Though the NPP initially announced that it was going to choose the running mate for the 2012 General elections in mid-2012, recent indications are that indeed the choice for the running mate and its announcement is just a few weeks away. With the recent indications, have also come a plethora of arguments for and against this candidate or the other. Various stakeholders, party bigwigs, party supporters and even politicians from other political parties are all trying earnestly to argue their way out as to which running mate would be best for Nana Akufo-Addo and which one would not. But indeed these discussions are not entirely new, it even predates the last general elections when all sorts of arguments very similar to the ones being made today were advanced in favor for almost the same set of hopefuls this time around; perhaps this is exclusive of the hopefuls from the Brong Ahafo Region whose names have come more into the mainstream discussions. But just like happens in all contests, one name would stand out and that would be the name all other contenders or supporters of contenders would try to undermine in other to push their candidate up the list and this predominant name is often the name of the existing office holder (champion) or the last known such holder. This is not to underrate or demean any hopeful but the truth which cannot be denied is the fact that in the contest for the Running mate slot, the name which comes to mind first is the name of Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, the running mate for the 2008 General Elections and it is pretty obvious that most arguments have tried to focus on how he helped or didn’t help in the 2008 General Elections and why that should influence the choice this time around. I would like to restrict this piece to one which would as much as possible be devoid of the bandying of names and one which would focus on some of the issues which are being raised. But to start, lets also realize that it is still an issue for which prime reasons a running mate should be picked – while others believe the best running mate is the person who can add more votes to the main candidate, others believe that the best running mate is the person who can best compliment the candidate and others too believe that the best running mate is the one who can best help the flagbearer once elected President govern and govern competently. But of course, I would choose to reserve these arguments for another time and go back to the issues being raised up against the choice of Mahamudu Bawumia. One of the first things people raise is the fact, that, to them, Dr. Bawumia is not a popular personality across the length and breadth of the nation who is easily recognized and who has stature enough. However, if you ask me, what I see is that, while this could have been a valid criticism of the choice of Bawumia in 2008, same cannot be said today. Indeed though not scientific, I recently watched a news item on TV Africa where Dr. Bawumia’s name indeed was uttered by almost all who were randomly interviewed as to who their choice is for the Running Mate slot for the New Patriotic Party in the upcoming 2012 General Elections. It begs to be said however that the same question pre-2008 would have elicited a very different response and I might even go further to say that before his nomination in 2008, a similar question at a similar location would have very easily come up with responses devoid of the name Mahamadu Bawumia. So really, the fact that Mahamadu Bawumia has become a household name since the 2008 General Elections cannot be overstated. Indeed, it won’t be an overused cliché for one to say that Mahamudu Bawumia has already been marketed and as such, the Party would need very little in terms of effort and resources to market him once again. And this brings me to the point that, if anything, this could be the single greatest argument in favor of Dr. Bawumia. The fact that together with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, they have been marketed enough and that it would take very little effort and resources to re-market them. Indeed, for me, it would be indicting on the NPP flagbearer’s decision making prowess if he fails to name Bawumia as his Running Mate again. This is because first of all, one of the biggest arguments made by the Akufo-Addo Camp pre the 2008 National flagbearership contest was the fact that the NPP Presidential Candidate for the 2008 Elections had been sold to the Ghanaian people and that he stood the best chance of being bought by the Ghanaian people if he is presented again. Again, the point was made either directly or indirectly that the 2008 loss of the New patriotic Party could not be attributed to the candidate or indeed the ticket presented but was mainly due to among others weaknesses in the party structure, internal party tensions at especially the local level and the lack of vigilance on the day of the poll. This argument was also well accepted by the rank and file of the NPP and it was based on arguments such as these that the great elephant family decided to give Nana Akufo-Addo and overwhelming endorsement of close to 80% support from the over 105,000 delegates who elected the Party’s flagbearer. So would it therefore not be interesting, if the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party who faced calls for his axing citing very similar reasons to what is being cited against Bawumia but in whom the Party reposed overwhelming confidence due to the above arguments put out, drops his partner in the 2008 Elections for a fresh new soul come 2012? It would be the highest form of double standards and possibly hypocrisy should the Party drop Dr. Bawumia from the ticket, unless and I repeat, unless the Party would want to reverse its earlier convictions and blame Dr. Bawumia solely for the defeat of the Party in the 2008 General Elections. Probably, the Party could only blame Dr. Bawumia if they believe the really unsubstantiated claims by many who have not bothered to even look up the figures, that Dr. Bawumia brought nothing to the ticket. As has already been published, indeed, the NPP did better in Dr. Bawumia’s home base than John Mahama who people claim brought so much to the NPP ticket did in his own Gonjaland base. Not to bore readers with loads of statistical data but the facts as they are, are that with Dr. Bawumia on the ticket, the NPP was able to increase its share of the votes in Yagaba Kubore from 31% in 2004 to 41.5% in 2008; the NPP increased its share of votes in Walewale from 29.5% in 2004 to 39.2% in 2008 and lastly, the NPP was able to increase its vote percentage in the Nalerigu Constituency from 29% to 32%. Again, the NPP substantially increased its performance in all the three Northern Regions in the 2008 Elections and am not sure that one can deny Dr. Bawumia of this credit. Interestingly, many of those who speak about the 2008 ticket do not even bother to cross check the figures and find out how well the ticket did in 2008. If anything, it was the performance in the South in 2008 that let the NPP down not the performance in the North. But as mentioned earlier, Dr. Bawumia is the quote and unquote the defending champion in this whole Running Mate saga and it is not surprising that all sorts of valid and invalid points are being raised to challenge his nomination. But for me, the really substantive point should be how valid the considerations which were factored into his picking in 2008 are now. Let’s access if Dr. Bawumia still has the capabilities for which he was taken and for some of us, that would be the best reason for maintaining him or changing him. This is really important because if it is identified that Dr. Bawumia cannot still hold himself up for those qualities, then it would obviously justify the need to change him as the reason for picking him in the first place would have changed but if he can still be held up for those qualities, then changing him would only mean that either the flagbearer in 2008 made a mistake in setting that as his criteria or that the flagbearer is no longer committed to such values as named in 2008. In 2008, the NPP Presidential candidate at the Sekondi Takoradi conference to outdoor Dr. Bawumia told all that the choice was a deliberate attempt to help sustain the unity of the nation, taking cognizance of multi-ethnic and multi-religious dimension of the citizenry. This was exactly his quote "The selection of Dr Bawumia, a young Muslim from the north as my running mate, was done to help ensure the unity of the nation. We need a national leadership that reflects the multi-ethnic and multi-religious dimensions of the nation, and that is exactly what I want to lead the NPP to do". Then proceeding further, Nana Akufo-Addo described his running mate as a young, enterprising professional with an impressive career record in his youthful life and he added that he would work effectively with him to move the nation to its next level of development. If retaining Bawumia means a commitment to all these virtues espoused, then one wonders on what basis he should be changed.