We all know that former President Donald Trump is making another run for the White House.
However, the massive question concerns who he will choose to be his vice president, which could, in many respects, be a deal maker or breaker with his base and with voters who might make up their minds based on his choice of running mate.
In a recent interview with Newsmax, Trump immediately ruled out Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as a running mate, calling it an "unlikely alliance." That's not difficult to believe, especially in recent days as the former president ramped up political attacks on DeSantis, who is widely expected to jump into the race eventually.
Who might he pick? It's up in the air, but he recently noted that he would lean toward a "respected,", "common sense" person to join him on the ticket.
"You’ve got to be smart, you’ve got to be respected, you’ve got to have a conservative voice and common sense. We’re not talking about conservative, we’re talking about common sense," Trump said, with many jumping in to speculate who that could end up being.
While that's still not much of a clue on its head, a recent Washington Post piece noted that Trump would likely select his opponents "from three general lanes of candidates: women, conservatives of color, or a trusted adviser."
"He’s not necessarily looking to balance the ticket geographically, but what he can do is pick to balance gender, race, ethnicity — a lot of different lanes there. It could be everything from a Tim Scott in South Carolina to an Asian American in California, or somebody Hispanic in Texas. There are so many choices and paths. And there’s lots of time to go," said former Trump 2016 and 2020 pollster Tony Fabrizo.
He added: "Once you get past those two issues — loyalty and Trump going more with his gut — Trump has a lot of leeway in who he would pick."
A February Washington Examiner report noted four possible women Trump could choose as his vice presidential running mate.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, or former Arizona journalist Kari Lake. There could be a few more, but those seem to check most of the boxes for which Trump might be looking.
My exclusive interview with @karilake was eye opening. For the first time she mentions a possible Arizona Senate Run as well as the possibility of being Trumps pick for VP. @americafirstnewsofficial pic.twitter.com/0FKNIt2sGC
— Grant Stinchfield (@stinchfield1776) March 29, 2023
What's refreshing is that if Trump wins the party's nomination next year, he'll have a deep bench of potential running mates from which to choose. That can only be a good thing for America.
Now that Trump faces an indictment from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, his poll numbers will likely continue to rise, and that could draw out even more potential VP contenders who would love to join his ticket.
Only time will tell who Trump ends up selecting for the job, but one can be assured that it'll send shockwaves when it happens.