(Congressional Agenda) – A poll that was conducted earlier this month asked GOP voters which Republican they would like to see join former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as his running mate. The survey, conducted by Issues & Insights and TIPP, had the folks you’d expect to see on the list. However, a piece from The New York Times revealed there’s a man now on the short list of five potential picks that didn’t make it on the poll at all.
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.
As per George C. Upper III of The Western Journal, the fact Cotton has made it on the list, is, as the Times reports, “a signal that the former president is heavily weighing experience and the ability to run a disciplined campaign over other factors.”
“The Times cited three unnamed sources who apparently didn’t have permission to speak with the media but who, at least according to The Times, had “direct knowledge of Mr. Trump’s thinking” on the matter,” Upper wrote. “According to those sources, the current list included Cotton, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.”
Not only are these five potential vice presidential picks, they could also potentially be contenders for positions in Trump’s administration should he beat President Joe Biden in the general election later this year.
The source was quick to point out that Trump’s thinking about what criteria he needs in a running mate could change before the convention in July, with the NY Times saying Trump can be “unpredictable.”
“Cotton’s name didn’t appear on the I&I/TIPP poll, even at the bottom along with New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and Zeldin, both of whom received mention by those polled, but not enough to get them 1 percent of the total,” Upper noted. “Because of the relatively small sample size in that poll and its unusually large margin of error of 4.3 percent, there was no clear winner. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was apparently leading with 15 percent, but former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, with 8 percent, and Abbot and former presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy, with 7 percent each, were all within striking distance of DeSantis.”
The report then divulged, “Former Housing Secretary Ben Carson and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard each came in at 5 percent, Scott showed 4 percent, and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (whom the poll erroneously described as the ‘former’ governor) received 3 percent along with political commentator Tucker Carlson.”
Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Arizona’s Kari Lake, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are currently tied with Rubio at 2 percent.
“Both Burgum and Vance, said to be on Trump’s short list, brought in only 1 percent each, along with former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene,” it added.
Trump proclaimed recently that he would likely announce his pick for a running mate in the days just before the Republican National Convention.
A spokeswoman who represents Cotton has declined to provide any sort of comments concerning the Times story. Cotton recently did an interview with Fox News where he seemingly downplayed talk about being considered for a role in a potential Trump administration.
“I suspect only Donald Trump knows who is really on his short list,” he stated during the conversation Monday on Fox. “When we do talk, we talk about what it’s going to take to win this election in November — to elect President Trump to another term in the White House and elect a Republican Congress, so we can begin to repair the damage that Joe Biden’s presidency has inflicted on this country.”
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