Guess who's the top pick for Trump's vice president among the GOP faithful

Now that President Trump has the GOP nomination all sewn up and Nikki Hailey is about to go out screaming and shriveling like Rumplestiltskin, the talk has shifted to who Trump's vice presidential nominee will be.

Pundits dominate that talk, but the more interesting take comes from voters.

Pollster TIPP asked that question of the GOP voters with this methodology:

To find out who’s potentially strongest as a vice presidential candidate, I&I/TIPP’s national online poll, taken by 587 registered Republican primary voters from Jan. 31-Feb. 2, asked two questions: “If Trump wins the Republican nomination, who would be your top choice for his Vice President?” and, “If Trump wins the Republican nomination, who would be your second choice for his Vice President?”

...and got this response:

Out of 14 possible names for the question about the “top choice” for vice president, only three reach double-digits: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (16%), entrepreneur, author and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (14%), and former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (11%).

All the rest get single-digit support, from South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (8%) to Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance (1%). But one remaining name still looms large: “Not sure,” which takes 20% of the vote, more than any individual candidate received. So people are still making up their minds.

Image: TIPP // by permission

Yay, baby! Who's better qualified for the job than the ultra-successful, ultra-popular, and ultra-competent, governor of Florida? He'd certainly be a top pick of mine.

Most, other than Haley, who has yet to show the common sense to pull out of the race and would probably spend her vice presidency plotting and leaking against Trump in a bid to topple him, are good choices.

No, thanks, Nikki.

If I were one of the voters asked in the poll, I probably would have given the last response, which is "not sure." That's not because I'm not sure of what I want, but because I think there are a lot of good candidates.

Ron DeSantis would be number one, Ben Carson would be number two, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders might be number three, all faithful and reliable Republicans who won't plot with the deep state or go RINO on us.

Vivek is a little glib, but if Trump picked him, I'd be fine with it, Tim Scott has a bit of a RINO streak, Kristi Noem has that love-affairs problem, Tucker Carlson is not a pol, Kari Lake has not won high office, Mike Flynn I am not sure about though I'd be happy to see him in a top cabinet position, Elise Stefanik is impressive but not enough public support, as with the others.

Trump could even go with someone very unconventional, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who'd be a stretch as he's got some very Democrat views) or as he's mentioned on his short list, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard:

Former President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that at least five high-profile Republicans and one former Democrat are on his shortlist for potential running mates in the general election — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and onetime Democratic presidential primary candidate Tulsi Gabbard. 

The GOP presidential front-runner confirmed his shortlist after Fox News host Laura Ingraham rattled off a list of names at a town hall event in Greenville, SC, which she said audience members deemed good choices for him to tap for the vice presidency.

The names included Gabbard, DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. 

It sounds like Gabbard, who could help him with independents, and DeSantis, are the tippy-top of the top picks since he named them first.

Gabbard has been on Fox News a lot and doesn't sound left-wing at all. If she keeps talking like this, she can call her politics whatever she wants, based on her statements, she's One of Us.

Gabbard has the added plus of being a beautiful woman, which, yeah, Trump likes, and we all know it's a Trump thing.

But DeSantis could be quite an asset on the ticket, muscling through and bulldozing the deep state to help Trump destroy them. That would mean real change for the better. 

And as a bonus, he'd be right where we want him to be in an incumbent position to take the reins after Trump serves one term. Most of us would gladly take two terms of President DeSantis.

Whomever Trump chooses, he's got a plethora of good options.

And Trump's final opponent, doddering Joe Biden? He's stuck with Kamala Harris no matter how much he doesn't want this giggling idiot at his side. His focus on identity politics means he can't get rid of her.

What an amazing contrast.

Trump should pick the one he wants for their value to the ticket and capacity to govern within office, and enjoy this part of the presidential race show. Most voters are going to be happy, so he can hardly lose.

Image: TIPPInsights, by permission

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