The best pick from a tactical (13 electoral votes) perspective would be Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who can’t run for re-election in 2025 anyway.
Polls indicate that Trump might be close in Blueish-Purple Virginia, and IF that can be believed then Youngkin would be the best candidate to put him over the top in that state.
It’s not certain that Youngkin on the ticket MUST mean that Trump wins VA, but of all possible VP choices, show me another solid and prominent Republican from a “blue” state who would actually help deliver his state’s electoral votes.
Elise Stefanik ain’t gonna deliver New York. Chris Christie (who shouldn’t be anywhere near the ticket) wouldn’t deliver New Jersey.
I’m well aware that Youngkin isn’t 100,000% perfectly pure on every single issue, as if anyone is including Trump himself, but he’s as logical a choice as there is.
I like your approach. Job One is for Trump to win in November. So my choice for VP has to be the conservative most likely to make that happen. (Who that is, I’m not sure yet.)
Trump cannot drain the swamp if he’s not elected in the first place.
I like Youngkin but he couldn’t flip congressional seats in ‘22 and state seats in ‘23. Fairfax and Loudoun aren’t flipping anytime soon. I like JD with the hope of flipping the senate seat but DeWine would probably appoint a Rhino in his spot
Two white guys on the ticket might not work. Not saying that’s right, just saying.
Younkin would not accept it.
Youngkin is not ready for prime time. He tripped over a stadium deal in Alexandria and it was clear that he was pretty arrogant when he did that and it showed us that he’s not ready for the major leagues.