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