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Mary Altaffer / AP
Mitt Romney, right, shakes hands with his newly announced vice presidential running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, after Ryan addressed the crowd Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012 in Norfolk, Va.
This article is based on reporting by NBC’s Carrie Dann, Garrett Haake, Alex Moe, Jamie Novogrod, and Andrew Rafferty. It was written by Dann.
At 11:11 pm on Friday night, political journalists all over America read the subject line of their latest email, blinked, and asked aloud, "Where's Paul Ryan right now?"
There was exactly one person standing on the Republican congressman’s driveway in Janesville, Wisc.
NBC reporter Alex Moe, who had spent 15 days shadowing the onetime dark horse to be Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick, was preparing to leave Ryan's neighborhood for the night when the email blast thundered into her inbox: "MITT ROMNEY ANNOUNCES VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN NORFOLK SATURDAY."
The venue for the announcement, according to the press release: the USS Wisconsin. Ryan's home state.
Until a few days prior, speculation for the VP choice had centered around Ohio's Sen. Rob Portman and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. But Portman had just given remarks at the opening ceremony for a charity bicycling tournament, and NBC reporter Andrew Rafferty had seen him return to his hotel in Columbus less than an hour earlier.
NBC's Mark Murray discusses the Romney campaign's rocky week after choosing Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. MSNBC's Tamron Hall also talks to White House reporter Richard Wolf about how Ryan's name on the ticket puts Medicare at the front of the campaign.
Moments before, Pawlenty had just wrapped up a lengthy fundraiser in Manchester, N.H., and NBC’s Jamie Novogrod was at that moment driving behind the black hatchback whisking the governor and his wife back to the Hilton Garden Inn where they were checked in.
Ryan was the question mark.
So, at 11:15 pm, Moe marched up to the side door of Ryan's Wisconsin home -- where the lights hadn't yet been turned off for the night -- and gave a good hard knock. And then another one.
No answer.
When Pawlenty got the call he wouldn’t be the pick
Three days earlier, Tim Pawlenty woke up to a beautiful vista, and the memory of some disappointing news from the night before.
In Aspen, Colo., for a closed-door conference of national security luminaries, Pawlenty had spent the better part of a nervous week in the shadow of the Maroon Bells peaks, enduring radio silence from Boston.
It was Monday night when he got the call from Mitt Romney and learned that, for the second time in four years, he'd been passed over for the second-in-command job. When NBC reporter Carrie Dann greeted him on the Aspen Institute campus the following morning, he betrayed no disappointment, but he could no longer afford to be very forthcoming about the details of his schedule during the upcoming week.
Pawlenty's hurried manner on the way into breakfast left the reporter's intuition tingling over his halting answers to questions that had previously been met with teasing and tolerance. "Just... my schedule hasn't changed," he told her.
It hadn't. Which meant that he'd need a poker face to field questions from Dann and other reporters for another grueling four days.
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R- Minn., joins Morning Joe to share his thoughts on not being chosen as Mitt Romney's VP running mate, Paul Ryan's strengths as a candidate, and tax reform.
All seemed normal in Norfolk
The story was classic Stu Stevens: too unbelievable to be anything but true.
Top Romney strategist Stuart Stevens was telling reporters in the Norfolk Marriott bar a tale about becoming seriously ill while working in Albania and subsequently having to be airlifted to a hospital in Zurich for treatment. By 11:00 pm Friday night, the press corps had long given up on trying to bait Stevens into giving something away about the vice presidential selection process, and war stories abounded instead. The mood was too casual, it seemed, for anything out of the ordinary to be going on.
After Stevens wrapped up the tale, NBC reporter Garrett Haake decided to call it a night early, ready to rest up for the launch of Romney's bus tour the following day. Teeth brushed, he flipped through his emails one last time before bed.
Then he saw the campaign’s advisory for its vice presidential selection.
An hour later, he would be standing on a pier in the middle of the night, staring in disbelief at the waves below.
Portman wouldn’t be the guy, either
Rob Portman missed the call.
The Ohio senator was giving remarks at Friday night's opening ceremonies for Pelotonia, a charity bike ride to raise money for cancer research, when the phone rang around 7:30 pm. Mitt Romney was on the line, but Portman couldn't pick up.
Two hours later, Rafferty spotted Portman in the lobby of the Columbus Hyatt, clad in a bright red Ohio State Buckeyes polo. By then, Portman had spoken with the GOP nominee, and he knew that he would be returning to Capitol Hill instead of the White House after all.
When the 11:00 pm announcement came that Romney would name his running mate the following day, it was clear to Rafferty that Portman couldn't be the guy. Was the charity bike tour an elaborate ruse? Was the senator being whisked to a secret location in an SUV, ushered thru hidden loading docks under the dark of night?
It couldn't be. But he waited in the lobby until 4:00 am, just to make sure the Ohio pol didn't pull the fast one of a lifetime.
David Gregory, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," speaks with TODAY's Savannah Guthrie about the ongoing inquisition into Mitt Romney's financials and whether or not his running mate, Paul Ryan, has helped the GOP ticket.
Chasing (and then losing) Pawlenty
Feeling just a few miles per hour short of a car chase, NBC's Jamie Novogrod was following a black Volvo carrying Tim Pawlenty and his wife Mary back to Manchester. The couple had attended two fundraisers on Romney's behalf that Friday evening, and reporters had waited in torrential rain to spot the couple's comings and goings. The friend driving the former Minnesota governor had a New Englander's lead foot, and the reporter following at a safe distance strained to keep sight of the car.
Pawlenty's star had seemed to be dimming in recent days. So when Jamie got the call from a colleague that the pick was set to be announced the following morning, it seemed obvious that the governor couldn't possibly be “the guy” -- after all, he had a full slate of New Hampshire events the following day, with no hint of an abrupt departure for Norfolk.
At the Manchester exit off the highway, his view of the Volvo obstructed in the wet weather, Novogrod spotted too late the car's tail lights disappearing into the night several hundred yards down the road.
"I've lost him," Novogrod told Dann, who was awaiting Pawlenty at his hotel. "You're on your own."
Blackberry down
On the air and on the web, NBC's reporting unfolded with few hiccups.
But behind the scenes, there was some sprinting that would have impressed the U.S. Olympic team, and at least one electronic casualty.
In Norfolk, Haake rushed down to the site of the USS Wisconsin, the site of the following morning's event that just so happened to bear the name of Ryan's home state.
Sockless and juggling camera equipment, he heard the request over his cell phone's speakerphone to set up a liveshot of the event site.
Thud.
He dropped his blackberry, speaker blaring, to the wooden pier where it bounced once, twice, three times, over the edge into the bay.
Splash. It was gone.
By then, though, Haake already had some peace of mind. NBC had confirmed Ryan was the pick.
The pieces fall into place
At 12:01 am Saturday morning, after intense phone collaboration between reporters in the field, top correspondents, and seasoned producers, NBC News reported three Romney sources indicating that Ryan had been selected for the VP slot.
Throughout the network's team, the pieces had fallen into place.
Just after midnight, when he returned to his hotel, Pawlenty confirmed to Dann and other reporters waiting for him there that he wouldn't be traveling to Norfolk the following day. He wouldn't say who the pick was, but it was clear there was no chance he was the one. "I didn't enter this thinking I was going to be the vice presidential candidate," he said. "So I'm not disappointed."
Portman was safely in his hotel room. Shrugging a phone to each shoulder -- one for a network conference call and one for GOP sources -- NBC's reporters ruled out other also-rans: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and others.
Where was Ryan?
None of them was "the guy." But then ... where WAS "the guy?"
Moe, now accompanied by an NBC satellite truck and crew, was still at the Wisconsin congressman's house. She'd spoken to Ryan earlier that day and accompanied him home from a memorial service for victims of the Sikh temple shooting in his district. Arriving home at around 2:00 pm ET, Ryan had sheepishly admitted that he'd forgotten his keys and trekked into the backyard to dig around for a spare.
That was the last time anyone in the press saw the Wisconsin congressman until he appeared in Norfolk as a vice presidential nominee.
Because after a week of smoke and mirrors to keep secret the most-sought-after answer in American politics, he did just about the simplest thing in the world.
Paul Ryan walked casually into his backyard -- and kept walking. Out of reporters' sight, navigating through a familiar forest, he emerged to a car waiting to take him to the airport.
And then to Norfolk.
Leave a Comment:
I didn't think it was possible for the most flawed candidate in the history of the GNOP to chose an even more flawed running mate! lol
The kicker is, Willard wasn't even man enough to call Pawlenty & Portmann personally!
Instead he had his kid Tagg do it!
Will Tagg also be taking the 3:00 am phone call?
Herman/Eddie Munster 2012!
Woofie for Secretary of State!
" Lying Ryan "was just caught in another lie ...Its seems he did request stimulus money ! Funny how he was outed with his own paper trail !
This is only the beginning... lol
It's nice to know that if you're a Republican congress person or senate person that if you want to talk to Romney you have to go through his son........
Paul Ryan walked casually into his backyard -- and kept walking. Out of reporters' sight, navigating through a familiar forest, he emerged to a car waiting to take him to the airport.
And then to Norfolk.
All for naught.
I think you are mistaken Feisty - I heard Pawlenty on Morning Joe say that Romney had in fact called him before the announcement. I think he was relieved. LMAO
I think if Romney was going for the clandestine angle in choosing a Vice President that it's fair to rename the Romney campaign, "Mission Impossible". :-)
Behind the scenes
One of a kind Ryan/Romney photo
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/406186_408113932585761_1233753611_n.jpg
Feast-y, I ask again... DO you have the life-size Marx poster or the cardboard cut-out??
GWO,
I hadn't heard that! Quit watching Morning Jerk over a year ago! My blood pressure thanked me for it! lol
Regardless, given T-Paws track record on truthfulness, not sure I believe anything that comes out of his mouth!
He distinctly said it was "misreported".
O.K. serfin here's the skinny.
She has the lifesize cutout of Groucho and the original movie poster from "A day at the races". I got her a good deal on both and she displays them proudly.
Sorry Red, but I thought he should know. Didn't want him making an even bigger azz of himslf.
[He distinctly said it was "misreported".]
Huh.
Is that like "misunderestimated"?
Ryan / Romney = Cheney / Bush.
Ryan/Romney: Because Bush/Cheney Didn't Screw Enough of the Middle Class, So we are Here to Finish The Job
Just sayin'.
I like Morning Joe when he's away. Joe is a bit of an A$$hole.
No problemo Frank!
Hey, can you hook me up with a cut-out of Wile E. Coyote & the Road-Runner?
I'm getting tired of Groucho! ;o)
Ryan was against stimulus money publically but privately he was seeking stimulus money for his home district because contrary to his public statements, privately Ryan knew stimulus works. Nothing like two big lying flip floppers on the GOP ticket. We really can label the ticket Flip/Flop 2012!
SerfinUSA or whatever your name used to be. From what I've seen, the only people obsessed with Marx are conservatives; never a days goes by without some yahoo pointing their finger at liberals and ignoring the 3 pointing back at the yahoo. We're all socialists. The difference is understanding good socialism from bad socialism. There is NO pure democracy. Here and in every other civilized country, we have good socialism. Last time I checked, the USSR failed and we now call it Russia once again. With the demise of the USSR, we saw the demise of communism. Do you honestly believe that liberals want the USA to be like China or Cuba or? If you do, then you really do not understand liberalism. Odd, though, Michele Bachmann admired China's economy--ignoring, of course, the slave labor, the lack of human rights, the lack of safe work enviroments, the poverty, the polluted air and water--all of which too many US businesses take advantage of when they out-source jobs to China.
HAHAHAH
Hillary Clinton turned down 0bama to replace Biden.
Rats leaving a sinking ship comes to mind.
GTFO 0bama
elliot - you DO KNOW everyone knows you're just making up lies - right? So sad that you have to stoop to lies because your candidates give you nothing else!
Obama/Biden 2012
Great White Northern, my sentiments exactly, Morning Joe is a good morning political talk show WHEN Joe isn't there. Nothing worse than Scarborough whining so early in the morning, gives coffee a bad name.
Poor elliot, he must have missed Hillary saying that 3 years ago when the right tried pushing this rumor. It's like the liberal War on Christmas, FOX and the right drags it out of storage and tosses it to their faithful who just eat this stuff up.
[Regardless, given T-Paws track record on truthfulness...]
Oh how I do love how Soledad Obrien from CNN handed T-Paw his balls, just a day after handing John Sununu his balls...I'm glad that the press isn't standing for the lies anymore...now if that little weasel George Steph would find his balls...
Speaking of balls... have you noticed SpankMe & WCA have been MIA?
You think they finally got a room?
Thanks, Frank. You're a good little minion.
[Speaking of balls... have you noticed SpankMe & WCA have been MIA?]
Spanky is having "business issues" and WCA has no skirt to hide behind when Spanky is AFK.
Or, they are one in the same...
One has to wonder how Romney felt about Ryan attacking Romneycare. This was covered well by Ed Shultz earlier in the week with his guests Jonathan Gruber, who is a professor of economics at MIT, and John McDonough, professor at Harvard School of Public Health. These are the men who helped create both Romneycare in the state of Massachusetts and the Affordable Health Care Act.
Ed asked about Paul Ryan's claims that Romneycare was a failure:
Also "patient-centered care" is even worse voodoo than supply-side failures. The Rightwing is indeed unhinged in more ways than one!
Fun, Gold Medal story, First Read. Northing like a good Friday night Olympic sprint to find Paul Ryan and figure out everyone else was where they said they'd be!
I stick by my original assessment, the Romney Team blundered the VP roll out. The big here's Paulie rally was over before half the country knew there was a rally.
Paul Ryan who?
Eric, good one. Chris Matthews showed some tweets where conservatives thought it was Mike Ryan and Rand Paul and they were so excited, now they could vote for Romney. In case you missed it, last Saturday, a conservative poster renamed the VP choice "Brian"--Romney/Brian 2012.
Earlier in July, the Romney camp let it be known that if you had a smart phone, you could buy an app for it, so you could be one of the cool 'kids' who heard first who was the pick. Bet a few got suckered on that one.
Re-post due to collapse above:
One has to wonder how Romney felt about Ryan attacking Romneycare. This was covered well by Ed Shultz earlier in the week with his guests Jonathan Gruber, who is a professor of economics at MIT, and John McDonough, professor at Harvard School of Public Health. These are the men who helped create both Romneycare in the state of Massachusetts and the Affordable Health Care Act.
Ed asked about Paul Ryan's claims that Romneycare was a failure:
Also "patient-centered care" is even worse voodoo than supply-side failures. The Rightwing is indeed unhinged in more ways than one!
I thought NBC had news people, not Paparazzi. Where they recruited from The Globe? Personally, I found the reporters' conduct disgusting.
This is actually a really cool look behind the scenes and what goes on to try to get a story. Thanks for the article guys!
So can we have a story about the search for Romney's taxes???
Eric-913730
So can we have a story about the search for Romney's taxes???
Eric, that was too funny. I just burst into laughter. Considering 63% of American would like to see Romney's taxes that would be BIG story!
What is remarkable about popular opinion on Romney’s tax returns is the across the board agreement that he should release more years. Sixty four percent of men and 63% of women agree that Romney should release more tax returns. By a margin of 55%-43%, white voters think Romney should release more returns. Non-white voters overwhelmingly (81%-19%) want Romney to release more tax returns.
A majority of every age group polled, from 18-34 year olds (76%) to those 65+ (53%) want to see more tax returns released. Both college grads (62%) and non-college grads (64%) think Romney should release more tax returns. Every region of the country from the Northeast (71%) to South (59%) through the Midwest (63%) and West (59%) wants Romney to release more.
Even though Romney won the Republican nomination by convincing members of his party that he could capture Independents, Independent voters have largely turned against him, and they are especially interested in his tax returns. More than two thirds of Independents (67%) want Mitt Romney to release more tax returns.
http://www.politicususa.com/63-americans-demand-mitt-romney-release-tax-returns.html
================================================
Now's that's HUGE. Even the Independents are turning against R-money.
4more years 4 44
Obama/Biden 2012
I thought so, too, Grimey.
Gotta agree with Grimey on this one too. Actually, the back story was more exciting than the actual announcement was, so thanks! But seriously, guys......
"Arriving home at around 2:00 pm ET, Ryan had sheepishly admitted that he'd forgotten his keys and trekked into the backyard to dig around for a spare."
You fell for the old "I forgot my keys" trick? Did you actually think Ryan hid his extra under a rock or a flower pot?
If Joe Biden didn't have a gaffe once in a while he wouldn't be Joe Biden. He is what he is - no baloney!
How can anyone not like this guy. Sometimes he just gets a little like your crazy uncle.
Hey! Does this story mean Noid will stop insisting that Romney did not call either Portman or Pawlenty himself?
I sure hope so.
alex - who - Joe Biden sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee for how many years? - You my little twit could never fit in Joe Biden's shoes if you walked a million miles
I will not go into the loss of his wife and his baby daughter and a son who he thought he might lose and a son who served in the military and another son who is making a difference in Delaware in this mortgage fiasco
What the hell have you done in your life - I would venture to guess not a godam thing and yet you sit their in your undies have the nerve to say anything about this person
For shame - you are a nothing and this man is a something - Joe Biden - a dedicated servant who speaks his mind - cares about you in your undies - and frankly is one of my heroes
Which I don't think are gaffes but messages from the heart - and frankly if you had a Republican half as good you might have something - but only half as good
I had to check the date on the story - thought I'd pulled up an old First Read.
Who gives a hoot (edited to remove expletive) about the drama around Paul Ryan's selection? Really, guys, this is just silly. You've been watching too many episodes of The Bachelor, in my opinion.
Actually, an episode of the Bachelor is more exciting.....
I think Carrie is practicing her narrative skills for a future career writing crime stories. This certainly reads like a crime story - a bunch of journalists searching for the perp.
Yup, it was Paul Ryan, in the end. (In an Ayn Rand book, he'd be the hero.)
So funny Paul Ryan learning Ayn Rand is not only an atheist, I'd love to see the look on Paul Ryan's face when he found out Ayn Rand was pro-choice and anti-war too.
Wait True Patriot Paul Ryan has now embraced St Thomas Aquina's Works
DUH? Can someone ask him what St Thomas Aquinas works were
Quick staff read up!
This is a heck of a story.
"Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL" - Your Post Sucks!!!
I didn't think it was possible for the most flawed candidate in the history of the GNOP to chose an even more flawed running mate! lol - Yeah Obama and Biden are doing one heck of a job aren't they feisty redhead? Romney / Ryan are both superior candidates to Obama / Biden. They will save our country from the Obama administration.
If you can't see the collection of fools in the Obama administration, you must be Blind. People like you make me want to puke.
RandyCon - oh what an intelligent post. NOT - With the candidates the GOP is running I can see why you try to deflect - but it won't work.
President Obama and VP Biden are heads above Romney/Ryan in every respect and will continue to work for the country in their 2nd term.
Now you are excused to go puke!
Obama/Biden 2012
Just make sure you get some on your shoes... will ya? ;o)
Randy - are you Randy Andy - the joke we all knew growing up
It was a slick trick to keep the media from BLABBING the Veep choice before the campaign was ready. While I don't particularly like Ryan or his political beliefs I do applaud his effort to elude the prying press.
Adler - Why running thru a forest - How childish - why not since they were on a destroyer have him wear a cod piece - better yet parachute down more dramatic don't you think - with a sign going for the mission accomplished to kill Medicare
Running thru a forest? How amateurish!
Which has been Romney's campaign a bunch of amateurs
Tim Pawlenty must absolutely loathe the month of August by now.
- August 29, 2008 - John McCain picks Sarah Palin to be his running mate over Tim Pawlenty.
- August 13, 2011 - Bat-S*** Crazy Michele Bachmann wins Ames Straw Poll. Tim Pawlenty finishes third and announces the end of his campaign the next day.
- August 11, 2012 - Mitt Romney picks Paul Ryan to be his running mate over Tim Pawlenty.
Da Noid - actually I'm thinking he breathed a sigh of relief at not being selected to run with Romney. Talk about nothing good to put on the resume!!!
Obama/Biden 2012
So, Noid- waiting for you to admit that the "Romney didn't call Portman or Pwlenty" meme you've been disseminating is completely, one hundred per cent wrong.
And refrain from using it ever again. Cause it's, ya know, not true.
Oh my GOD! The QUEEN of untruths making demands on another poster, claiming he said things that are untrue!
Get over yourself, no jo.
Snookie-Joe's hypocrisy knows NO bounds!
I fell off my chair in a fit of laughter when I read her... *ahem* DEMAND!
Hey all you think Pawlenty did this all for naught he wants a cabinet position - so he can screw up something else as he did the bridge in Minn that killed - yes killed people because he refused to fund the fixing of that bridge
And that little twerp Reince Preibus says Obama has blood on his hands
Sorry can I be sick now or later - what a bunch of lying yahoos
The scary thing is that Biden is the smarter one on the Democrat ticket. No wonder poverty has increased and this is the longest recession in modern times. The news media vetted a pair of peanut heads!
Jamie - I see you are in no position to talk about intelligence. WOW! Wonder if you would have headed Harvard Law Review? Actually, I don't wonder. There isn't a chance in hell you'd even make it into Harvard!
Obama/Biden 2012
The scary thing is the idea that people like Jamie Alvarez and alexandr1 exist.
I think Alvares and Alexandr should go to a GOP site - then the average intelligence of both sites will go up.
Great White ... And they reproduce and vote that makes it really scary.
But i tell you, my money is joe biden. When mr grover, the gop, the rushbo, & foxnews.com are all asking obama to drop biden for hillary, i have to say, that they must be scared stiff what biden will do the st paul.
I tell you to have soooo many catholic nuns thrashing at st paul should tell you something. According to the catholic nuns, st paul is doing things that he says is in according to the bible that the nuns say directly contradicts the bible. Like having the poor pay heavy taxes to support the wealthy. The nuns say no version of the bible ever said that. But they haven't read the kock's version of the bible, i mean the koch's version. Anyway, to have sooo many catholic nuns after st paul tells me that st paul may well be an evil force under the guise of a saint.
Ok. Ok. So catholic joe needs to show that the catholic sisters are right and that st paul is in fact only following the kock's version of the bible and that st paul's vision of this country being based upon what he calls nature and the creator, is really a twisted, unnatural, evil vision. Completely based on the twisted, unnatural, kock's bible.
There were only two repugs that would have had any true potential as president/vice president - Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty or maybe Portman, all the rest are truly batsh!t crazy.
If Romney and the GOP movers and shakers could have only seen around the corner, they would have made another choice. As it stands, the ticket is toxic to some down-ballot Republicans in tight races. In fact, there has been far less excitement among Republican contenders than thought possible. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, taxes, Ryan's budget and legislation he introduced pertaining to women's health, abortion, and contraception, along with his love affair with atheist Russian philosopher Ayn Rand is a load to carry for any campaign. These matters will not vanish and ultimately they will weigh heavily on the ticket's popularity. That has already begun.
Jim in Texas
Those issues won't go away if the opposition clings to them. Mr. Ryan openly admits the impression Ayn Rand upon him. President Obama doesn't admit to what he was saying to Mr. Putin, a more relevant Russian figure. Mr. Ryan does have a plan for Medicaid, as well as Mr. Romney. President Obama's plan; we've extended the life of Medicare to 12 years. The other social issues should be left to the states to decide. Just as President Obama evolved to support gay marriage; he immediately pointed out that the state should decide that issue.
Oh Mj - give it up you are so out of touch with reality and you live in CT - where with the richies like Greenwich or at the upper state
Little boy I traveled all over your state and for most it is solid Democrat - what are you a throwback or a newbie from one of the uninformed southern states?
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Paul-Ryans-Favorite-Band-Rages-Against-Him-166549676.html#ixzz23qQROjuk
To think Biden would have to take over in the case anything would happen to OBama is enough to vote for Romney / Ryan regardless.
Interesting story. It's remarkable that NBC would put out an article, admitting, that a VP candidate that they were "stalking" eluded them by simply walking out of his own backyard.
Well one thing for sure When Romney and Ryan get elected the white house will have someone in it who actually has experience being an executive and a vice president who is smarter than the entire previous administration. Just one question for you liberal sheep why did Biden support giving a businessman in the Ukraine $22 million of taxpayer money to open a car dealership that doesn't sell American cars? Then after you answer that explain why Obama approved the payoff. Oh the correct answer is the Ukrainian illegaly donated $500k to the Obama/Biden ticket.
If that's true you can thank your right leaning Supreme Court.
Anyone dis-Putin that?
Great White North Observer
What does that have to do with the moral compass of President Obama & Mr. Biden?
I really don't see much high minded morality from either party but especially the GOP. With what's going on with voter registrations and voting hours and all the other lies espoused by the GOP I guess whats sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander - gee where have I heard that before?
What does that have to do with the moral compass of President Obama & Mr. Biden?
MJ - CT - Where is your moral compass?
Publicly Obama supports Biden. I bet privately Obama is telling him get the F away from me. Don't be surprised to see Biden receive an offer he can't refuse and pull him self out of the running.
Common Man,
I don't think so. Keeping a loose cannon on deck affords you just enough opportunity to say what you're truly thinking without having to be held personally accountable for having said it.
Biden may be prone to gaffes but he's more of an asset than a liability. He will remain on the ticket, leaving Hillary free to resign in December and run in 2016.
I guess I must be missing the big point here but how much did NBC/MSNBC pay for people to shadow VP candidates just to be the first one to say I know?.....No wonder media companies are either losing or not making money. They are wasting it on s__— like this
Jim - Who cares why is this an issue in your life?
What a joke!! The two Number 2's lying to the public to back up the lies of the number 1 man....
My mother and father have always voted Republican but not this year. I never thought they could be as disappointed in the Republican Party as they are now. When I asked them how they feel about the Romney/Ryan Medicare plan they say their plan takes away Medicare from seniors. I guess you can't keep flip flopping for long and expect people to believe you when you tell them what they want to hear. No one believes Romney will leave Medicare for the elderly while taking it away from their children. Politicians should know by now if you want people to follow you, you will need a plan and not just tell people what the other party has done or will do. What is your plan even though it's too late? Trust starts the first day you meet someone and builds, you can't build trust on lies! My parents feel it's better to let the President stay and know the future than elect someone else and not know. OBW my parents are living in Florida so if they are a good sampling of how Republican's feel in Florida then those donating to the Republican Party should save their money.
My mother and father have always voted Democrat, but not this year. I never thought they could be so disappointed in the Democratic Party, as they are now. When I asked them how they feel about Obama/Biden's Medicare plan, they say "what plan?".
Two can play your childish game, Confussed.
Idiot
Let's be honest, shall we?
NBC's reporters were racing all over the Country, trying to find out who would be Romney's running mate, so they could focus all of their efforts on finding any and all dirt on that individual to help in Obama's reelection.
Just being honest.
This Article: boring crap that no one cares about.
Who cares what the VP selection process was like behind-the-scenes, now that it's over? It wasn't interesting during, much less ex-post-facto.