The head of the Romney campaign’s vice=presidential candidate vetting effort unveiled hints today about the potential selection the Republican candidate may make to assist him in defeating pro-abortion President Barack Obama.
Romney aide Beth Myers on Friday tweeted what many political observers say is a list of the potential running mate prop sects. Normally, on Fridays, people on twitter send out a list of their favorite twitter accounts they suggest others follow, called Follow Friday.
The names Myers sent include most of the people assumed to be on Romney’s short list: Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Tim Pawlenty, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich, Rob Portman, Bob McDonnell, Condoleezza Rice, John Thune, and New Mexico Gov. Susanna Martinez. All but Rice take a pro-life position on abortion.
Meanwhile, top abortion advocates are blasting Romney, saying he will likely pick a pro-life vice-presidential candidate. As Amanda Peterson Beadle of the pro-abortion blog ThinkProgress writes:
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has campaigned as an anti-choice candidate. He endorsed an amendment that would allow employers to deny contraception coverage and promised to support radical measures to define life as beginning at conception. He would likely carry these views with him into the White House, where the president “wields more power over reproductive rights than anyone else in the country,” said Donna Crane, NARAL Pro-Choice America’s policy director.
And when it comes to selecting his running mate, Romney will pick a vice presidential candidate who is just as anti-choice as he is. “The person that I would select in that position would share my views on those important issues,” Romney said at the 2011 Palmetto Freedom Forum.
So how anti-choice are the most likely picks to be Romney’s vice president? NARAL Pro-Choice America broke down where 13 potential nominees stood on reproductive rights, access to abortion services, and women’s health, and it is clear that each is just as anti-choice as Romney. Several have supported giving legal rights to a fetus at some point during a pregnancy, thus limiting a woman’s ability to access abortion services. For example, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), who is on the list, co-sponsored “personhood” legislation while serving in the South Carolina legislature.
While there used to be a larger number of pro-choice GOP politicians, now “the pool is very small” as the party has grown more conservative, said NARAL’s Crane. And that leaves Romney with a slate of possible vice presidents who are “all equally threatening to a woman’s right to choose,” explained NARAL deputy policy director Lissy Moskowitz.
Indeed, Romney has said his running mate would definitely be pro-life.
During a 2011 presidential candidate forum in South Carolina, Romney made a pledge to only select a running mate who hared his pro-life views on abortion.
Moderator: Governor Romney, will the person you chose as your vice presidential running mate be someone who shares your pro-life and pro-marriage convictions?
Romney: I certainly imagine so, I haven’t made and selections in that regard…[as I look around at the people I would consider] I would expect that they would all be pro-life and pro-traditional marriage…but this is an important enough issue that the person that I would select in that position would share my views on those important issues.
Host: So more than just expectation – would share those views?
Romney: Yes.. that person would share my views, yeah.
Moreover, Romney talked with Weekly Standard reporter John McCormack about a vice-presidential selection in March and renewed his commitment to a pro-life running mate.
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Romney: “I don’t have a list at this stage. I haven’t put together a list. I haven’t done any thinking about a VP contender at this point. I would anticipate that whoever our nominee is would start with a very long list because frankly we have quite a group of people who have the skill and the credibility to be viable members of a national ticket. So he asked me about a couple of names but there are – I don’t have to tell you this – there’s a long list of very capable folks, including people who’ve run this cycle.”
TWS: “Would anyone on that list be pro-choice?”
Romney: “No.”
