Mitch Perry
We’re just a week out from the Republican National Convention, which means we’re just days away from learning who will be Donald Trump‘s vice presidential choice.
Of all the issues that make Americans fear a Trump presidency, the fact that he would have access to the nuclear codes is probably the most dominant concern, which is why it makes some sense if he were to nominate someone from the military.
Enter retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. The 57-year-old Flynn is a 33-year Army veteran who served as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014, but his tenure was reportedly cut short over clashes with top Obama administration officials. He’s been serving as an informal adviser to Trump during this campaign season.
Flynn went on ABC’s This Week with Martha Raddatz on Sunday, where he may have alienated some social conservatives with his stances on abortion and same-sex marriage.
”What people do in their private lives, these are not big issues that our country is dealing with that will cause our country to collapse,” Flynn told Raddatz. “I’m more concerned that our country could collapse because we are not dealing with education issues, immigration issues.”
Flynn says he grew up in a family that supported the Democratic Party, but he doesn’t recognize that party now.
On abortion, he said, “I think it’s a — I think for women — and these are difficult issues, but I think women have to be able to choose what they — you know, sort of the right of choice, but I think that that’s a difficult legal decision that — and I think that women are so important in that decision-making process.”
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are reportedly also thick in the mix for Trump. Either way, we should know who his No. 2 is within the next few days.
In other news …
There was no time off for this reporter this week. Jennifer Granholm headlined the Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee’s annual fundraising event on Saturday night in Clearwater.
Ed Narain went after Augie Ribeiro at an SD 19 candidates forum in South St. Pete, also on Saturday.
Before the weekend, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Police Chief Eric Ward addressed the traumatic week of violence between police and the public in Dallas, Baton Rouge and suburban St. Paul.
In response to Dallas, conservative Florida Republicans Neil Combee and Dennis Baxley say they’ll introduce a “Blue Lives Matter” proposal in the Legislature if they make it back to office this November.
And outspoken conservative talk-show host Joe Walsh has somehow become an issue in the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s race, after his incendiary tweet about President Obama after the Dallas shootings.
