years in law school, it STILL doesn't add up to 14 years. I can't imagine the founders meant that living on an island territory somewhere "counted" as "within the United States", or the entire clause would be pointless since people nowhere near the United States could claim to be "residents". I think they put that clause in specifically to prevent what Fortuno advocates want here... someone who was "American born" on paper but has no ties to the United States physically or culturally in many years suddenly becoming the leader of our country. The clause was inserted for good reason, to prevent such a bizarre thing from happening.

As someone else noted, it sounds like a bad Twilight Zone episode (Rod Serling intoning: "Meet Luis Fortuño, age 51. He's the leader of a small spanish-speaking Latin American island who is about to become President of the United States. Not possible in the real world, you say, but Sr. Fortuño is about to find that anything can happen... in The Twilight Zone.")

[COBOL2Java]

What the Hell is wrong with this party? We’re morphing into criminal Democrats!

morphing? As in not yet there?

[justiceseeker93]

This is an intriguing possibility.

No, it's lacking political savvy. Puerto Ricans in the US proper would still vote predominantly for Obama, as they are largely addicted to Democrats. And Mexican Americans (by far the largest "Hispanic" subgroup) and other voters of Latin American origin would likely not identify with a Puerto Rican candidate as countryman in any sense. Can't escape the feeling that the posted article from "The Hill" is bogus and that Fortuno's name could be thrown out here by Democrat sources merely as a trap to mislead Romney's camp.

[bgill]

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory, not a state. The U.S. citizens born in Puerto Rico are not natural born citizens. Fortuno is not eligible to be VP, much less President. What the Hell is wrong with this party? We’re morphing into criminal Democrats!

Ditto.

[BillyBoy]

>>> The question isn't US citizen. It's natural born citizen of the US. <<

The question isn't natural born citizen of the US, it's the residency requirement of "fourteen Years a Resident within the United States", which everyone forgets about but which Fortuno clearly doesn't meet.

[BillyBoy]

>>> The question isn't US citizen. It's natural born citizen of the US. <<

The question isn't natural born citizen of the US, it's the residency requirement of "fourteen Years a Resident within the United States", which everyone forgets about but which Fortuno clearly doesn't meet.

[BillyBoy]

>> I voted for a conservative VP the last time around, and we can see where that got us. I’m not doing it again. <<

If Fortuno is the VP choice, you won't have to worry about doing it again, since Fortuno is not a conservative. He's a RINO like Romney.

[cripplecreek]

People also need to look at the issues that have arisen due to the re issuance of birth certificates there. Its been a mess.

[Verginius Rufus]

It would be stupid to put this guy on the ticket, but I don't buy the argument that you have to be born in one of the states to be a natural born citizen, and I think living in territory over which the US flag flies should count for residency. Puerto Rico had its own US quarter, just like DC or Guam. It isn't land belonging to a foreign country.

If Romney is the Republican nominee, it will be the first election between two candidates neither of whose fathers was born in the US (if you count the colonies which later became the US as "US" in the case of the early Presidents).

Before Obama, I believe that the only Presidents with foreign-born fathers were Andrew Jackson and Chester Alan Arthur (the latter was elected Vice President and only became President because of his predecessor's assassination). Woodrow Wilson's mother was born in England.

[cripplecreek]

The whole government is trying to move the ball down the field toward the goalposts of global governance.

[Jones511]

I didn’t ask you to repeat “birther” talking points. I asked you for specific authority to support your insane assertion. Particularly, can you cite a case that supports your contention regarding United States Citizens in Puerto Rico. Since when is a person who is born in a United States territory not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States?

I find it interesting that the “birther” folk like to continue to move the goalposts, yet can’t provide support for their assertions beyond repeating the same talking points over and over again.

[Jones511]

There is NO QUESTION except from Birthers for whom there will be no satisfaction.

Correct.

[bibo_ergo_sum]

“The U.S. citizens born in Puerto Rico are not natural born citizens.”

I believe they are. Isn’t justice Sotomayor from Puerto Rico?

[EDINVA]

He may have star power, but how many people outside of PR have ever heard of him ? I think it’s really far fetched, but the way this election cycle is going, anything is possible.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been saying for over a year ... if one of the governors/former governors wins the nomination, s/he will have to have his/her VP with SOME actual DC experience, either in the Congress, or some high Administration spot with a GOP POTUS. You can’t have two governors without some federal govt experience. Rubio will have less than 1/3 of a Senatorial term’s worth of experience (i.e. nothing). Kasich, as former House Budget Committee chair and current governor of a big swing state, is probably the best option for Romney, assuming he’s the nominee.

[W. W. SMITH]

Puerto Ricans are, as long as their parents are citizens at the time of their birth, “natural born citizens”. Sorry SatinDoll you are wrong.

[W. W. SMITH]

You NAILED it here. Clearly and succinctly.

[Hildy]

I have heard him spak and he is awesome. Young, dynamic and handsome. And Conservative. That being said... No way on this Earth will he be chosen.

[abigailsmybaby]

Oh hell, it’s long gone. Even Republicans despise it.

[W. W. SMITH]

Woodrow Wilson’s mother became a citizen upon marriage to Woodrow Wilson’s father.

[Verginius Rufus]

Sotomayor was born in the Bronx. Anyway it is not necessary to be a “natural born citizen” to become a justice on the Supreme Court.

[OL Hickory]

His surprise pick for VP...brings together the Latino/tea party base in theory, looks good on paper ..

maybe this is why Rubio keeps denying that he will be on the ticket...he might know something we don’t

[OL Hickory]

And if Obama/dems challenges him on natural born citizen ..it opens him to scrutiny as well...well played mr rove!

[Eleutheria5]

Maybe he should put a genuine Republican on the ticket just so it’ll be balanced.

[C. Edmund Wright]

Interesting that you bring Rubio into this particular conversation, because it has been bizarre - the sheer volume of Rubio’s denials about all Veep talk. It’s like every third day there’s yet another Rubio statement about how he will NOT be a VP candidate.

[Impy]

I’m not concerned about eligibility. I think you can consider US territories as part of the country.

But that Auh2orepublican who knows Fortuño and Puerto Rican politics better than most of us is against it tells me all I need to know.

Puerto Rican voters are most important to us in Florida where they are swing voters (Jeb did well with them).

Most of the rest are in big cities (in states we aren’t likely to win) where they are democrat voters who will not go against Obama.

If you want to secure Florida and get someone with “star power” the obvious choice is Rubio who is much more well known than Fortuño and well liked by the tea party. Fortuño on the other hand has a record you can find fault with.

A Puerto Rican (or the Cuban Rubio) isn’t necessarily the best candidate to fire up Hispanic voters in general. The biggest group is Mexicans, most important to us in the SW states. Governor Martinez (or Sandoval) would be that candidate.

Rubio and Martinez will be considered, I doubt Fortuño will be. It is a cool idea to get someone from a US territory but that’s not a good reason in and of itself.

Just like last time when the press talked about roughly 10000 possible running mates for McCain I’m sure we’ll hear some unusual choices. That’s what happens when we have months before the choice is made.

We need a VP who can help win and would be at least a decent President themselves.

[AuH2ORepublican]

Sandoval is “pro-choice” on abortion, so you can forget about him.

[Impy]

Sandoval is “pro-choice”

I didn't know that (or more likely I forgot). That explains why his name is never mentioned.

[justiceseeker93]

A Puerto Rican (or the Cuban Rubio) isn't necessarily the best candidate to fire up Hispanic voters in general. The biggest group is Mexicans, most important to us in the SW states.

Very well put, Impy. Just as I had posted earlier, "Hispanics" (a relatively recently coined term) are not a single ethnic block, but identify much more with their specific country of family origin rather than their native Spanish language. Thus a Puerto Rican candidate would not have specific ethnic appeal to Mexicans, Cubans or Dominicans, etc., etc., despite the models and theories of left-leaning demographic beancounters.

It's somewhat like native English speaking Americans don't generally identify English speakers from other nations - e.g., Great Britain, Australia, Canada - as "one of us."

[GOPsterinMA]

I suspect the GOP VP nominee will be a male; certainly with an anti-abortion stance.

Hey, he's got a new heart and seems spry...Dick Cheney's available. Can you just imagine the how the libs skulls would explode if that ever (and it won't) happened?