Rupert Murdoch is lobbying Donald Trump to pick Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin as his running mate, which is worth mentioning considering today’s news about how the Trump campaign is planning its first post-June 27 CNN presidential debate rally to take place in Virginia, with Youngkin on hand.

Murdoch, you may remember, wanted Youngkin to mount an 11th-hour campaign for the Republican Party presidential nomination, a manifestation of his intense personal distaste for Trump, so what the ninetysomething media mogul wants might not resonate within TrumpWorld the way it did in 2016.

Trump met with Youngkin last week at a Trump-owned golf club in Northern Virginia, and the convicted felon ex-president said afterward that he “could consider” the term-limited governor for the VP slot on the GOP ticket, though multiple reports have it that Youngkin is nowhere near being on the VP short list for Trump, with the Republican convention less than a month away.

I can see the sense to Trump giving Youngkin more than a passing thought. Recent polling in Virginia seems to show a path for Trump to be competitive in the state, which he lost in both his 2016 and 2020 runs, and hasn’t gone for a Republican since the 2004 cycle.

I don’t know how much stock I put into those polls, but they’re data points to factor in.

Youngkin is consistently mildly over with Virginia voters, though, take that with a grain of salt. He made a splashy, expensive push for Republicans to take control of both houses of the General Assembly in last year’s midterm state elections, and the result of that effort was to flip the House of Delegates back to Democrat control, meaning he’s a lame-duck governor reduced to having to work from a minority political position for the final two years of his term.

The reason he came up short last fall: he ran his big mouth about wanting to ban abortion.

The most visible manifestation of Youngkin’s lack of political acumen since his 2023 loss is the high-profile failure to get state lawmakers to buy into his proposed $2 billion stadium in Alexandria for Ted Leonsis, the owner of the WNBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals.

Anyway, on paper, at least, Trump picking Youngkin could put Virginia even more in play in November, certainly more so than going with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burghum or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio would benefit Trump’s Electoral College prospects, given that North Dakota and Florida are already safe Republican states.

Because it would make more sense for Trump to want to go with a guy like Youngkin to build his electoral base, of course, this means the Trumpers won’t do it.

TrumpWorld is too focused on settling scores, and Youngkin, just because he didn’t dismiss the idea of challenging Trump last fall when the likes of Murdoch were urging him to do so, is another score to be settled.

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ICYMI

Report: Rupert Murdoch wants Glenn Youngkin to enter 2024 Republican race
Published date: July 12, 2023 | 1:16 pm

MAGA billionaires writing big checks to swing Virginia General Assembly elections
Published date: October 5, 2023 | 9:57 am

Study: Virginia voters do not trust Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on abortion
Published date: October 11, 2023 | 4:40 pm

Glenn Youngkin on 2020: ‘I’ve consistently said that Joe Biden was legitimately elected’
Published date: November 6, 2023 | 10:28 am

Virginia voters side with Democrats over Republicans, Youngkin, abortion restrictions
Published date: November 8, 2023 | 12:27 am

Youngkin tries to spin embarrassing loss as ‘roadmap for Republican success’
Published date: November 8, 2023 | 6:23 pm

Youngkin, Leonsis roll out proposed $2B public-private Alexandria arena deal
Published date: December 13, 2023 | 11:07 am