Ed Rendell begs Romney to pick Bachmann for VP

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) on Sunday advised presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to pick tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) as his running mate.

During a panel discussion about Romney's selection for the Republican ticket, CBS host Bob Schieffer asked Rendell if he had a prediction.

"I just want to go on record, I'm for Michele Bachmann for vice president," Rendell laughed. "I want everyone to be clear about that."

"But I do think that Gov. Romney has chosen the right criteria," the former Pennsylvania governor continued. "He's going to pick someone who he believes is ready to be president. Gov. [Bob] McDonnell would fit that bill. So would Sen. [Rob] Portman and some of the others that are being talked about."

"People don't vote for vice president. Although, let me say that I believe that America has a spectacular vice president [in Joe Biden], who's done just an amazing job. And I think that weighs on President Obama's side."

It's no secret that Rendell believes that Bachmann would scare independent voters away from supporting Romney in the same way former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may have hurt Sen. John McCain's chances in 2008.

Bachmann has been mired in debt since suspending her failed campaign for the Republican presidential nomination earlier this year. Recent polls have indicated that her re-election to the House is not certain this year, with 34 percent of voters in her district giving a "poor" rating.

The Minnesota Republican has most recently come under fire from Republicans and Democrats for suggesting that that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin, had infiltrated the U.S. government on behalf of radical Islamists in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Watch this video CBS's Face the Nation, broadcast Aug. 5, 2012.

(h/t: Politico)