John Thune Won't 'Foreclose Options' On Being Mitt Romney's Vice President

WASHINGTON -- When asked Sunday whether he would accept an invitation to run as vice president on the ticket with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said that "you never rule out opportunities or options" in political life.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Thune said that Romney has "a number of good people to choose from" for vice president, but did not rule out accepting the nod, if it were to come.

"I don't think you ever, you never rule out opportunities or options ... you don't want to foreclose options," Thune said when he asked whether he was interested in the vice presidential nomination. "But I have a job to do in the U.S. Senate. I like what i'm doing."

Thune was one of Romney's earliest endorsers in the Republican primary contest, backing Romney before any of the state primaries or caucuses had been held. He is one of a handful of current high-profile Republican politicians believed to be under consideration for the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Comments

[DrAWNiloc]

12:14 PM on 05/14/2012

Unless he, too, has flip-flopped on the issue, being pro-choice ends any prospect of Thune being VP. The fact that he won't bring a lot of votes with him doesn't help, either.

[Countess]

09:20 AM on 05/14/2012

Thune is the classic bank-owned politician and a hardcore pro-wall street extremist but the corrupt beltway media refers to him as a moderate. To be called anything other than a moderate by the beltway media a politician must have been caught promoting somethin evil such as being for peace.

[calypso54]

08:43 AM on 05/14/2012

Why is it that Reps. are afraid to go on other networks? Gotta keep the Faux news mavens happy?

[lisalulu]

08:22 AM on 05/14/2012

Sen. John "do nothing" Thune: a perfect vapid fit.

[maconmo]

08:20 AM on 05/14/2012

Thune was last seen loading his dog on top of the car and heading to Illinois on Sunday afternoon.

[rothomaha]

08:05 AM on 05/14/2012

Perfect choice! A man who has accomplished absolutely nothing remarkable in office to run together with another such! Perhaps the GOP can rename itself, in keeping with another earlier American political party, the "Do Nothings"!

[lurkinman]

08:47 AM on 05/14/2012

Wow, spot-on. Pretty much a guy that says the "right" things, but doesn't seem too interested in the hard work to do anything about them. As a heartbeat away from the presidency? To even help the ticket to get elected? Even the tea party folks would probably say "who?"

[TheMilesHome]

07:56 AM on 05/14/2012

The Republican "Young Bums" are not even being considered for the job.

The choice will be safe and lock-step with Romney.

Just like most establishment GOPers.

[ponchoparadise]

07:55 AM on 05/14/2012

I have been saying for the longest time that I thought Thune would
be the Teabagger/Repub nominee. I still feel that the GOP power brokers see an
election that they feel they can win, just not with Romney at the helm. So expect
to see more stories like the Bullying revelation to come out about Romney
over the next several months. Stories that show Romney as unworthy to run
but don't reflect badly on the Teabagger/Repub brand. I suspect Romney should
be concerned about the death by a thousand cuts campaign ginned up by his
own party rather then the Democrats with Thune stepping in when Romney has
has been beaten into submission. If you think this is far fetched I just suggest
that you look back at 2000 and Bush vs. Gore. Throw in electronic voting and a
organized Republican voter suppression campaign and I see another stolen
election. If all else fails they have the Supreme court in their hip pocket.
The bottom line is that there are some very very powerful people who think
that this is their country to with it what they will and feel
strongly that the country shouldn't be lead by a black man.

[JohnnyKay]

07:54 AM on 05/14/2012

"You don't want to foreclose options"?

Gobbledygook.

Probably learned as a lobbyist.

[Allgernon]

07:52 AM on 05/14/2012

A heartbeat away from the Cayman Islands.

[ardethbay]

07:30 AM on 05/14/2012

In that picture he looks like Neidermeyer from animal house and the TwistedSister videos.

[DoctorGreeves]

07:29 AM on 05/14/2012

Thune: Just another low-rent opportunist.

[LickMyDecalsOffBaby]

07:16 AM on 05/14/2012

The Veep slot with a losing candidate like Romney would be the kiss of death to the aspirations of any politician with an eye on the Oval Office.

[XtfrM2]

07:36 AM on 05/14/2012

Very true. Poor Mitt Romney is on a foo.l's errand. The few rational, semi-sane Republicans remaining know they don't stand a chance in 2012. They'll make a serious try for the WH in 2016. For this go-round they're stuck with the Mittbot and his hopeless vanity campaign. It'll be enough for the GOP to try and survive the shellacking they'll take at the state level. The po.or go.obers have overreached in every way imaginable, and they'll pay a steep price.

[Olethea]

07:08 AM on 05/14/2012

Your house? Yeah, I'll forclose that. But not my options.

[StephenBP]

07:04 AM on 05/14/2012

Here he is, creeping into the national spotlight from his hiddy hole in the extreme right part of the stage, doing what Republicans do best....saying the opposite of what they really mean.

You know darn well that Thune DOES want to foreclose on those options and will do so the first chance he gets!