Who Does Gingrich Think Romney Should Pick as VP?

[Author’s note: the following is a cross post that originally appeared on CNBC.com]

Asked on Friday who he’d prefer to see as Mitt Romney’s running mate, three-time Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich offered an entire roster of would-be veep choices.

[Related: Bob McDonnell Urges Tax, Regulatory Certainty]

“Well, I think the people who would do the best job is somebody like either Sen. Rob Portman, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, maybe Gov. Bobby Jindal," he responded.

"There are five or six people who each has the ability to be a good president and each of whom will help win the election and each of whom will broadly share the values that the Republican Party believes in,” he added.

Watch the discussion via CNBC:

Gingrich, the former speaker of the House who abandoned his bid for the Republican nomination in May, touched on a broad spectrum of topics, including the presidential candidates’ messaging, the state of the economy and viewers’ questions via Twitter.

Twitter user @BobAnderson77 asked Gingrich what point he thought the presumed Republican nominee should hammer “day in, day out” on the campaign trail.

“I think it’s really simple” he said. “Can your family afford four more years like this? I think when people think about the deficit, the economy, gasoline, jobs — do you really want four more years like this? I think Obama’s chances of getting re-elected are very small if that’s the last question people ask when they go to vote.”

[Related: Marco Rubio: Election ‘Debate Is About Growth’]

Gingrich also took umbrage with the idea that President Obama had altered welfare work requirements, albeit amid 8 percent unemployment.

“The president of the United States does not have the power to personally revise the law,” he said. “This is not Venezuela. He’s not Hugo Chavez, and he can’t run around and do stuff like this. He’s done it on welfare. He’s done it on the whole issue of immigration. He’s done it with No Child Left Behind."

"That violates the whole principle under which our Constitution exists, and I think Obama, in that sense, may well be the most anti-Constitutional president in American history. So I’m offended by that,” he added.

[Related: Sen. Ayotte Bashes Obama’s ‘Small-Ball’ Politics]

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