Ayotte is seen as a rising star in Republican circles but her lack of experience makes her an unlikely vice presidential choice for Romney according to political experts.
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney embraces Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., R-N.H., Monday, April 30, 2012, in Portsmouth, N.H. after she introduced him to speak at the state fishing pier.Is New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte experienced enough to be Republican presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s pick for vice president?
On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Ayotte fueled speculation about her consideration as a vice presidential pick when she said, “I have—some would say—better experience than Barack Obama had when he was a senator and ran, having been the chief law enforcement officer of my state.”
But, despite rampant speculation, some of those who know Ayotte best – Republican politicians from New Hampshire - say they doubt Ayotte will be chosen, whether because of her inexperience or her home state.
“She hasn’t been there long enough to do it,” said Doug Scamman, a former New Hampshire House speaker who hosted Romney’s presidential campaign launch at his farm. “I don’t see it happening.”
Scamman added, “Mitt comes from Massachusetts, she comes from New Hampshire. I think that doesn’t do a candidate any justice to pick someone from their own neighborhood.”
Ayotte, who declined to comment for this story, told the Nashua Telegraph, “I just got elected to the Senate by the good people of New Hampshire and that has been and will continue to be my only focus.”
Ayotte, 43, served five years as New Hampshire’s attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 2010. Previously, she worked in the attorney general’s office and served as counsel to former New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson, a Republican. She was appointed attorney general by Benson and reappointed by Democratic Governor John Lynch.
When she ran for Senate, Ayotte had no political experience but a strong reputation as New Hampshire’s top law enforcement officer. She presided over the first death penalty conviction in New Hampshire in nearly 50 years, in which Michael Addison was sentenced to death for killing a police officer. She prosecuted another capital murder case in a murder-for-hire scheme that resulted in a life sentence.
Ayotte won a tough four-way Republican primary before coasting to victory with 60 percent of the vote over Democratic U.S. Representative Paul Hodes to win her Senate seat, in a year when Republicans swept almost every major race in New Hampshire.
Ayotte endorsed Romney early and campaigned with him before the New Hampshire primary. Ayotte campaigned with Romney in New Hampshire again last week and appeared on Meet the Press as a Romney surrogate on Sunday. Politicians and pundits from former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich to MSNBC political editor Chuck Todd have speculated about Ayotte as a potential vice presidential pick.
But while few in New Hampshire doubt Ayotte’s ability, even her supporters say they believe Romney will be wary about picking a running mate who has had limited national exposure. Romney, they say, does not want a repeat of 2008 when Republican presidential nominee John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a running mate and was dogged with questions about her inexperience and lack of knowledge.
“I think the Republican Party learned a lesson from the Sarah Palin nomination last time about nominating somebody who is perceived as not ready to be president of the United States, whatever other strengths they might bring,” said former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen. “I do not expect the party is going to nominate somebody with that little experience again.”
Cullen compared the talk about Ayotte to speculation that Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore would choose then-New Hampshire governor and now-Senator Jeanne Shaheen as a running mate in 2000. Shaheen was seen as a potential boost to the ticket, as a female politician, but was not chosen.
Dean Spiliotes, a political science professor at Southern New Hampshire University, said Ayotte has never had the experience of being vetted by the national media. “She’d have the misfortune of following Palin as another young, up-and-coming female politician,” Spiliotes said. Spiliotes said he does not believe comparisons between the two women are accurate. But, he said, “From the Romney campaign’s perspective, the one thing they do not want is a debate over whether or not a young, fairly new politician is qualified to be president.”
In addition, though New Hampshire is a swing state, Spiliotes said there is little geographic advantage for Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, to choose another politician from the Northeast.
That said, some top New Hampshire Republicans welcome the speculation. Merrimack County Sheriff Scott Hilliard, who was a county co-chair for Romney’s presidential campaign and Ayotte’s Senate campaign, said he believes Ayotte would be an excellent choice.
“I think that Kelly is an up and coming star,” Hilliard said. Hilliard said Ayotte has “proven her conservative roots” but also shown that she can also work in a bipartisan way to get things done.
Rich Killion, Romney’s 2008 New Hampshire primary strategist, also called Ayotte a rising star in national politics. “As a senator, she in short order has really made a mark for herself, but also been really responsive and accessible to the community,” Killion said.
Killion said Ayotte has been an outspoken critic of government spending and overregulation, particularly in her opposition to President Obama’s health care overhaul. “As a spokesperson, she’d be a very articulate and very clear and a new voice on the national scene,” Killion said.
Killion said he anticipates that Romney and Beth Myers, Romney’s former gubernatorial chief of staff who is overseeing the vetting process, will determine internally a set of characteristics they are looking for in a vice president and conduct a thorough search and vetting process.
Other names that have been mentioned are Florida Senator Marco Rubio, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, Ohio Senator Rob Portman, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, among others.
Even if Ayotte gets passed over, that doesn’t mean the speculation will disappear. Spiliotes said if Romney wins the general election, “I think (Ayotte) would be high on the list for Attorney General.”