Criteria for VP Pick Still of High Importance to Nation

(Editor’s Note: The following column does not constitute an endorsement for any political candidate or political party on the part of Newsmax.)

The vice presidency is an interesting phenomenon in American political governance. There are 350,000,000 people in America and the vice presidential nominees are chosen by one single person, the presumptive presidential nominee.

President Biden chose Kamala Harris, and former President Trump will soon make his choice. There are no checks and balances.

Let’s start with the easy one. President Biden will once again choose Kamala Harris as his running mate. Yes, her approval numbers are worse than his. Yes, the Dems would like a second choice.

But really, no Democrat would boot a Black woman from California off the national ticket to be replaced, presumably, by a white male. Nobody is that stupid. Case closed.

Let’s go to the main event. Who will President Trump pick as his running mate? And, just as importantly, what criteria will he use?

Here’s my prediction: President Trump will get it right. He will pick the vice president most likely to protect and expand his legacy.

This will not be a replay of Reagan/Bush. (Milton Friedman called Bush “Reagan’s biggest mistake”). Reagan left the country with a 28% top tax rate, in 1988. Bush raised it. It never came back.

So, let’s go to the scoreboard. First, eliminate Trump’s primary opponents who burned too many bridges. I’m looking at you, Nikki Haley and Chris Christie.

Next, eliminate the primary opponents who remain Trumpsters but failed to energize the electorate; Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott. Both could, and should, find their way into a Trump administration.

Then let’s discount all Floridians; Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, Matt Gaetz, Brian Mast, Byron Donalds and Wilton Simpson. The Constitution says that a president and vice president from the same state can’t earn the electoral votes from that state. Period.

Then eliminate the Joni Ernst group. These are all the senators and congressmen whose names we can’t immediately recall. They are the playing-it-safe group.

Our country is in crisis. Playing it safe is not an option. If you haven’t been making waves before now, you won’t be a big enough help. And, most importantly, you won’t be the post-Trump president the country will truly require.

All of a sudden, the population of 350 million is looking too small. But here are my eligibles: Elise Stefanik, Glenn Youngkin, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kristi Noem and Kari Lake. (Why is it that Republican women seem so much more assertive than Republican men)?

Kari Lake will not make the cut because she hasn’t won anything. Kristi Noem chances also are low.

The three remaining are the truly eligible.:

1. Elise Stefanik is a New York congresswoman who is totally in for Trump. She’s loud. She’s proud. And she’s even raising money. If New York is in play, she could be a nuclear bomb. If she is chosen, New York will be in play. Elise makes the cut.
2. Glenn Youngkin is Virginia’s governor. Virginia is already in play. Picking Youngkin would be a bold, and likely successful, bid for Virginia’s electoral votes. But, Youngkin was a very late endorser in the primaries. A solid conservative Republican would wonder about a Youngkin presidency in 2028. Nobody would wonder about Stefanik.
3. We all love Sarah Huckabee Sanders. As Trump’s Press Secretary she stood tall and nonapologetic for the president. As the governor of Arkansas, she has lagging poll numbers in a state Trump wins without any help. As governor, like Youngkin, she knows how to get things done. She stays on the list with a lower profile than either Stefanik or Youngkin.

I call the above three the “Runners Up.” Why? Because around here people are used to reading “Sid’s Picks” at election time. And I have my very own Vice-Presidential Sid’s Pick: Ted Cruz!

Why? Because the Trump-Cruz ticket would give us 12 years of rebuilding the “Shining City on the Hill” and burying the Deep State at depths currently unimaginable.

Ted Cruz is a brilliant lawyer. Ask Alan Dershowitz. Ted’s a fighter. Ted has a presence and a gravitas that Republicans desperately need.

In our new world of “lawfare,” Ted would be the ultimate candidate. And, as a super bonus, my Hispanic Republican friends go gaga at the thought.

Your turn, readers.