Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) says he wants Thomas Jefferson’s job — the one he had in Richmond, not Washington.
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R), left, speaks next to Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney during a rally at Crofton Industries in Portsmouth, Va. (MARK MAKELA/REUTERS)
“Well, again, I’m not interviewing or auditioning,” McDonnell said on Fox News. “I got Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson’s job. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Not that he’d mind being second banana to Romney, as Jefferson was to John Adams before winning the top job himself.
“Any candidate that calls a potential nominee and says, ‘Listen, you can help the party; you can help the country’ — of course you would consider it,” McDonnell said. “I’m not asking for it. I’m not interviewing for it. I just want to see Mitt Romney win.”
Then McDonnell went on to make the case for why the governor of Virginia could help Romney do just that, on or off the ticket.
“All I can tell you is the 30, 35 percent of the independent voters in Virginia will determine the outcome of our election,” McDonnell said. “It’s important to win Virginia for a Republican presidential candidate. What I’m going to help him do during these next couple months campaigning is to talk about jobs, and energy, and taking care of our veterans. That’s what is going to carry the day in Virginia.”
