Taking Mitt Romney's Measure
Jules Witcover

Now that the dust has cleared in the messy quest for a Republican presidential nominee, presumptive winner Mitt Romney will have ample time to consider his options for a running mate, and to make a responsible choice. However, that doesn't guarantee that he will do so, and voters should weigh heavily how he seizes the opportunity.

To lead the process of selecting and vetting potential running mates, Romney has selected a longtime political aide, Beth Myers. She was his chief of staff when he was governor of Massachusetts and was the manager of his first campaign for the Republican nomination in 2008. She meets the first qualification -- knowing Romney well and having his confidence -- and seems well suited to gather basic information about the would-be vice presidents on which he will make his decision.

If that is the limit of her role, all well and good. Choosing a running mate, however, also requires judgments that only the presidential nominee can and should make. The presidential nominee first and foremost must see the running mate as truly qualified to be president if fate should dictate. The person picked must also be able to carry out the greatly expanded responsibilities that have fallen to the vice presidency over the last two decades.

These considerations require personal compatibility with the presidential nominee, to continue his policies if succession is required, and the background and capacity to govern. Hence, how he chooses a running mate, the first major decision a presidential nominee must make, is a window into his own maturity and sense of responsibility to the country.

History does not offer a foolproof blueprint for making this decision, but it can be a guide to what to do and not do. Every presidential nominee mouths the cliche that the object is to pick the individual best qualified to be president, and some have tried to make such a choice. But many have thumbed their noses at that standard with transparently political selections, with an eye to winning the approaching election but with little regard to the ability to govern.

The choice need not be either-or.

Many running mates have brought both the ability to govern and to deliver electoral votes, or talent as a strong campaigner. One such was John F. Kennedy's ticket mate in 1960, Lyndon Johnson. His experience as a strong-willed Senate majority leader, coupled with his hard campaigning in the South and support in his native Texas, may well have made the winning difference in their narrow victory that year over Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

On the other hand, LBJ's Republican opponent in 1964, Barry Goldwater, demonstrated either his contempt toward the vice presidency or his irresponsibility by choosing the little regarded but fiercely partisan Rep. William E. Miller of upstate New York because, as Goldwater put it, "he drives Lyndon Johnson nuts." Miller brought neither the resume nor any political clout to a ticket that was destined for defeat in any event.

In 2000, Republican nominee George W. Bush selected as his chief searcher for his running mate a well-experienced former congressional leader and secretary of defense, Dick Cheney, who vetted all the prospective Republican candidates. The one chosen -- Cheney himself -- proved to be a most influential if highly controversial vice president, although one had to wonder how strong a case he made to Bush in favor of any of the others. But the compatibility between Bush and Cheney was clear well before they were elected.

More recently, John McCain's 2008 choice of the little known -- to him as well as to others -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was an act of reckless, desperate political calculation. It did not reflect well on the man who made it, or who at least acquiesced to the decision of political advisers.

All this recommends to Romney a careful and responsible running-mate selection in the ample time he now has to make it. He also has an opportunity to demonstrate that he has the presidential stature that seems to have eluded him on the long primary path to the GOP nomination.