One of the few details Romney publicly revealed in advance about the selection process was that he would select a vice presidential candidate who was pro-life.[6]
The actual search began in early April 2012.[cnn20120812cland] Romney asked long-time aide Beth Meyers, to head up the search team.[4] A secure room was established at the campaign headquarters in Boston; all documents pertaining to researching the possible candidates, including 'several years' of tax returns, were kept there, uncopied.[cnn20120812cland]
It was speculated that Romney might announce his running mate in July to create early enthusiasm and boost fundraising,[5], but Romney ended up choosing Paul Ryan on August 1. He then called Ryan, requesting a meeting, which was held at Meyers' home in Brookline, Massachusetts.[cnn20120812cland] When the meeting ended, Ryan learned of the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin, and immediately returned to Wisconsin.
On August 2, Romney called Tim Pawlenty to inform him he had not been chosen.[cnn20120812cland]
The memorial service for Sikh temple shootings prompted a change in plan: the campaign was going to announce the selection on August 10 in New Hampshire. They instead delayed it a day and moved the announcement event to Norfolk.[cnn20120812cland] The campaign, which had had an "elaborate campaign undertaking designed to escape detection",[cnn20120812cland] continued their "cloak and dagger" maneuvers during the hours leading up to the announcement. After Ryan returned from the memorial service, he "walked in his front door, through the house and out the back, through [a wooded area behind his home], and ended up at the driveway of the house where, coincidentally, he had grown up."[cnn20120812cland] The aide who had dropped him off earlier then drove to the other house and picked Ryan up for an hour-long drive to Waukegan Regional Airport, where Ryan's family was waiting to join him on a a plane chartered by the campaign. They then flew to Elizabeth City Regional Airport in North Carolina, a Coast Guard airport also open to the public. There, Myers' son was waiting to drive the Ryan family to a nearby Fairfield Inn, where Romney advisers met with Ryan. The next morning a Secret Service agent joined the family, and Ryan was driven to the announcement event in Norfolk.[cnn20120812cland]
|