Meet Mitt Romney's (one-time) running mate
Former Mass. Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey describes the vice-presidential running mate her former boss will pick.
Meet Mitt Romney's (one-time) running mate
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
Kerry Healey knows who is going to be Mitt Romney’s running mate.
Well, at least she knows that to-be running mate’s likely qualities. And she ought to. As the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, Healey was the last person to have that role.
Stipulated, as Romney himself has said all along, that the potential vice president must be competent, and ready to take over any time.
“Beyond that, I’m sure that he is looking for someone who could be a partner with him,” Healey said in an interview Thursday while she was in Philadelphia on a campaign trip.
“My experience with Gov. Romney in Massachusetts has taught me that he likes having people around him that he can work with closely, to whom he can delegate and trust, and people who are team players,” Healey said. “He likes people who bring new ideas to the table and who are not afraid to express those ideas.” And then, after a decision is made, pitch in to execute it.
Healey described a process that sounds like the case-study system from Harvard Business School, of which Romney is an M.B.A. graduate.
“It’s very much a free-wheeling discussion where people are encouraged to play devil’s advocate and to look at issues from every possible standpoint,” she said. “But it’s also based on data and the incorporation of however much information is available, and sometimes he’ll ask people eto go out and get more data if the proper data doesn’t exist.”
So maybe Romney should just end all the suspense and pick the already vetted – and experienced - number two? He knows Healey’s qualifications, for pete’s sake.
"I don't think that is going to happen," Healey said, chuckling. She said she had not submitted vetting papers, for one thing. "Have you?"
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
