OBAMA: ROMNEY WANTS VP PETRAEUS

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OBAMA: ROMNEY WANTS VP PETRAEUS
Tue Aug 07 2012 12:01:02 ET

**Exclusive**

President Obama whispered to a top fundraiser this week that he believes GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney wants to name Gen. David Petraeus to the VP slot!

"The president wasn't joking," the insider explains to the DRUDGE REPORT.

A Petraeus drama has been quietly building behind the scenes.

Romney is believed to have secretly met with the four-star general in New Hampshire.

The pick could be a shrewd Romney choice. A cross-party pull. The Obama administration hailed Petraeus as one of history's greatest military strategists. Petraeus was unanimously confirmed as the Director of the CIA by the US Senate 94-0.

But Petraeus has categorically asserted that he has NO political ambitions. And Team Obama stands prepared to tie one of their own to "Bush wars." A Petraeus pick could been seen as simply shuffling the decks of power in DC.

"He's a serious man, for seriously dangerous times," notes a top Republican.

A DRUDGE POLL on Tuesday morning showed readers split on if Romney should give it a go.

And the calendar is running out of days.

Developing...

[Sooth2222]

I don't doubt that Obama might believe that Romney would want Petraeus -- but since Obama lives on Fantasy Island, I wouldn't weigh that any more than any of his other delusions and hallucinations. Petraeus seems to like his job, and I doubt he'd want to spend 4-8 years in DC waiting for Romney to choke on a pretzel.

I also like Rubio. I like the sound of "two Rs" -- Romney-Rubio is a distant echo of the sound of "Ronald Reagan"!

[jbwbubba]

It would be a interesting choice. I think it would be to early for anyone to judge his conservative bonafides yet.

He would shore up Romney's weakness in lack of foreign policy, military affairs, etc.

Also the only thing Obama has to run on his “I got Osama” with Romney on the economy and Petraus on the military side of things, would leave Obama any room to manuever.

However, I don't think it will happen. Petraus wouldn't have taken the CIA job IMHO, if he wanted to run against Obama. Maybe he has developed a stronger dislike for him in the last year plus; but I doubt he decides to run if asked.

Also, he is the CIA director if he met with Romney in NH; pretty sure that someone knows. And word may have gotten back to Obama if a meeting happened, thus fueling rumors of the VP slot. Most likely Romney was asking him about Afghanistan and Iraq, etc.

[baddog 219]

I heard from an unnamed source that it will be Pee Wee Herman for his VP pick...

[xzins]

I wouldn’t bet on Petraeus.

I’m betting on a left/middle-of-the-road, FEMALE former governor, representative, or senator from a swing state.

Whitman fits the bill.

So does Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Romney’s only way to counter the black/hispanic numbers against him is to shore up the females supporting him.

[Little Ray]

That’s stupid. Romney needs LTG Russel Honore. That way he’ll have someone who will unhesitatingly tell him, or the Senate, if they’re “...stuck on stupid.”

[hitchwolf]

Petraeus could have some useful info on Obama after working for the DOD and now the CIA. That he would never allow Romney to use or he would not except the VP slot or he'd quit after being chosen if Romney used it. Kiss and tell is not something a man like Petraeus would tolerate.

[Perdogg]

What is your bases of my statement not being true? When Marshall was nominated to SecDef, Congress had to pass a special resolution. The purpose of the law was to insure that they would be no conflict of interest and that the Depart of Defense was run by a civilian.

[VanShuyten]

IF it is true that Pres. Obama said this about Petraeus, then that shows that perhaps Obama regrets getting Petraeus to head the CIA and is looking for a way to push him out. I hear that Petreaus is generally well-liked and seen as a competent leader at the CIA, as opposed to the president. I wouldn't be surprised if the president has embarrassed himself through his ignorance in front of the national security chiefs and feels the need to get someone like Panetta back in charge.

[Little Ray]

You forgot to mention “Supports Amnesty.” Or is that supposed to be part of the “Hispanic community” appeal?

[wolfman23601]

“In foreign affairs, Rockefeller supported US involvement in the United Nations as well as US foreign aid. He also supported the U.S.’s fight against communism and its membership in NATO. As a result of Rockefeller’s policies, some conservatives sought to gain leverage by creating the Conservative Party of New York. The small party acted as a minor counter-weight to the Liberal Party of New York.[45] The most common criticism of Rockefeller’s governorship of New York is that he tried to do too much too fast, vastly increasing the level of state debt which later contributed to New York’s fiscal crisis in 1975.[46] Rockefeller created some 230 public-benefit authorities like the Urban Development Corporation. They were often used to issue bonds in order to avoid the requirement of a vote of the people for the issuance of a bond; such authority-issued bonds bore higher interest than if they had been issued directly by the state. The state budget went from $2.04 billion in 1959-60 to $8.8 billion in his last year, 1973-74. “Rockefeller sought and obtained eight tax increases during his fifteen years in office.”[47] “During his administration, the tax burden rose to a higher level than in any other state, and the incidence of taxation shifted, with a greater share being borne by the individual taxpayer.”[48]”

Wonderful.

[Missouri gal]

2 objections to Rubio
1) I still don't think Rubio is eligible.
2) Extremely weak on illegal aliens problem, which is destroying America.
Also, not too convinced he's a bona fide conservative.

[old school]

If he’s going to select a Caspar Milquetoast such as he; then he needn’t have made us wait for his announcement!

[Tonytitan]

A Ryan choice is a top-shelf selection, but he is not going to cause a significant voting bloc to switch choices. He will give the voters who were going to vote for Romney anyway a new reason to feel better about their choice. Rubio or West, on the other hand, just might bring new voters into the fold.

Welcome to the age of identity politics, like it or not.

[wolfman23601]

Rubio is vastly unqualified. He is a first term senator with no executive experience that has never had a real job. He looks good on camera and can give a good speech, other than that, call me in 20 years if he has a resume.

[ExNewsExSpook]

Don’t see it happening...I’ll take General Petraeus at his word when he claims to have no political ambitions. Secondly, his wife has close ties to some of the most radical libs in the Democratic Party, including Elizabeth Warren, who appointed her to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau last year as Director of its Military Programs Division.

I had the “pleasure” of hearing Mrs. Petraeus speak two weeks ago, at the DoD Worldwide Education Symposium in Las Vegas. She sounded every bit like a member of Team Obama as she declared that only big government can protect military members and veterans from predatory colleges and universities. She railed against the for-profits, offering several anecdotes about disabled vets and dependents getting ripped off by those schools. Naturally, she never named the guilty parties, citing potential “legal action” against the schools in question.

The next day she repeated her claims in a panel discussion I attended. An Army Lieutenant Colonel from Fort Bragg finally called her on it, asking that she identify the guilty parties (of course, she again refused). He also told her that if college recruiters are being allowed in Wounded Warrior barracks (as she alleged), then it’s a command failure, and not a problem for big government to correct.

For the record, I am an executive for a private, non-profit university. I have no love for the for-profits, but it’s very clear they are being singled out to expand Obama’s authority and create an opening for the state schools and larger private schools, who ignored the military market for years and still employ discriminatory policies (no academic credit for military training/education, higher tuition rates for “out-of-state” students). Naturally, Mrs. Petraeus (and the rest of the Obama Administration) have been silent about the predatory practices of their “favored” schools.

I’m happy to report that the Lieutenant Colonel from Bragg got the loudest, sustained applause of anyone at the symposium when he took on Holly Petraeus. She looked visibly angry at his response, just like Barry O. I hope that officer doesn’t have any hopes of making O-6.

I believe David Petraeus is a good man. However, I have little regard for his wife, who has (a) sold herself to the Obama Administration for a SES-level political appointee job, or (b) is nothing more than a willing dupe. I can’t imagine that anyone who is clearly in bed with the Obama White House would be an effective advocate for the GOP.

[ExxonPatrolUs]

Patraeus has a nack for reporting things in a positive way. It might be the only difference between him and McChrystal. Just a few weeks after McChrystal left the theatre everything was looking rosy. The truth is tha that part of the world will be run by Neanderthal druggies long after we leave, which is not soon enough. Every dollar invested globallaly in the war on terror is just more sensless stimulus dollars handed out to an every-man-for-himself drug fest. Our troops are told not to insult the violent druggies they are fighting alongside because then the violent druggies will become more violent and more druggie.

[Batman11]

Hmm, maybe Obama is floating Petraeus out there to see what the reaction is because he is considering him as his own running mate.

[jeffc]

I have heard that Romney’s folks have an active campaign to feed mis-information to Obama’s campaign through various methods including Obama’s ‘tip lines’

My first thought upon reading this story was hope that the Romney camp is smart enough to play that kind of game.

[Jim Noble]

A nonpolitician could be a dangerous choice.

BUT...

I would at least consider the possibility that Petraeus is fed up and wants to tell the truth about “Obama”.

That would be something to see.

[ExxonPatrolUs]

I hope he does not pick the fat cat Krispy Kream. I personally think he should wait for the convention or longer if possible to make his choice.