Romney-Davis 2012

Artur Davis, the one member of the Congressional Black Caucus to oppose Obamacare, would go on to become a Republican and be a prominent speaker at the 2012 RNC in Tampa (before rejoining the Democrats in 2015 on grounds that the GOP didn't have much interest in minority outreach).

What if Mitt Romney had picked Artur Davis as his 2012 running mate?
 
Artur Davis, the one member of the Congressional Black Caucus to oppose Obamacare, would go on to become a Republican and be a prominent speaker at the 2012 RNC in Tampa (before rejoining the Democrats in 2015 on grounds that the GOP didn't have much interest in minority outreach).

What if Mitt Romney had picked Artur Davis as his 2012 running mate?

I don't know how well it would've worked out. It may have served to send more black votes Romney's way, but I can't imagine it would be a significant amount. It'd possibly also make Romney look much more like a RINO, choosing a running mate who was a Democrat up until that year and therefore presumably fairly liberal (although I admit to not knowing much about Davis's stances in general). However, with that said, it's possible that with the right approach we could see Romney and Davis feeding on black disappointment with Obama to make it a slightly closer race. But to be honest, at most I see this gaining the ticket only Florida (which was very close IOTL), and in general my bet is they do worse.
 
I don't know how well it would've worked out. It may have served to send more black votes Romney's way, but I can't imagine it would be a significant amount. It'd possibly also make Romney look much more like a RINO, choosing a running mate who was a Democrat up until that year and therefore presumably fairly liberal (although I admit to not knowing much about Davis's stances in general). However, with that said, it's possible that with the right approach we could see Romney and Davis feeding on black disappointment with Obama to make it a slightly closer race. But to be honest, at most I see this gaining the ticket only Florida (which was very close IOTL), and in general my bet is they do worse.

Davis was pretty conservative. He supported the medicaid expansion, but opposed the individual and employer mandates. He was for traditional marriage and pro-gun, which would make the social conservative GOP base happy. I think Romney could slip him through.

Plus, by virtue of not having Paul Ryan, Romney will be stronger with older voters and retirees. Ryan's entitlement reform stances scared these people.

If Romney gets 12% of black voters instead of 8% (ergo Bush levels) and wins older voters by a little more, I think that delivers him a couple more states.
 
Plus, by virtue of not having Paul Ryan, Romney will be stronger with older voters and retirees. Ryan's entitlement reform stances scared these people.

I keep hearing that, but is there any actual evidence of it? In Florida, for example, Romney-Ryan did better than McCain-Palin had done. Nationally, according to exit polls, Romney-Ryan got 56% of over-65 voters. https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2012/results/president/exit-polls.html In 2008, exit polls showed McCain-Palin getting only 51 percent of voters over 60 in 2008 and and Bush-Cheney 54% in 2004. https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html
 
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