Michigan Republicans Want Rubio for Veep

By Steven Shepard  //  September 25, 2011 | 8:35 a.m.
Updated: September 27, 2011 | 1:50 p.m.

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. -- It has taken Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., just nine months to transform from a freshman member of the World's Most Deliberative Body to the Republican many party activists want to become their vice presidential nominee.

According to the National Journal Hotline/National Association of Home Builders Straw Poll, a survey conducted this weekend here at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, Rubio is the top choice to appear on the 2012 GOP ticket as the vice presidential nominee.

The straw poll featured a unique, entirely open-ended question about vice presidential preference. Twenty-three percent of participants in the straw poll who answered the question wrote in Rubio's name, more than any other individual.

Former Oakland County Republican Party Chairman Paul Welday, a Rubio supporter, said the Florida senator is "very articulate" and offers "geographic balance" to the ticket, but that he would also consider Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the chairman of the House Budget Committee. Just one percent chose Ryan as their favored nominee.

"I think Paul Ryan would be a strong second choice," said Welday.

Rubio is the only politician among the top seven Republican contenders who is not an active presidential contender. Fourteen percent of participants chose businessman Herman Cain, 13 percent chose former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 12 percent want Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.

No other individual finished above five percent, including such inside-the-Beltway favorites as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (two percent), Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (two percent), Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (less than one percent) and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (less than one percent). Lorraine Robinson, of Farmington Hills, Mich., said she chose Gingrich as her preferred vice presidential nominee because, while she likes Gingrich, she has concerns about his electability at the top of the ticket. "I don't think he can win as president," Robinson said. Sandy Grulke, also of Farmington Hills, added that Gingrich "would be a great adviser to any president." Jeff Horton, of Hillsdale, Mich., also said Rubio and Ryan were his two top choices for Vice President. Rubio is "on his way up," he said, and Ryan's perch as a committee chairman makes him more valuable in his current post. Ryan "is far better off staying right where he is," said Horton. The National Journal Hotline/National Association of Home Builders Straw Poll was conducted Friday and Saturday at the conference, with 681 voting-age conference attendees participating.

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