Could Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum form Republican ticket?

BY MICHAEL HAYNE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

No more than a day after saying Mitt Romney was “the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama,” Rick Santorum said that he would be perfectly opened to serving as Mitt Romney’s VP nominee should Romney become the nominee. Perhaps realizing that his little joyride of continuing Republican’s dreams of anybody but Romney is coming to an end, Mr. Frothy appears to be kissing up to Mr. Etch-a-sketch.

“Of course. I mean, look. I would do in this race as I always say, this is the most important race in our country’s history. I’m going to do everything I can. I’m doing everything I can. I’m out there. In the last 10 months, I’ve had five days off. Two for Thanksgiving, and three for Christmas. I’ve been working every single day. My wife and my kids, we’re just busting our tail, because we know their future and all of our children’s future is at stake in this election, and I don’t want to be the guy who has to sit with my granddaughter, 20 years from now, and tell stories about an America where people once were free. I don’t want to have that conversation,” Santorum said in an interview with CBN’s David Brody.

Well, at least the deranged right-wing real life version of Ned Flanders has come to accept that there simply aren’t enough Bible-thumping southern states to carry him. There has been a lot of speculation about Romney potentially choosing his number one surrogate and occasional governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, as his VP nominee. After all, Christie has risen to prominence for being a socially moderate (kinda) and fiscally conservative (kinda) governor of a blue state, even if he is a blustery bully that reaffirms every stereotype of Americans being fat, loud and obnoxious.

But is it possible for Mr. Frothy and Mr. Etch-a-Sketch to put aside all of the visceral and petty fulminations leveled at each other and form a strong Republican ticket?

Santorum has been able to sway blue-collar Republican (more of an oxymoron than compassionate conservative) voters with his humbling background and plain style, as well as his ability to garner the religious crazies who maybe have reservations about Romney. After all, the only job of the VP is to be geographically and economically diverse as the nominee so as to balance the ticket, so it is possible. If anything, it will give political cartoonists a much-needed bump following the Bush drought.

Michael Hayne is a comedian/VO artist/Columnist extraordinaire. Follow (or yell) him on Twitter and Facebook, and like NJ Laughing Liberally Lab.