2010 US Presidential Election

[Tim Thomason]

Here's a little image from the Wikipedia list of Presidents, in case anyone's worried about numbering or dates or such (or the amount of Vice Presidential vacancies in the last ten years!):

[Marky Bunny]

Some of the badges from the O6 Dem convention.

[Marky Bunny]

Here are some the Democrats, we have been focusing on the Republicans recently.

Alan Dale as Santos Chief Adviser, and Chairman of the re-election campaign Mitch Bryce

Christopher Lawford as White House Chief of Staff Nate Singer

Patrick Dempsey as New York Senator Andrew Thorn

Mark Blum as Wisconsin Governor Mark Katenmoyer

William Devane as Former Secetary of State Lewis Berryhill

[Marky Bunny]

Thursday March 11th
Singer starts the General Election campaign with attack on Walken LIVE on Hannity Show
White-House Chief of Staff Nate Singer was the main guest on the Sean Hannity show on Fox earlier and he launched into a bitter attack on the Republican nominee Glen Walken.
Asked if he believed the president would win the election he said "Of course, Glen is the past, the president is still the future". He also attacked Walken's attacks on the economy "If we had listerned to him, the economy would have been alot worse off, he attacks us about banks falling, but he wanted less regulation of the fininical system, not more, now he claims to be a economic genuis, give me a break".

White House Chief of Staff Nate Singer in the middle before tonights Hannity show on Fox.

[Marky Bunny]

OK, some slight re-casting after discusions, we have re-cast Micheal Jack

Mark Derwin as Minnestoa Governor Micheal Jack

Patrick Fabian as Virginia Governor Robert Buchanan

David Starzyk as Richard Lassiter, son of Former President Owen, and Candidate for the Senate seat in California against Sam Seaborn

Colem Feore as New Jersey Governor Dan Pritchard

[Jay Cruger]

More '06 buttons

[Jay Cruger]

'06 buttons

[disputed]

wsj.com, Friday March 12th

Walken Advisors Round On Singer

The campaign team of presumptive Republican nominee Glen Walken took to the airwaves last night to attack the comments made by White House Chief of Staff Nate Singer on Sean Hannity’s show last night.

Firstly, on Fox & Friends Walken’s national co-chair and Governor of Missouri Henry Shallick attacked Singer saying “The White House Chief of Staff is living in a fantasy world. They have overseen an economic slump the like of which we haven’t seen in seventy years. They wanted to give us a trillion dollar stimulus package that offered barely any stimulus. The current administration has comprehensively failed to build an economic foundation that the country can build on and are now casting around for people to blame.”

Shallick was followed campaign manager Anne Stark who appeared on Morning Joe on MSNBC to say “We’re only too happy to talk about the economy, whilst Mr. Singer is throwing out allegations that have no substance we see the jobless numbers remaining above 10% for the third quarter in a row. President Walken wants to get the economy growing again. He wants to see small business creating jobs and growth. The only strategy the White House has is to throw good money after bad and it’s got to stop.”

Walken himself remained above the fray holding a series of rallies in Texas discussing his economic recovery plan.

[Marky Bunny]

Friday March 12th
Walken calls for a "sensible election, not a shouting match"
Glen Walken today told reporters in Crawford, Texas, that he wanted a "sensible election, not a shouting match" this came after White House Chief of Staff Nate Singer launched a bitter attack on the presumptive Republican nominee live on Fox's Sean Hannity show yesterday.
"What I want is simple, I want the voters to listern to my ideas, listern to the President, and decide who they think best is ready to mend our economy, and lead our great Nation for the next four years. I don't want a shouting match".
He admitted he was a "little disapointed" by Singer's remarks "I like Nate, and worked with him well when I was Speaker and he was in Congress, but I feel that sort of outburst does nothing to get the voters turned onto the issues of this election, it turns them right off".

[Marky Bunny]

Saturday March 13th
ELECTION TRACKER
New Developments in Electoral map

Walken Blue Santos Red
Strong Walken 176
Lean Walken 41
TOTAL WALKEN 217
Strong Santos 141
Lean Santos 59
TOTAL SANTOS 193
TOSS UP 128

Changing States

1. Maine Lean Walken to Strong Walken
2. Michigan Lean Walken to Strong Walken
3. Minnesota Toss-up to Lean Walken
4. New Mexico Strong Santos to Toss-up
5. New York Strong Santos to Lean Santos
6. North Dakota Toss-up to Lean Walken
7. Ohio Toss-up to Lean Walken
8. Pennsylvania Toss-up to Lean Santos
9. South Carolina Strong Walken to Lean Walken

[Jay Cruger]

New York Times, March 13, 2010

McClinton joins Walken campaign


Ron McClinton to lead Walken to victory?


Former Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, Ron McClinton, who worked for the Lewis Eisenhower campaign has been brought on board the Walken campaign. McClinton in the last ten years has lead the victories of Chuck Webb, Eric Swenson, Jack Stephens, Jesse Crase, United Kingdom Prime Minister Maureen Graty, and Jack Buckland. He also worked for the Hoynes campaign in 2006.

McClinton joined the campaign early this morning Friday, as a consultant, and is attributed to getting Walken competitive in the Northeast especially New York, within hours of joining the campaign. His only losses with candidates were with John Hoynes and Lewis Eisenhower. McClinton is a plus to the campaign as he has almost never lost a race. McClinton will be heard from alot now that he is on staff, and may very well lead Walken to victory, since he has helped put New York near in play, within 12 hours of his employment.

[Tim Thomason]

There are two issues with the thread right now. First, we're overwhelmingly focusing on the Republican side of the race (as a Democrat and Santos-supporter I'm against that). Second, we've moved further and further away from The West Wing series and their rich universe of characters. New characters are fun and all - and there's precedent for introducing them out of the blue, like the show did with Santos and Vinick - but I like the idea of using an obscure character and elevating him to importance, like was done to Skinner and Alexander.

So, to compensate for the subtle lack of connection to "West Wing: The Original Series" here's five of fifteen articles centered on the fifteen main characters of that show:

Sam Seaborn - Rob Lowe

Seaborn Senatorial Campaign Wins Internet Acclaim
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sam Seaborn, the Democratic nominee for Senator of California, was the big winner at Wednesday's online Internet Awards. Seaborn himself made an appearance, streaming live from his campaign headquarters in Laguna Beach. The Internet Awards require that all speeches be shortened to just three-words, which must have proved a challenge to a legendary speechwriter such as Seaborn. His three-word response was: "Let's get 'em!"

Seaborn's campaign website, http://www.seaborn4california.org, was registered six years ago, not long after his failed run for the House seat in California's 47th District, by a notorious cybersquatting company. Seaborn was able to repurchase the website in December, and with the help of Bram Howard, the former Personal Aide to President Matt Santos and one of Seaborn's top advisers, turned the site into the top-awarded political site of all time.

seaborn4california.org features interactive features, such as video hosting, a "get out the vote" campaign (which was seen as instrumental in securing a strong victory for Seaborn on Super Tuesday), and highly praised social networking feature and message board system (built within the site) that is seen as revolutionary within the strata of modern websites.

The site's versatility, as well as it's focus on Seaborn's campaign, is to be well-observed by other politicos. Rumors are that President Santos himself might update their web presence to match Seaborn's, although Seaborn can only hope his opponent, Republican nominee Richard Lassiter, doesn't follow suit.

C.J. Cregg - Allison Janney

First Female White House Chief of Staff Talks Children, Homeschooling, and Marital Difficulties
Friday, March 12, 2010
Many of you may remember C.J. Cregg from her days as White House Press Secretary, as detailed in the award-winning PBS documentary series, Access. You might also remember when she broke ground, taking over as White House Chief of Staff after the late Leo McGarry suffered a heart attack in 2005. If you're an Ohioan, you may even remember her from her recent Democratic campaign for Senator, which she famously cancelled. We were able to score a recent interview with Ms. Cregg at her home in Dayton, to talk about her personal life.

Redbook (RB): Ms. Cregg, thank you for agreeing to this short interview.

C.J. Cregg (CJ): It is not an issue, please be as thorough as you need to be.

RB: You raise two young children, have a second novel coming out, and a part-time job managing the Franklin Hollis Foundation. How do you find time to do all this and be so involved in the political process?

CJ: Well, my children are my number one priority. I am glad they have such a loving father, my husband Danny, or else I would have absolutely no time to myself. I'm currently on leave of the Franklin Hollis Foundation, and my only "job" at the moment is national chair of the Santos re-election campaign. Since there was no Democratic competition to Santos, my position is mostly organizing for the general election. It's a little time-consuming since Nate [Singer, White House Chief of Staff] and Mitch [Bryce, Santos campaign director] have just launched the general, but I'm not 'down in the trenches' like all my other campaigns. It's more demanding-of-experience, than demanding-of-time.

RB: You mention your husband Danny. It's been reported that you are currently undergoing a trial seperation. Are you undertaking divorce proceedings?

CJ: I certainly hope not. Danny and I had our problems, and they came to a head when I was running for Senate. He issued an ultimatum, and I feel it spun out of control. With the Senate campaign over, I have more time to spend at home, with my children and Danny, despite the 'legal separation,' and we're actually planning on homeschooling our two babies.

RB: With regards to your Senate nomination, what do you think Congressman Justin Willis' chances are against Senator Ford?

CJ: I think Willis is a great politician and Ohioan. Both of his parents are legendary Congressmen, and he will serve my state well in the Senate.

Toby Ziegler - Richard Schiff

Ziegler's "Life In The White House" continues to top best-seller list
Saturday, March 13, 2010

Ziegler's novel "Life in the White House" continues to top the New York Times Best Seller List, for the second week in a row. The timing and content of the novel has helped maintain it's popularity, as it was released the same day Glen Allen Walken clinched the Republican nomination. His words have been taken seriously by Republican and Democratic critics alike, and he has been ambling on the talk show circuit, with appearances on Meet the Press, The Daily Show, and Taylor Reid.

Ziegler, a prominent Bartlet staffer remembered mostly for his involvement and sentencing in the Space Shuttle leak, is not the first Bartlet staffer to write a novel. Novels have also been written by Commander Kate Harper (who served as Deputy National Security Adviser during Bartlet's second term) and C.J. Cregg (Bartlet's first press secretary and second Chief of Staff). Ziegler's novel, however, is the first to cover the entirety of the Bartlet presidency, as well as the election leading up to, and go into details on the state of politics and the Democratic Party today.

Ziegler, as well as many in the liberal left, see Santos as not fulfilling the expectations given him when he was elected with a Democratic caucus. Many see him as failing to live up to the liberal Democratic legacies of Newman and Bartlet, and some could say we need another conservative presidency to energize the left again.

Leo McGarry - John Spencer

The Centre Opens New Leo McGarry Wing
Sunday, March 14, 2010
"The Centre," the once-clandestine organization and private museum run chiefly by former Vice Presidents Bob Russell and John Hoynes, opens it's new wing in honor of Leo McGarry and other "Vice Presidents who died while serving the country" on Monday. The Monday opening is also the 243rd birthday of President Andrew Jackson, a hero to McGarry and considered the first Democratic President. Jackson has a role in the history of the Vice Presidency, in that he was the first President to treat his Vice President (Martin Van Buren) as a successor and help elevate Van Buren to the Presidency.

McGarry, who passed away on Election Day 2006, never served as Vice President, but was only Vice President-elect for a few hours. Even though this is disputed, he was certified posthumously and entered unto the ballots of the Electoral College (this has been considered unconstitutional, but the point is moot as Ray Sullivan also graciously declined to serve as VP and Congress certified no Vice President after the 2006 election). Other Vice Presidents honored in McGarry's wing (removed from the main wing and given grander displays) include:[list][*]George Clinton, who served both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and passed away on April 20, 1812[*]Elbridge Gerry, Madison's second Vice President who passed away on November 23, 1814[*]William Rufus devane King, famed President Franklin Pierce's Vice President who passed away after a month in office on April 18, 1853[*]Henry Wilson, the second Vice President to Ulysses Grant who passed on November 22, 1875[*]Thomas A. Hendricks, Grover Cleveland's first Vice President who passed away on November 25, 1885, within a few months of entering office[*]Garret A. Hobart, William McKinley's first Vice President who passed away on November 21, 1899[*]James S. Sherman, William H. Taft's Vice President who also passed away on October 30, 1912, while running for re-election

The wing's opening is scheduled to be attended by Centre chairs Hoynes and Russells, as well as honorary chairs former Vice President Lewis Eisenhower. Although all former Vice Presidents are honorary chairs, the others are often known to be to ill to attend public functions and aren't expected. At press time, former Vice Presidents Roland Pierce and Eric Baker have specifically cited health issues as reasons for not attending. As always, Leo McGarry will be represented at the event by his daughter, educator Mallory O'Brien.

Josh Lyman - Bradley Whitford

DNC Chairman Holds Strategy Session
Friday, March 12, 2010

In the midst of the turmoil following Sullivan's concession, the DNC has held several strategy sessions, only loosely affiliated with the Santos presidential campaign run by Nate Singer and Mitch Bryce. Former Santos staffer Louise Thornton and First Lady Chief of Staff Donna Moss were amongst the top party officials seen arriving at the top-secret March 10th meeting.

Whether Walken wins the election or not, his nomination points to a growing conservative movement that could spell disaster for the Democratic party in the upcoming congressional and senatorial elections. Although the partys have maintained a close balance these last two years, with only a few seats picked up by the Republicans, the sporadic poll numbers given to Santos and Congressional Democrats suggests such a possibility, and only a few grassroots movements, such as Sam Seaborn's Senatorial campaign, might be able to overcome it.

The next five will be Josiah Bartlet, Charlie Young, Mandy Hampton, Abigail Bartlet, and Donna Moss.

After that, the "later-season five" of Will Bailey, Kate Harper, Annabeth Schott, Arnold Vinick, and Matt Santos.

After that (hopefully): A revised West Wing: 2010 Intro.

[Marky Bunny]

Sunday March 14th
London Mayoral race gets ugly
The current Labour Mayor of London Gerald Fox told a meeing of activits in Tower Hamlets, that Reed "was a return to failure" and Stanley was a "self-serving egomanic".
Mayor Fox is a close race with Former Conservative prime-minister Henry Reed, and Former Labour Mayor Ben Stanley.
"Reed was a failure in Number Ten" he said and "Stanley is on a ego drive".
The current polls see the three locked in a three way tie, with the Liberals candidate Joe Blake, way behind.

[Marky Bunny]

politicalbiographies.com
Senator Harry Proctor
Born January 7th 1962, Greenville, South Carolina.
An American Politician currently serving as the Junior Senator from South Carolina.
Proctor was born in Greenville, South Carolina, one of four children. Proctor’s parents, Andrew Proctor and the former Janet Rawlings divorced when he was five. His mother operated a hair solon. Proctor was educated at the Christ Church Episcopal School, Greenville South Carolina and Wade Hampton High School in Greenville.
Proctor graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law with a J.D. in 1984. Upon graduating, he entered private practice as a lawyer
Proctor was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1994. After only one four year term, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina's 3rd congressional district. Proctor won by a large margin against the incumbent Tim Cole. He was unopposed for re-election in 2000.
In December 2001, he announced he would seek the Senate seat of incumbent Democrat Walter Harvey, Harvey was 78 years old and the seat was regarded as vulnerable. Proctor despite running a campaign described by many as lacking in much style or passion, he won 54-46%.
In 2008 he won re-election after a strong challenge by State Treasurer Gary Burrows by 51-49%.
Proctor‘s main work has been opposing the increase of Federal government spending, both under the Bartlet and Santos administrations. He was opposed to federal bailouts for banks and other corporations. For his stances on budgetary issues, he has been strongly supported by the fiscally conservative political group Club for Growth. He has been a consistent supporter of school prayer and has introduced legislation that would allow schools to display banners stating "God Bless America"He favors banning all forms of abortion, apart from cases of rape and incest.
He married his high school sweetheart, Debbie Ryan, on September 1, 1984; the couple have four children. Susan born 1985, Robert born 1987, Stuart born 1989, and Alice born 1992.

[Marky Bunny]

politicalbiographies.com
Governor Charles Forrester
Born February 15th 1954, Atlanta, Georgia.
An American Politician currently serving as the Governor of Georgia.
His father George was a Vet and his mother Jenny was a teacher. Forrester has been known as Charlie since childhood and prefers to be called by that name (he was sworn in and signs official documents as "Charlie Forrester").
He attended Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta, and later the John Marshall Law School, graduating in 1977.
He worked at Atlanta, Law Firm Brown and Stringer from 1978 to 1981. In 1981 he left his job and travelled across the country from Georgia to Calafornia for two years, working in bars, restruants, Hotels and even as a garbageman for six months in Austin Texas in 1982. He said that the experience changed his outlook on life, and convinced him to go into public serice and try and help people. After his trip he got a job as an intern for Georgia Congressman Walter French, before becoming a legislative aide to Georgia Senator Max Lobell from 1984 to 1991, rising to be his Chief of Staff from 1988.He then served in the Lassiter Administration in the Small Business Administration, before winning election to the House of Representatives in 1994 for the Georgia 15th District with the retirement of the 84 year old Harold Tyler. He defeated Democratic challenger Gene Carling 61-39%.
After running for re-election un-challenged in 1996, he decided against re-election instead deciding to run for Governor against Democratic incumbent Warren Duncan. In a bitter and negative campaign by Duncan, Forrester famously when struck by an egg by a heckler at a rally, attempted to wade into the crowd and get at his attacker. He was also not helped by praising US General Sherman, a man hated in the state, when he called him an “American Hero”. Never the less the race was a close one, and Forrester lost the election by a mere 1,124 votes, and after three recounts.
Rather than return to Congress two years later, he went to work for lobbying Firm Wooding and Howlett in Washington.
In November 2001 he resigned and he announced he would seek the Governship for a second time. He faced Duncan’s Lt Governor William Cooke. In another nasty race, Forrester won 54-46%. Forrester was re-elected to a second term in the 2006. His Democratic opponent was the Mayor of Atlanta Anthony Dyson. Forrester won handily with 59% of the vote .He is constitutionally ineligible to seek a third consecutive term as Governor in 2010.
Forrseter's main focus in office has been on reforming state government, cutting taxes, and growing the state's economy. Forrester has advocated reforms designed to cut waste in government, most notably the sale of surplus vehicles and real estate. Prior to Forrester’s becoming Governor, no state agency had even compiled an inventory of what assets the state owned, much less managed them.
He rejected much of the stimulus money last year because he said it would force him to raise taxes.

Forrester is known for his unorthodox style. During all three of his Governor races he held meeting’s and press conferences in local bars and clubs, called “Have a beer with Charlie”. Other than the famous egg incident from 1998, four years later when told by a heckler that he was talking rubbish, he replied by saying “Come up here and prove me wrong”. The heckler declined.

Forrester is against abortion, apart from cases of rape and incest. He also is against Gay marriage but believes it to be a state matter not a Federal one.
In 1986 he married the youngest Daughter of Senator Max Lobell, Rachel. They have two Children, Max born in 1987 and Alison born in 1991.

[Marky Bunny]

politicalbiographies.com
Governor Phil Prior
Born March 17th, 1963, Dallas, Texas.
An American Politician currently serving as the Governor of Texas.
Prior was born in the Cityplace neighborhood of Dallas to Father Henry, a serving Police Officer in the Dallas Police Department and his mother Ruth. His father was in Deeley Plaza, the day President Kennedy was killed.
After graduating North Dallas High School in 1981, he followed his father into the Dallas Police Department, gaining rapid promotion to Captain within just five years. In 1989 he was promoted again this time to Deputy Chief of the Homicide Squad. In 1991 he became Assistant Chief in the Forgery Squad, and helped to break a major Forgery ring in the City. After a year he was transferred to the Child Abuse Squad, and ended a child abuse ring by a Catholic priest, Father Ryan O’Connor. When the Local Bishop, Graham Cook attempted to block Prior's investgation, by going to his bosses, claiming it was "damaging the Church" Prior arrested him for obstruction of Justice. O'Connor was found guilty in November 1997, but said the case had made him "sick". This is often cited as the main reason he left the force two years later to start up his own private Security Company.
In 2001 he was asked by the Republican’s to run for the new 32nd congressional district Seat in Congress. In November 2002 he beat local Teacher Samuel Marshall 67-33%.
In his re-election in 2004, and 2006 he was un-challenged.
In March 2008 he was the surprise choice as the Republican candidate for Governor to replace retiring Barton Hopkins. The favorite Senator Liz Clark declined to run, instead threw her support to him, and he overcame Hopkins Lt Governor Frank Gordon in the primary.
He was helped that the Democratic Congressman Tim Fields, a close friend of President Santos was involved in a kick-back corruption scandal involving the awarding of Federal contracts to firms owned by Fields Friends and Family. He won the election easily in November 2008 63-37%.
As Governor Prior has been a proclaimed proponent of fiscal conservatism, has campaigned on tax reform and job growth he resisted creating a Texas state income tax and a sales tax increase.
Prior is pro-life and opposes government funding for elective abortions. In his first two months in office, he signed an abortion bill that limited late-term abortions and required girls under the age of eighteen who procure abortions to notify their parents. He is also known for his socially conservative views on homosexuality. He supports the definition of marriage as between "one man and one woman". He condemned the United States Supreme Court decision in Wilder vs. Texas striking down sodomy laws and called Texas' last such law "appropriate."
He married Emma Lawrence in 1986, a Nurse, and they have three Children, Andrew born in 1988, Shaun born in 1991, and Laura born in 1995.

[disputed]

politico.com, Tuesday March 16th

Walken Hits Santos on “Jobless Recovery”

Republican Presidential nominee Glen Walken has questioned the policies of the current White House administration at a town hall meeting in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Walken told an audience of 200 hundred students at City College that only he had the plan and the strength of character to drive the change that the economy needed.

The presumptive nominee walked amongst the students taking open questions from them telling one young student that “unless we set small business free, then we won’t see the recovery kick in”. He repeated his pledge to cut corporation tax in order to kick start the economy.

Turning his attention to President Santos, Walken said “You may have seen a whole host of the President’s advisors and staff on talk shows telling you the recovery is kicking in and I don’t know about you but I’m left with one question – if the recovery is here where are the jobs. To me this is looking more and more like a jobless recovery.”

The former acting President continues to keep up a busy schedule in spite of the fact that he has already clinched the GOP nomination, he announced yesterday that he will be campaigning in Pennsylvania this weekend.

[Marky Bunny]

Mitch Pileggi as Georgia Governor Charlie Forrester.

Note this is a re-casting.

[disputed]

thehill.com, Wednesday March 17th

Kendrick Denies Interest In VP Slot

Indiana Governor Stephen Kendrick has denied that he is a front runner for the Vice-Presidential slot on Glen Walken’s presidential ticket.

Kendrick was speaking on Taylor Reid Sunday and told the eponymous host that he was running for re-election and intended to focus all of his attention on securing a second term as Governor.

“The only electorate I intend to face in November will be the people of Indiana. They elected me to this job and if they elect me again in November they deserve to get what they pay for – so to speak.”

Kendrick refused to confirm or deny that he had been contacted by the Walken campaign saying only that “the vice-presidency is not a job that I’m pushing for. I’m the Governor of Indiana and intend to be so for another four years.”

The denials of the Governor don’t seem to have convinced everyone with leading Republican strategist Wade Foley telling Fox News “I’m sure that Kendrick’s on the shortlist, I think he’s just being coy. Walken’s shortlist has about seven names on it and he (Kendrick) is definitely one of them.”

Another of the most mentioned contenders Georgia Governor Charlie Forrester refused to comment on the speculation at all during an interview with local news, four times refusing to answer a direct question over whether he would be interested.

It’s widely believed that Forrester and Kendrick are on Walken’s much vaunted shortlist with most commentators speculating that he is also looking at Texas Senator Liz Clark and Minnesota Governor Michael Jack amongst others.

[Marky Bunny]

Thursday March 18th
Texas Governor's son lets slip his Father is being vetted for Veep
The middle child of Texas Governor Phil Prior, Shaun, 18, has let it slip out on his Facebook page that he his Father is being vetted by the Walken team as a possible running-mate.
He posted yesterday that he "had a chat with some guys who there to talk to Dad, asked me about this page, my college friends, girlfriends,-"yeah, right" LOL, you can maybe guess why they where here".
The remarks seem to inidcate that Governor Prior is on the Walken short-list, and that the vetting Process seems to taking place in a very short space of time, that Walken is looking to make an announcement within the next couple of months.
Prior who has only been Governor of the Lone Star state since January last year, might be a risky choice, but he had served three terms in Congress, before that he was a Dallas Policeman for eighteen years, before setting up his own Secruity business.
He is a favorite of Conservatives, and is strongly anti tax, and anti-gay marriage, although his speech to CPAC in Washington two weeks ago which was panned by everyone, does not seemed to have hurt his Veep chances.