Free Republic

A new NBC/Marist poll on Virginia’s gubernatorial race — a.k.a., the only competitive governor’s race in the country in 2013 — released this morning has some slightly different findings than the WaPo poll from last weekend, which had Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli edging Democrat Terry McAuliffe with a five-point lead among Virginia voters; the NBC poll has McAuliffe beating Cuccinelli by a within-the-margin-of-error 43 to 41 percent among registered voters. Cuccinelli, however, has some very distinct advantages going for him — Virginia voters are more familiar with the state attorney general than they are the former DNC chairman, as well...

The FBI has begun examining the relationship between Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen and the chief executive of a nutritional supplements manufacturer that is the subject of a federal investigation, two people with knowledge of the review said Monday. Federal authorities began questioning people close to the McDonnells as an outgrowth of a securities probe of Virginia-based Star Scientific Inc., said the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because their roles in the case preclude them from speaking publicly.

In an editorial lamenting a new Virginia state regulation requiring abortion clinics to comply with higher licensing standards, the Washington Post quoted one abortion-clinic owner who noted that he can do such things as "stick needles in babies' lungs" and "put tubes up penises," but now he is going to have to deal with the "nonsensical" demands of Virginia's regulation. "Some of the clinics, including those operated by Planned Parenthood, which has a national fundraising network, will survive," said the Post. "Many others, which are run as small businesses, probably will not."The Post pointed to a quote from Dr. David...

States are implementing laws requiring voters to produce photo identification (ID). Democrats are fighting these initiatives claiming voter disenfranchisement. Are Democrats supporting voter fraud? Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, a Republican, signed into law a requirement for voters to provide a photo ID in order to vote. The law provides free photo ID cards to registered voters and requires notifying voters of the requirement prior to the next election. The law takes into account the need to prevent voter fraud and provides state voters with free photo IDs if they do not already possess one. While the law seems to be...

The Virginia House and Senate voted Wednesday to ban abortion coverage in insurance plans sold through the health care exchange that will be set up in compliance with the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." The amendment was proposed by the state's governor, Bob McDonnell. Senate Democrats were hoping to block the measure, but failed when two Democrats joined Republicans to move the amendment forward, according to NBC Washington. The state had already passed a similar amendment in 2011 but a new amendment was necessary because Virginia opted to let the federal government set up the exchange rather than set up...

Whether you believe voter fraud is a huge problem or just a minor annoyance, there’s no way you can argue that it doesn’t happen. Virtually every recent election has been marred by reports of people voting under fake names, voting multiple times, or casting fraudulent ballots. Supporters of Voter ID laws have long argued that there’s a simple way to stop most of these problems from occurring: require a photo ID from each registered voter in order to cast a ballot. It’s simple, quick, and prevents “disenfranchisement” by securing the process. In short, it’s a no-brainer. So, obviously, Democrats hate...

EDITORIAL: Governor Disappointment The failed leadership of Virginia’s Bob McDonnell The surest and quickest way for a Republican officeholder to kill his future is to dream up a tax increase. Once a rising star in the Grand Old Party, a shortlist contender as Mitt Romney’s running mate and a twinkle in the eye of the Great Mentioner for 2016, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia has disappeared from the speakers’ lists at key conservative events, such as the Conservative Political Action Conference, which begins Thursday in Washington. There’s good reason for the snub. As a candidate in 2009, Mr. McDonnell promised...

RICHMOND — Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Ken Cuccinelli II is scheduled to be the opening speaker at the annual CPAC conference next week, as the man he hopes to replace was not invited this year. The conservative attorney general, who has grabbed headlines and drawn support for challenging the federal health care law, climate change and pushing for tougher laws for abortion clinics, is among nearly 40 people listed on the Conservative Political Action Conference Web site as featured speakers. Cuccinelli is set to speak at 9 a.m. on the first day of the three-day conference that begins on March 14...

Thanks, Governor Bob McDonnell (R) and Speaker Bill Howell (R) Virginia’s 2013 state legislative session will be remembered for a lot of reasons. It was the year Republicans redistricted state senate districts to win more seats and then said just kidding, the year Republicans agreed to expand Medicaid in exchange for higher taxes (confused? Me too.), and most significantly, it was the year a Republican Governor worked with Democrats to raise taxes on Virginia families by $1.23 billion per year. Congratulations, Virginia. In honor of a precedent set forth by Nancy Pelosi in Washington, the state legislature decided that they...

Remember how Bob McDonnell's and Chris Christie's gubernatorial wins in 2009 gave conservatives a jolt of optimism after the catastrophe of 2008? Good times, good times.No surprise here after he broke his promise not to raise taxes in order to fund Virginia’s new transportation bill, but still newsworthy: Chris Christie isn’t the only Republican governor getting snubbed by the Conservative Political Action Conference. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was not invited, according to someone close to CPAC who was not authorized to speak publicly.McDonnell, a potential 2016 candidate, spoke at the conference for the past two years. Like Christie, McDonnell is...

Former vice presidential adviser I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby is among more than 1,000 felons whose voting rights were restored in the past year by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, according to a report to the General Assembly. Libby’s name is listed in the Feb. 23 report on pardons, commutations, reprieves and other forms of clemency the Republican governor is required to submit annually. Without elaboration, the report says Libby’s civil rights were restored Nov. 1, 2012. … In Virginia, only the governor can restore felons’ civil rights. McDonnell has streamlined the process and, consequently, has restored the rights of more than...

"Conservative" does not mean the same thing as "pro-business," as Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has demonstrated. McDonnell -- whose three-year record is mostly characterized by conservative policies -- this week won the largest tax hike in state history and a package of new spending on transportation. Cheering him on was Virginia's business lobby. The tax-hike-and-roads package fits well into a pattern of McDonnell veering from his conservative principles when the business lobby wants more government. McDonnell, for instance, has subsidized favored businesses and industries through tax credits and special incentives. Also, Virginia's dependence on the military-industrial complex and the "Beltway...

This morning on "Mornings on the Mall" on WMAL-FM in Washington DC, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) used the memory of Ronald Reagan to give himself cover for a tax increase he helped engineer. Once considered a strong contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, McDonnell has found himself under increasing scrutiny from allies on the right for a tax-laden transportation bill that was approved by Virginia's legislature this weekend, despite opposition from many Republicans, including the presumptive GOP nominee to succeed McDonnell, tea-party favorite Ken Cuccinelli.

What is it with Republicans and transportation bills? The pork-packed 2005 highway bill, which included the infamous Alaskan “Bridge to Nowhere,” was the fiscal low point of the Bush-Hastert years, and now Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has decided that his legacy to the commonwealth will be a gigantic tax increase to fund billions of dollars’ worth of dubious transportation projects. Politics is about tradeoffs and compromise, inevitably, but this is a bad deal on most counts. There are two ways to judge the deal Governor McDonnell has cut. For those who take the inerrantist Norquistian view that any tax increase...

On Friday, March 15, 2013, at 8:00 a.m. Bob McDonnell will go to CPAC and address the Faith & Freedom Coalition Prayer Breakfast. For those of you who attend this event, you will be sitting staring at a liar. If you are a conservative, remember Bob McDonnell thinks you’re an idiot. That’s the only explanation I can think of for what just happened in Virginia this week. That, and that McDonnell is an unprincipled fake conservative whose promises are without value, an exemplar of the kind of big government pro-tax Republican who ruined the party’s stature with fiscal conservatives.

“I am going to fight every single Republican politician that participated in this disgraceful disaster…” Mark Levin Show February 25.Audio

Some Republican governors — all of them elected with strong tea-party support — have moved left since the November election by agreeing to participate in Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid. The lure of “free money” from Washington has proven too much for governors Jan Brewer of Arizona, Rick Scott of Florida, and John Kasich of Ohio to resist. Obamacare promises to pay 100 percent of the cost of new Medicaid patients, lowering that to 90 percent in later years. Never mind that Uncle Sugar has a notorious reputation for reneging on promises and that history shows that expanding Medicaid only increases...

The Talk Shows February 24th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Govs. Jack Markell, D-Del., and Scott Walker, R-Wis.; Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood; Govs. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., and Bobby Jindal, R-La.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Govs. Martin O'Malley, D-Md., Bob McDonnell, R-Va., Jan Brewer, R-Ariz., and John Chickenpooper, D-Colo.; Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa.; Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Tim Kaine, D-Va,THIS WEEK (ABC): Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): LaHood;...

Dear Friend, Today, Republicans and Democrats joined together to pass the first new significant sustainable transportation funding and reform bill in Virginia in 27 years. Crafted and led by Republicans, the bill received the votes of over 60% of legislators in both houses. Virginians worked together across party and regional lines to find common ground to solve one of our Commonwealth’s most intractable problems. We got results. And the result is $3.5 billion in new transportation funding over the next 5 years, an estimated 35% reduction in the tax on gas at the pump, a shorter commute for you, and...

Virginia's House of Delegates has voted to approve what would become the first major reform in a generation of the state's system for financing its highway network. Friday's vote was 60-40.

By Tom Jackman Hey Northern Virginians! How would you like to pay another one percent of your income directly to your county or city, in addition to the federal and state income tax you already pay? This new income tax would be used strictly to remedy our wide and varied transportation problems. Sound good? Virginia state Sen. Walter A. Stosch (R-Henrico) wants to give Northern Va. counties and cities the ability to impose a one percent income tax to fund transportation. The counties say they don’t want it. (Robert A. Reeder - For The Washington Post) Before you answer, know...

Senate Democrats killed Gov. Bob McDonnell's comprehensive transportation funding plan that eliminates the state's gasoline tax in exchange for raising the sales tax to 5.8 percent Tuesday, just hours after the House of Delegates passed an amended version of the package. Senate Republicans offered two new versions of the plan that would have taxed gasoline at the wholesale level without increasing the sales tax, to no avail. The original measure's sponsor, Sen. Stephen Newman, introduced a new version of the bill that would have done away with the gas tax at the pump, and instead offer a wholesale gas tax...

A few years ago, Alaska’s proposed “Bridge to Nowhere” became a national symbol of wasteful government spending on little-needed projects. Now Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has pushed through his own version of this embarrassment, a $1.4 billion highway outside Hampton Roads that qualifies as a “Road for Nobody.” McDonnell has perplexed people across the state by his insistence on adding a tolled, four-lane highway parallel to U.S. 460. It will stretch for 55 miles from Petersburg, a Richmond suburb, southeast to Suffolk. The deal signed in December to build the road is especially insulting to traffic-jammed Northern Virginia, where...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A day after Virginia Senate Republicans staged a surprise reapportionment of all 40 Senate districts, it was met by ominous warnings from Democrats and nervous dismay by the state's Republican governor and House Republicans. On a party-line power play Monday, the Senate's 20 Republicans struck with one of the 20 Senate Democrats absent and abruptly amended a House bill that previously made minor technical adjustments to House districts. Sen. John Watkins' amendment - never vetted by a committee - adds a sixth majority-black district but substantially strengthens the number of GOP districts.

Covington VA --(Ammoland.com)- The Senate Courts of Justice committee this week killed or neutralized all but one anti-gun bill. The one bad bill that passed out of committee initially, did so because Senator Edwards was away from the General Assembly due to weather and normally pro-gun Senator Stanley voted to support the bill. :-( Senator Marsh’s “gun show loophole” bill was heavily modified and ended up requiring that only gun dealers could sell guns at a gun show. After the meeting Senator Stanley indicated that he had misunderstood the full ramifications of the modified bill. The committee reconvened on the...

Are abortion clinics in Virginia “beautiful, immaculate, clean facilities” that pass inspections “with flying colors”? According to NARAL Virginia Executive Director Tarina Keene and her Huffington Post water carrier, the answer is yes. But are they right? In March 2011, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell signed into law regulations that required the State’s Board of Health to write new rules for regulating abortion facilities, which had not been largely unregulated for more than 20 years. Late last month, McDonnell signed into law permanent regulations that will now hold the state’s abortion facilities to the same health and safety standards as hospitals....

RICHMOND, Va.— A month after the school shootings in Connecticut, President Obama is preparing to unveil a major gun control proposal Wednesday morning. And Virginia lawmakers are promoting legislation they say will make an immediate impact on gun safety in the state. Arlington Delegate Patrick Hope says he was stunned by how easy it was to purchase a handgun, when he and Alexandria Senator Adam Ebbin visited a gun show in northern Virginia recently. He showed the weapon to reporters at a State Capitol news conference Tuesday morning. "I bought this gun with nothing more than a request to see...

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell delivered his state of the Commonwealth address on Wednesday, marking his vision for the state as the General Assembly opens the 2013 session. One of the most striking parts of his presentation is a proposal to eliminate Virginia’s 17.5-cent per gallon gasoline tax, and replace this portion of state roads funding with an increase in the state’s sales tax.

Prayer breakfast calls on president to act 'for the people' Barack Obama is “an appointed minister of God to do what is good,” according to the prayer of Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell at the Commonwealth Prayer Breakfast held at the Richmond, Va., convention center. The annual breakfast yesterday drew more than 1,000 people, including many of the state’s leaders. In addition to McDonnell, others offering prayers included Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, House Speaker William Howell and state Democrat Chairwoman Charniele Herring. McDonnell asked, during his prayer for Obama, that God give him “the wisdom of Solomon.” The opening prayer was...

With a flood of new federal regulations hitting everything from healthcare, energy, food safety, and bird protection, it is encouraging to know that some states can still think for themselves. In Virginia, Governor Bob McDonnell declared that he was going to make Virginia the Energy Capital of the East Coast—after all Virginia is blessed with abundant resources such as coal, offshore oil and one of the largest uranium deposits in the world. His plans have been thwarted by the federal government. The EPA is regulating coal mining out of existence. Federal restrictions have prevented Virginia from being able to access...

Gov. Bob McDonnell has certified health regulations that impose strict hospital construction standards on Virginia abortion clinics —triggering the next step in a multitiered approval process that could make the revised rules permanent by this summer. Unlike the public relations ballyhoo that accompanies many executive actions, McDonnell, an anti-abortion Republican, certified the regulations and had them posted to the Virginia Town Hall website without a public announcement on the Friday between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The signoff comes more than three months after the rules were adopted in September by the state Board of Health at a contentious...

VCDL IS PREPARING FOR ALL OUT CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT OUR RIGHTS AND TO PROTECT SCHOOLS VCDL's thoughts & prayers are with the families, friends, and all who were affected by the atrocity committed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School by a criminal monster on Friday. Words cannot adequately express our deepest sympathy to the victims and the revulsion we feel for the vile act of a lunatic. Although some gun organizations have dropped off the radar screen, VCDL has been active and on the offensive - from newspapers to television, from local news to national shows. From the Washington Post...

Not completely unexpected, Governor Bob McDonnell's comment yesterday that maybe it is time for a discussion about arming some school officials is drawing fire from the predictable quarters: Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, Democratic caucus chairman, said, “The governor should know better than to suggest that arming citizens will solve anything. “Maybe the governor should focus on solutions that could actually have an impact, like banning the high-capacity magazines used to inflict horrific violence upon countless American cities.” The Virginia Education Association had a more measured response: Meg Gruber, president of the Virginia Education Association, the state’s teachers union, said...

Virginia is moving towards making card-check—the controversial union proposal to replace secret-ballot elections with simple card-signing petitions—unconstitutional in the state. The effort is led by State Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) who said that “no citizen” should be denied the ability to vote by secret ballot. …

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has called for tolls to pay for the state's much-needed road construction, but another option is now on the table. State Sen. John Watkins (R-Powhatan) proposed a plan that would increase Virginia's gas tax from 17.5 cents a gallon to 31.5 cents a gallon. The 14-cent increase would eliminate the need to add more toll roads. In the proposed legislation, taxpayers in the three lowest state brackets would get a break on their income tax. Electric and hybrid vehicles would also have to undergo an annual assessment of $102 a year.

Republicans are in position to extend their recent gains among governors as they compete for seats they haven't won in a quarter-century. Of the 11 states with gubernatorial elections in November, eight are now led by Democrats, and each of the most competitive races is a GOP pickup opportunity. The numbers suggests that Republicans soon will claim 30 to 33 governorships after holding just 22 a few years ago - an advantage not reflected in the divided Congress or competitive presidential race. 'It says that when people are choosing the government closest to the people, they're choosing Republicans,' Virginia Gov....

It's been called "snowicane" and "worse than the perfect storm," and it could knock out power in the mid-Atlantic through Election Day. Hurricane Sandy hasn't even made it past the Bahamas yet, but Sandy, or any natural disaster around Election Day, could wreak extreme havoc on the election, experts say. [PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy Threatens Caribbean] Political scientists have long studied the effects of rain and inclement weather on voter turnout and, not surprisingly, have found many people would rather stay at home than brave the weather. But more extreme storms or natural disasters that affect an entire state or region...

Based on the chatter on gun blogs and Internet forums, it looks like a groundswell is underway in Virginia to borrow a page from Napoléon’s playbook and vote ‘to the sound of the guns.’ Thanks to a new law passed by the Virginia General Assembly and signed by Governor Bob McDonnell (R), all that it will take to vote in Virginia this year is a concealed handgun permit. This means no photo is required to vote . . .

What's the fiercest rivalry in American politics today? There's Obama-Romney, of course, but try O'Malley-McDonnell—neighboring governors battling across the Potomac River over how best to resuscitate a moribund economy. Martin O'Malley, Maryland's liberal Democratic governor, is competing for jobs, businesses and tax dollars with Bob McDonnell, Virginia's conservative Republican chief executive. Both are rising stars considered potential presidential hopefuls in 2016. Both are Irish Catholics—Mr. McDonnell playfully calls Mr. O'Malley "the big Irishman to our north"—and each leads his party's association of governors. The two regularly spar on the Sunday talk shows, on the pages of Washington-area newspapers, and over...

On C-Span Speakers today include: • RNC co-chairman Sharon Day • Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn • Convention chief executive officer William Harris • Tampa Bay Host Committee chairman Al Austin • House Speaker John Boehner • Chairman of committee on rules John Sununu • Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of committee on resolutions • U.S. Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, co-chairs of committee on resolutions • Actor Janine Turner • Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum • U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire • Ohio Gov. John Kasich • Oklahoma Gov. Mary...

The Republican Party looks set to adopt platform planks at the upcoming GOP national convention in Tampa to support an audit of the Federal Reserve and to call for a commission to study a return to the gold standard, according to news reports. Analysts had a range of reactions to the news, varying from excitement to disdain and disbelief. Despite media claims that Republicans were seeking an end to centrally managed fiat currency and a return to gold-backed money, drafts of the platform revealed far less ambition. According to sources within the GOP cited in reports, the party is simply...

The Talk Shows August 26th, 2012 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Republican former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus; Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Republican former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.THIS WEEK (ABC): Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Platform Committee; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, chairman of the Democratic National Convention. STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Priebus; Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas;...

The Talk Shows August 19th, 2012 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Ed Gillespie, adviser to Romney's campaign; Robert Gibbs, adviser to Obama's campaign. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Govs. Martin O'Malley, D-Md., and Bob McDonnell, R-Va.; Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed; Ted Cruz, Republican Senate nominee in Texas.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress.THIS WEEK (ABC): Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign; Kevin...

A potentially large change of events as former Virginia Governor Doug Wilder appeared at a Romney fundraiser today. This came after his criticism of Joe Biden for his "chains" comments the other day. According to Pajamas Media, Wilder (D-VA) was a surprise guest and was introduced by current Governor Bob McDonnell at the fundraiser in Richmond, VA. Wilder had said that slavery was not something for Biden to joke about:

August 10, 2012 10,000 Dead Virginia Voters Christian Adams The Virginia State Board of Elections provides an example of how states should be conducting election administration. While many U.S. counties have over 100 percent of living adults registered to vote, Virginia has none. Even better, Virginia has purchased the Social Security Death Index database so state election officials can run computerized matches against Virginia voter rolls.The new policy of the Virginia State Board has paid off.Virginia’s initial sweep has yielded 10,000 dead voters who were never before removed from the rolls. These zombies won’t be able to vote, through a...

A retired Navy captain is asking Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to support adding marriage equality to the GOP platform. McDonnell chairs the committee that will propose a platform at the national convention in Tampa later this month. Retired Navy Capt. Joan Darrah, in a letter to McDonnell, said the freedom to marry is in keeping with the party’s ideology. “If given the opportunity, we will testify in support of the inclusion in the Republican platform of both the repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and the right of same-gender couples to marry and for those marriages to...

In just a matter of days, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney will announce his choice for his 2012 running mate. No matter who Romney picks, however, the liberal media's line of attack is already clear. The Media Research Center reviewed news coverage of several potential picks, and found many have already been caricatured as too far right or outside the mainstream. Last year, for example, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz slammed Senator Marco Rubio as a "pretty boy" and a "hack," screaming that his "policies are downright ugly." A few weeks later, CNN sought out New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to...

Yesterday, I suggested there were some clues pointing to Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) as Mitt Romney’s VP pick. There might be clues leading to other figures (e.g. Mitt Romney will be in Ohio next week, Sen. Rob Portman’s stomping grounds). Anyone in the party or pundit class trying to influence the pick is probably barking up the wrong tree... But a number of readers were puzzled: Why McDonnell? Rather than make the case for him, let’s look at how Romney, the only voice that matters, would see him and another frequently mentioned contender, remembering that Romney likes to gather...

WASHINGTON - The governor of Virginia became the latest politician to offer his perspective on a controversy that could banish Chick-Fil-A from jurisdictions nationwide. When asked about the backlash stemming from the fast food restaurant's public opposition to gay marriage, Gov. Bob McDonnell said, "I love chicken." Following a pause, the governor continued: "If we start having governments issue permits or zoning changes, or withholding those because of someone's political or religious beliefs, we are going down a very bad road." "I think people have an ability to start and grow a business regardless of their political beliefs," he said,...

As we are nearing the long awaited "Who Shot JR Moment",It's safe to assume it's down to Ryan,Portman,Rubio and McDonnell. Portman is considered the "Vanilla Candidate" and Romney would choose him if he desperately needed Ohio.But keep in mind,Neighboring McDonnell could do the trick. As we all know,Romney is going to choose someone who is very prepared to be President god forbid anything happens to Mittens,and also a VP who could run a very succsesful campaign in 2016. McDonnell could help carry Virginia,Ohio,The Carolina's and maybe even Pennsylvania. he would definitley "Energize And Reload The GOP Ticket".