Vance/Burgum do absolutely zero for him. Rubio? I think Rubio is fine, but they are both from Florida. I’m not sure who Rubio pulls unless Rubio is normal enough to get some Never Trumper votes back. What do you think these three bring to the table, and especially Rubio?
I hate Vance and he’s a total sycophant. I also think he brings very little to Trump beyond some populist ideas, many of which Trump seems less concerned about than he did in 2016 anyways.
Burgum would at least help a little and he’d probably toss $50-100M of his own money into the race. He’s reassuring to suburbanites as seemingly normal but he has signed some pretty hard right legislation in North Dakota.
Rubio is easily Trump’s best electoral choice. Suburbanites like him. Women like him. He’s supported by almost all GOP groups, tho perhaps not beloved by MAGA. And he’s Hispanic when Trump is much more likely to make inroads into this coalition than he will among black voters. Plus Rubio will likely claim Nevada as his “home state” to address the issue related to two candidates from the same state, and that is both helpful because Nevada is a swing state and it allows him to bring up his “son of a bartender” working class roots as the reason for the move (his parents worked in Vegas casinos for a time).
Tim Scott, Ben Carson and Elise Stefanik are allegedly still under consideration but not first tier. Scott probably helps a bit with black men and suburbanites, but honestly he’s boring, too much of a sycophant, and not from a swing state. I don’t see it with him. The other two seem less likely.
If Trump wants to win and maximize any win, Rubio is the easy choice. People will like it, he will destroy Kamala in a debate, and he’s a good campaigner.
But with Trump, who knows???