Game Show! GOP Candidates Pick Their VPs

 BAIER:  Welcome back to Orlando for our final round, our final question from YouTube.  Our wildcard question comes from Darrell Owens in Richmond, Virginia.

   (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

   QUESTION:  If you had to choose one of your opponents on the stage tonight to be your running mate in the 2012 election, who would you choose, and why?  And why would this person help you make the country better?

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   BAIER:  Again, if you had to choose a running mate, one of the people on the stage with you, who would you choose and why?  Thirty seconds down the row.

   Governor Johnson?

   JOHNSON:  Well, that would be the guy three down, Congressman Paul.  And that would be...

   (APPLAUSE)

   And that would be the notion that this country is about liberty and freedom and that right now we are facing an extraordinary crisis that, if we do not address it now, we're going to find ourselves in a monetary crisis that is going to leave us all with nothing.  And if we want to look at an example of that, that would be Russia that experienced a monetary collapse, that in our lifetimes may never acquire (ph).  We need to avoid that now.

   BAIER:  Senator Santorum, who would you choose?

   SANTORUM:  I would pick someone who would do what I have articulated I would do as president of the United States.  That's what you -- that's what a vice president should be, someone who would follow through on what you promise the American public to do.

   BAIER:  You have eight to choose.

   SANTORUM:  And -- and I -- and I would say that, you know, right now that, you know, the guy that I'm agreeing with most up on stage is probably the guy to my left.  So I would say that Newt Gingrich would be the guy that I would -- I would pick as someone who -- who would follow through with what I'm saying.

   BAIER:  Speaker Gingrich?

   GINGRICH:  Yeah, I'm going to disappoint those in the audience who want this to be a Hollywood game.  I don't have any idea who I would pick as the vice presidential nominee.  What I do know is, it would have to be a person capable of being president of the United States, and that would be the first criteria.  These are all good friends of mine.  I couldn't imagine hurting any of their feelings by choosing one tonight.

   (LAUGHTER)

   BAIER:  Congressman Paul, hurt away.

   PAUL:  I don't plan to make a choice at the moment, because I am on national polls.  It seems like I'm in third place now.  I think it would be inappropriate.

   (APPLAUSE)

   As soon as -- as soon as I'm one of the two top tier, then I will start thinking along that line.  But right now, I'm going to defer, and just work very hard, and make sure that I stay in the top tier and then eventually be one of the top two contenders.

   (APPLAUSE)

   BAIER:  Governor Perry, how do you answer Darrell Jones?

   PERRY:  Well, staying with the game show idea here, I don't know how you would do this, but if you could take Herman Cain and mate him up with Newt Gingrich, I think you would have a couple of really interesting guys to work with.

   (LAUGHTER)

   I don't know how you'd do it.

   BAIER:  Governor Romney, Darrell Owens would like an answer.

   ROMNEY:  There are a couple of images I'm going to have a hard time getting out of my mind.

   (LAUGHTER)

   That's one, and Gary Johnson's dogs are the other, I'll tell you.

(LAUGHTER)

   I'm -- I'm going to go with Newt on this, meaning I'm going to subscribe to his same view.  I know I'm going to disappoint.

   But my view is, if you pick a vice president, if you're lucky enough to become the nominee of this party, picking a vice president would be something you give a lot of thought to, a lot of evaluation to, and you want someone who without question could become the president of the United States.

   These people could all fill that -- that position.  Any one of them would be a better president than what we have now.

   (APPLAUSE)

   BAIER:  Governor Romney, I hate to follow up here, but you called Governor Perry unelectable based on his Social Security...

   ROMNEY:  Actually, I -- actually, I didn't use that term, but the newspaper did.  That happens now and then.  But the point is still, I think, that there are some problems that exist in each of our backgrounds that make it harder for us to get elected.  I hope we get elected.  I hope one of us gets to that White House.  I think we will, because I think this president has failed miserably.

   But I'll tell you one thing.  I -- look, Governor Perry and I disagree on some issues.  I think I probably disagree with everybody -- we all have differing views on different issues.  But one thing's for sure:  We all agree that President Obama needs to be former President Obama, and we're going to make that happen.

   (APPLAUSE)

   BAIER:  Congresswoman Bachmann, back to the original question?

   BACHMANN:  Obviously, we need to have a strong constitutional conservative, and that's what I would look for in a vice president.

   But I want to say this, as well.  Every four years, conservatives are told that we have to settle, and it's anybody but Obama.  That's what we're hearing this year.

   I don't think that's true.  I think if there's any year -- President Obama has the lowest public approval ratings of any president in modern times.  He hasn't gone to the basement yet.  It'll be a lot lower than what it is now.  That's why we need to choose a candidate who represents conservatives and constitutional conservative positions.

   (APPLAUSE)

   BAIER:  Mr. Cain?

   CAIN:  This is a game, and it is hypothetical.  I'll play the game.

   (LAUGHTER)

   If -- if Governor Romney would throw out his jobs growth plan and replace it with 999, he has a shot.

   (LAUGHTER)

   If he does not, I would probably go with Speaker Gingrich, who I have the greatest admiration for, in all seriousness, because of his history and because of his depth of knowledge.  I could go on because I have respect for everybody up here.  But it's a game.

   (LAUGHTER)

   BAIER:  It is a YouTube question.

   Governor Huntsman?

   HUNTSMAN:  You know, I'm tempted to say that, when all is said and done, the two guys standing in the middle here, Romney and Perry, aren't going to be around, because they're going to bludgeon each other to death.

   (LAUGHTER)

   But -- but I'm also reminded of about four years ago, we had two frontrunners in similar situations, one by the name of Rudy Giuliani, I think, and the other by the name of Fred Thompson.  They seemed to disappear altogether; I can't remember where they went.

   But I would have -- I would have to say, since Chris Wallace doesn't qualify as somebody on the stage, so I can't -- I can't pick one of you, that Herman Cain, because of his selection of ties, the fact that -- the fact that we both -- we both apparently agree with the gold standard, wearing the yellow ties here tonight.  And because of the good neighbor policy, 999, mixed with my tax policy, would be the most competitive thing this nation could ever achieve.  I'd have to say Herman's my man.

   (APPLAUSE)