Could Kelly Ayotte be Romney's running mate?

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney embraces Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Monday, April 30, 2012, in Portsmouth, N.H. after she introduced him to speak at the state fishing pier.

/ AP Photo/Jim Cole

On Wednesday, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte will march alongside a vacationing Mitt Romney in the Wolfeboro, N.H. Fourth of July parade, her office has confirmed to CBS News. It'll be far from the first time the two politicians have been together: Last November, the first-term Republican was sitting next to Romney when he was asked on Fox News about potential running mates.

"There are probably 15 names of people, including Kelly Ayotte," he replied.

Ayotte, who was elected in 2010, has been a consistent advocate for Romney in New Hampshire during the Republican primary process and beyond, winning positive reviews in the process.

"She has been a totally hands-on surrogate who has been like a volunteer," said former New Hampshire Attorney General Tom Rath, a senior campaign adviser to Romney in the state. "She will do anything we ask her to, and she does it with great enthusiasm and spirit."

The appeal of Ayotte as a running mate is obvious: Youthful and articulate, the 44-year-old former attorney general can make a strong case for Romney while appealing to female swing voters, a voting bloc expected to play a major role in deciding swing states like Colorado and Ayotte's native New Hampshire. (A CNN/ORC international poll this week showed President Obama with a double-digit lead over Romney with women nationally.) A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she has staked out a reputation as strong on national security - an area where Romney has little in the way of credentials. 

Yet Ayotte is rarely mentioned among the leading contenders to join the Republican ticket. That's due in part to Sarah Palin: Memories of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee - another 40-something woman with little national name recognition before she was tapped - are still fresh in many Republicans' minds. The notion that Palin was not prepared for the presidency has taken root among many in the party, and Romney's advisers have stressed that his running mate must be someone ready to step into the top job if necessary. Ayotte, who has just 18 months of Senate experience, may - fairly or not - be seen as unable to meet that criterion.

Rath declined to compare Ayotte to Palin directly, but he stressed her credentials in arguing that it is unfair to characterize her as not ready to be president. "She is a tested longtime public servant with a career going back over a decade," he said, pointing to Ayotte's five years as attorney general, when she prosecuted a pair of high-profile murder cases and argued a parental notification abortion case before the Supreme Court.

"It is fair to say about Kelly Ayotte that she has more substantive experience in elective office than Barack Obama did when he was elected President of the United States," he said.

Last week, Ayotte stood in for Romney at a conference of abortion rights opponents in Virginia, where she showed off her willingness to serve in the attack dog role often required of running mates.

"How we treat the weakest among us is truly a reflection on who we are as a nation, and President Obama's record shocks the conscious when it comes to protecting life and unfortunately on many other issues as well," she said. "He has a vision of America that is very different from what we want for our children and our grandchildren. I shudder to think what would happen in a second term."

Asked about being on the Republican ticket last month, Ayotte told New Hampshire's WMUR, "I don't even think about that."

"I'm focused on representing New Hampshire in the Senate," she added.

Still, Ayotte seems open to getting on the ticket: She told the Boston Herald in May that debating Joe Biden in a vice presidential debate "would be quite enjoyable." If the Romney camp decides that her potential appeal outweighs concerns about a perceived lack of experience, she might just get the chance.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte: Defense cuts will "hurt our economy"

[jail4judges]

You've got to be ******** me! This woman, when N.H. Attorney General, KNEW of the "Speedy Trial Rule" but allowed her brothers and sisters of the Bar Association as Counties Attorney to continue their violations of due process of law as the end does NOT justify the means! She was under an oath then and now, and who should have been fired! not hired, but then again we have a lot of ignorant people here in this state of the sheeple fed by newspapers who thrive on the attorney advertisements to maintain the cover up of a disgrace to the term of the fourth estate, of them just as guilty as her! She likes parades eh? then tell her to Take a Hike!

[ewbrown3]

Nocults,
Here you go.

1. Individual Mandate Excise Tax(Jan 2014): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying "qualifying" health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the higher of the following

2. Employer Mandate Tax(Jan 2014): If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $2000 for all full-time employees. This provision applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. If any employee actually receives coverage through the exchange, the penalty on the employer for that employee rises to $3000. If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer).
Combined score of individual and employer mandate tax penalty: $65 billion/10 years


3. Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013): This increase involves the creation of a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single).

4. Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans($32 bil/Jan 2018): Starting in 2018, new 40 percent excise tax on "Cadillac" health insurance plans ($10,200 single/$27,500 family).

5. Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax($86.8 bil/Jan 2013)

6. Medicine Cabinet Tax($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin)


7. HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.


8. Flexible Spending Account Cap - aka"Special Needs Kids Tax"($13 bil/Jan 2013): Imposes cap of $2500 (Indexed to inflation after 2013) on FSAs (now unlimited). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education.


9. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers($20 bil/Jan 2013): Medical device manufacturers employ 360,000 people in 6000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax.

10. Raise "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI($15.2 bil/Jan 2013):

11. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons

12. Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D($4.5 bil/Jan 2013)

13. Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike($0.4 bil/Jan 2010):

14. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals(Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new "community health assessment needs," "financial assistance," and "billing and collection" rules set by HHS

15. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies($22.2 bil/Jan 2010):

16. Tax on Health Insurers($60.1 bil/Jan 2014): Annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year. The stipulation phases in gradually until 2018, and is fully-imposed on firms with $50 million in profits.


17. $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives($0.6 bil/Jan 2013)


18. Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2(Min$/Jan 2011): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns.


19. Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting($17.1 bil/Jan 2012): Requires businesses to send 1099-MISC information tax forms to corporations (currently limited to individuals),

20. "Black liquor" tax hike(Tax hike of $23.6 billion). This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel.

21. Codification of the "economic substance doctrine"(Tax hike of $4.5 billion).

[bflat879]

She already has more experience than Obama did, when he was nominated for President. One thing Obama's nomination did was take experience off the table. If Romneycare has taken Obamacare off the table, the same is true about experience.

[lsjogren]

People can debate whether Sarah Palin is an airhead or actually an intelligent politician whose speaking style makes her vulnerable to being considered an airhead.

No one is going to claim that Kelly Ayotte is an airhead.

[sharon3780]

true, but like Palin...would she make a good President if need be? She looks at him like she is Lassie.

[sweetcakesmaria]

Kelly Ayotte is an unknown outside of her home state which could be a plus for the Republicans. But remember 2008, Sarah Palin was an unknown outside of Alaska until she was introduced to the nation by John McCain. Once the public got an opportunity to peer inside of the Palin book, they didn't like what they saw.

[bassinapple]

McCain's pick of Sarah Palin proved Republicans are ready for a female president. Sadly our media was in the tank for Obama in 08 and decided to destroy her, her family, her record, even her special needs child. Palin was held to a sexist double-standard. Reporting her gaffes while covering up Obama's.

[sharon3780]

Palin plays victim and you have fallen for it, hook line and sinker. I almost feel sorry for you. Uninformed and probably lives in the south.

[sweetcakesmaria]

bass Please don't try to blame the media for Sarah Palin's demise. All the damage done to Palin was done by Palin. It didn't take the media and the public long to see that Palin was a functional airhead. Every time she opened her lips, something stupid flew out of her mouth. The media merely reported to the public what they heard.

[marychgo]

Sorry, Mitt, but few American women vote for a woman just because she's a woman; her POLITICS is key. Even for other offices, given the choice of a women I think is wrong on key issues vs. a man I think is right on key issues, I'm gonna vote for the man every time. And that's even MORE important at your level: no female vice presidential candidate I disagree with is going to convince me to vote for a male presidential candidate I disagree with.

[Wpr5683]

RomneyCare - 1 new tax for Mass. I don't live there, so I'm not affected by it.
ObamaCare - 21 new taxes for all 50 states and territories. It doesn't matter where we live, we're all screwed over by ObamaCare.

Romney owned up to the fact that it was a tax.
Obama is still in denial.

[mikeva2]

Mitt still calls it personal responsibility. You don't get to free ride on the rest of us any longer.

[Nocults]

Please post the 21 tax increases, and the President's denials.

We'll wait...............................................

[Thinkbeforeyouwrite]

Ayotte said Obama was responsible for the downgrade in the US credit rating. It was not fair to put that on him when it was mostly Congressional inability to work together to ease our debt problems. That was cited in the credit report as the main reason. Ayotte was just speaking as a loyal GOPer and that is par for the course. Also, it is very insulting to women that the GOP thinks running a woman for VP would convince them to vote for her ignoring the fact that they may actually use them brains to think about issues and policy differences.

[Nocults]

Deficit increases
Reagan/Bush 189% over Carter
Clinton 37% over Reagan/Bush
Dumya 115% over Clinton
Obama 34% over Dumya, as of July, 2011

[Thinkbeforeyouwrite]

Lucas: Okay, I'll put part of the blame on the Democrats for our problems if you put part of it on the Republicans. Do you have the courage to do that? You drink your share of the GOP Koolade don't you? In your comment, you do leave out a few facts that might favor Obama policy like he was trying to keep us out of a depression and spending was part of that effort and recommended by top economists. Do I think he should get more serious about the debt like looking at the Simpson Bowles plan again? I sure do.

[nh4ronpaul]

She is a neocon loser just like Rubio. And not too bright either. kelly allowed NH to be swallowed up by voter fraud for years... and voted for NDAA. She's no patriot.

[msfit32]

I still prefer Rubio :)

Kelly sounds like an amazing woman though. It sounds like she could hold her own when the media starts their anti-woman attacks against her.

I am still amazed at how viscious the media and Democrats are towards the more traditional ('conservative' if you will), strong woman.

Nothing is more obvious to me than 'liberal' hate towards women who don't buy what they are selling.

[Nocults]

"strong" conservative woman like Sarah Palin who's doing an NBA player while her 15 year old daughter is getting knocked up by the neighborhood druggie????????????????

[lsjogren]

As I always say, the left's idea of a utopia is a society where people look different but think alike.