Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Vice President Kamala Harris has expressed her intent to include a Republican in her cabinet if elected, with speculation arising about Mitt Romney.
- Political columnist Jonathan Martin suggests Harris should appoint Romney regardless of his endorsement, emphasizing his bipartisanship.
- Romney has not publicly declared interest in the role, citing his desire to maintain influence within the Republican Party.
SALT LAKE CITY — For weeks now, Vice President Kamala Harris has repeated her promise to name a Republican to her cabinet, if elected.
It's not a novel idea — every president from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama included a member of the opposite party in their cabinet. Trump nixed the tradition; Biden chose not to resurrect it.
On "The View " this week, Harris offered her willingness to return to that tradition as her best example of what differentiates her from Biden.
The question, then, is who Harris would pick. Liz Cheney? Maybe, Harris acknowledged. Adam Kinzinger? He is on board. Diplomat Jeff Flake? He endorsed Harris for president last week.
What about Mitt Romney?
That's the case Jonathan Martin, Politico's senior political columnist, made Thursday. Not only should Harris choose Romney for her cabinet, Martin wrote, but she should do it now. And not just any cabinet role: She should preemptively name Romney her secretary of state.
"So go to Salt Lake City and stand in Temple Square — perhaps in front of Brigham Young's Lion House — and tell the young-for-77 Romney that he has one last mission to serve the country he loves," Martin wrote. "Play to his sense of patriotism and invoke yours by reminding voters of how Trump runs down America."
Perhaps using Temple Square as a political prop isn't the best of ideas. But offering the call to Romney before November's election is an interesting one.
'Rebuilt and reoriented'
Romney exits the Senate at the end of the year, and he has been coy about his post-retirement plans. He told his biographer, McKay Coppins, he's considering a campus lecture tour or some sort of electoral reform work, but was light on details.
During a Sutherland Institute event at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics this week, Romney hinted he intends to stay active in partisan politics, saying he wouldn't endorse Harris because he wishes "to continue to have a voice in the Republican Party" post-election: "There's a good shot," he said, "that the Republican Party is going to need to be rebuilt and reoriented, either after this election, or if Donald Trump is reelected, after he's the president." Romney, it is implied, intends to play some role in that.
That unwillingness to endorse the Democratic nominee has been the hitch before. Earlier, when rumors swirled about a potential ambassadorship for Romney during a second Biden term, Romney was hesitant, assuming that such a post would be conditional on an endorsement. "Biden's policies drive me crazy," Romney told Coppins.
"And one of the reasons I think there are people like me who shrink at the idea of endorsing Biden is, does that mean I endorse his border policies? Or do I endorse giving trillions of dollars to college students to pay their debt?"
'Not a bad spot'
Martin's solution is that a position in the Harris cabinet should be offered, even if Romney doesn't endorse. "Don't even do it in exchange for his support," Martin wrote. "It would be more powerful if (Harris) says she'll name him to the post without the perception of a Trumpian quid pro quo."
In September, Business Insider's Bryan Metzger asked Romney about Harris' pledge. "I don't think that's a matter that will have much impact on how people vote, but I think it would be a positive step to show balance and to bring people in based upon their capabilities, rather than just their party," Romney said.
Would Romney consider a position? "I've got a long list of people she can consider," he said. "I'm not one of them."
Trump, too, had a lengthy list in 2016, and Romney chose to hear him out. Even after Romney publicly and repeatedly denounced Trump's 2016 candidacy for president, Romney met with him twice to discuss a potential post as secretary of state. Several individuals who formerly held the position — including Hillary Clinton — encouraged Romney to accept the post if offered.
George W. Bush, who didn't vote for Trump, told Romney, "If he actually asks you to be secretary of state, I'll have to rethink what I think about the guy," per "Romney: A Reckoning."
Romney told Coppins he felt drawn to the position by the "really troubling times" in the world, with the rise of China and Russia as geopolitical threats. He also admitted another motive: "I like being involved and being in the middle of things, and having something important to do," Romney said. "It's like, you know, I wanted to be president. If you can't be president, being secretary of state's not a bad spot to come thereafter."
The decision could be beneficial for Harris in another way: it could help her with Latter-day Saint voters in Arizona and Nevada, two crucial battleground states. Both campaigns have rolled out formal outreach efforts to target those voters — most of whom are registered Republicans, but some of whom are reluctant to back Trump. Romney, at present, is the only Latter-day Saint member of the U.S. House or Senate who has not publicly endorsed Trump. Per Martin's suggestion, he wouldn't have to endorse Harris — he would just have to agree to keep serving the country if she wins.
