Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) is the latest name to come up in what the media is calling the “veepstakes,” or the run-up to the selection of a running mate for presumptive GOP candidate Mitt Romney.
The selection of Kelly Ayotte as the second banana on the ballot could, of course, be a boon for Mittens, given his poor polling with women in general versus incumbent candidate President Barack Obama. But if reluctant Republican female voters are feeling disenchanted with government but hoped that the selection of a female candidate could present hope for more progressive policies related to women in the mainstream GOP… Kelly Ayotte is probably not going to offer that. Sorry.
Mitt Romney has a vacation house in the state from which Ayotte hails, which just seems to be worth mentioning, because Mitt Romney is a rich guy, ha ha. Ayotte has stumped for Romney in the past, endorsing him in November and saying:
“We know that with his experience, he will make sure that we get our fiscal house in order in Washington, that we stop crushing all of us and our children with mountains of debt, and that we get Americans back to work.”
Ayotte has been described by Sarah Palin (in a very Palin-esque way) as a “Granite State ‘mama grizzly’ who has broken barriers,” but as far as women’s issues go, the NH junior senator isn’t breaking many barriers in the GOP. Among other less progressive stances, Kelly Ayotte opposes abortion in most cases as well as actively fights worker’s rights provisions like minimum wage.
Would you prefer to see Kelly Ayotte on the ballot over Marco Rubio in November?