Romney aide on vetting Romney's VP: "He is the decider"

Campaign advisors Eric Fehrnstrom (R), Stuart Stevens (2nd R) and Beth Myers (2nd to L) listen as Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks with people during a Roundtable on Housing Issues on January 23, 2012, in Tampa, Florida.

/ Joe Raedle/Getty Images

(CBS News) The first thing you need to know about Beth Myers, Mitt Romney's senior advisor who will be leading the search to pick his vice presidential nominee: She's not going to pull a Dick Cheney.

"I would say that is not a high likelihood," Myers joked when asked tongue-in-cheek by CBS News/National Journal if she planned to replicate the actions of George W. Bush's vice president, who was appointed to lead the veep search before settling on himself.

Myers is a relatively private person whose new responsibilities on the campaign thrust her into the spotlight Monday after Romney told ABC News' Diane Sawyer that he has tapped his longtime aide to vet his future running mate.

Myers knows Romney well. She met him in the 1990s when she moved back to Massachusetts (she had first lived there while attending Tufts University) but got to know him well in 2002 when she volunteered on his gubernatorial campaign. She served as his chief of staff during his time as governor before managing his unsuccessful 2008 bid for the presidency.

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And that leads to the second thing you need to know about Myers: She's Romney's longtime confidante, the person who will gather and sift through information about the potential candidates and present them to the former Massachusetts governor.

She'll be his eyes and hears and constant conversation partner in this process -- she has the office right next to his in the campaign's Boston headquarters -- but the decision about who to pick will ultimately the result of Romney's judgment, not a recommendation from his staff.

"I'll put all the information on the table," Myers said. "He is the decider."

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The decision to put Myers in charge of of vetting the vice presidential nominee is a sign that control over the Romney campaign will remain in the hands of a small group of aides and advisors despite the expectation that the staff will balloon in the coming weeks as the operation transitions from primary to general election mode. Romney talked to her about taking on the new responsibility as part of a larger discussion about what needed to shift the campaign forward to the fall, Myers said.

Like any Romney campaign decision, this one will be driving by facts and data, something Myers said with confidence even though she hasn't even yet begun the process of choosing a staff to assist her or plotting strategy.

"I think he felt comfortable that I would get him the information in a way so that he would make the best decision," she said.

Eric Fehrnstrom, another of Romney's senior advisors and her partner at a consulting company called the Shawmut Group, ticked off other qualities that were a factor in the selection: her background as a lawyer, methodical approach to problem solving, and organizational skills. As an example of her managerial abilities, he pointed to her role in managing the process of preparing Romney for the nearly two dozen debates during the primary.

"She knows Mitt's personal management style better than anyone, she knows how he operates, that he welcomes debate and discussion, that he works best with data - she has a good understanding of what Mitt looks for when it comes to decision making," Fehrnstrom said.

While Myers hasn't gotten far into the process of setting up a search committee, she did say she expects to study both Democratic and Republican selection processes dating back to the selection of Walter Mondale as Jimmy Carter's running mate in 1976 - the beginning of the modern vice president, as she sees it.

Her work in politics goes back nearly that far. Just a year after her graduation from Tufts in 1979, she was able to get a job working on Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential bid (she worked on the Texas Victory Committee under the direction of Karl Rove) and went on to work for a host of other candidates and on get-out-the-vote operations across the country. She also earned a J.D. from Southern Methodist University School of Law and worked at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP in Dallas.

[Obama4more]

If Mr. Etch-a-sketch is the "decider"...you folks on the right are really f-ed!!!!! Romney/Palin!!!!!!

[Zann-Zel]

The decider? Is that like Bush?

We DON'T need another Bush!

[Filmguy870]

..heard that before...how'd that work out????

[occupy_cbs]

Not only do women see willard romney as very unfavorable with the huge republican gender gap, but most of the middle class is seeing him as very threatening to their way of life, giving the wealthy even more tax breaks at the expense of everyone else.

His VP pick is of little concern or consequence!

[occupy_cbs]

Mitt Romney Shows Record Shortfall in Personal Popularity in ABC News/Washington Post Poll

Mitt Romney has emerged from the Republican primary season with the weakest favorability rating on record for a presumptive presidential nominee in ABC News/Washington Post polls since 1984, trailing a resurgent Barack Obama in personal popularity by 21 percentage points.

Thirty-five percent of Americans see Romney favorably, while 47 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the former Massachusetts governor. He's the first likely nominee to be underwater -- seen more unfavorably than favorably.

Romney's gender gap in vote preferences in an ABC/Post poll last week -- he trailed Obama by 19 percentage points among women -- is reflected in his new favorability scores as well. Just 27 percent of women see Romney favorably.

[josephp5]

Oh Boy! Another Decider for President! I remember how well the last one worked out.

And thanks, Rebecca Kaplan, for this puff piece on Romney's advisor. I look forward to more stories about the inside workings of the Romney campaign based on your new BFF. Be sure to protect your source: "According to a senior aide close to the campaign, Romney is always talking about how to help the poor..."

[fedup12]

Romney aide on vetting Romney's VP: 'He is the decider'
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Are they sure they want to channel W?

[euge005]

Willard is only greasy, but not the half wit that Bush was. And we can hope that the low charism tea party person that we never heard from will quitetly fade from view after thir loss.

[longtree-2009]

enough with the drama. romney has had plenty of time to select a running mate. as a business man, he should already have some kind of plan even if in draft form. he should already know who his top pick would be for vp running mate. whoever romney selects will either uplift his campaign to defeat obama or sink it and him. mccain shot himself in the foot when he selected palin. romney and his running mate have to be a team that can go up against obama/biden. after all obama/biden have had nearly 4 years of on-the-job training.

[jahmartin-2009]

Pleeeezzzzeee, Ms. Myers. No Bushisms!! I don't want another "decider" in the White House. The first "decider" made horrible, horrible decisions, got us involved in two wars and decimated our economy by doubling the national debt.

[euge005]

And his defense at the trial will be the same as the nazis used, just following orders. And the same people are funding the tea party and the various Governors/congressmen that that they own.