Mitt Romney vice presidential contender Kelly Ayotte may resemble Sarah Palin, but the New Hampshire senator has earned a serious reputation

From NY Daily News:  Mitt Romney vice presidential contender Kelly Ayotte may resemble Sarah Palin, but the New Hampshire senator has earned a serious reputation 

When Mitt Romney marched in a small town Fourth of July parade on Wednesday, many eyes turned from the tanned candidate to the less familiar woman at his side: vice presidential contender Kelly Ayotte.
The pretty 44-year-old brunette may resemble Sarah Palin, but the New Hampshire senator has earned a serious reputation as a former prosecutor and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Dressed casually in a sleeveless button-down shirt and khaki shorts, Ayotte stopped with Romney for lemonade along the parade route and helped him work the crowd at the Wolfeboro, N.H., celebration.

Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., leaves a Senate Republicans' policy lunch in November.

The veepstakes speculation has largely focused on men, including Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida, but Romney’s decision to have Ayotte by his side on the Fourth of July raises speculation that she’s rising higher on his short list.
Romney was spotted meeting with the head of his VP search, Beth Myers, and other top aides at his N.H. lakefront compound Tuesday.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Freshman Sen. Kelly Ayotte delivers remarks during a news conference in January.

Ayotte would check several of the boxes considered most desirable in a running mate.
She has broadened her national-security resume on the Armed Services Committee and is married to an Iraq war veteran.

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP

Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., talk before a news conference.

And the mother of two young kids could help Romney with women.
The freshman senator’s chief drawback are fears that she would be compared to Palin.

TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images

Sen. John McCain speaks while fellow senators Joseph Lieberman, Sheldon Whitehouse and Kelly Ayotte listen during a press conference in January.

An “informal Romney adviser” was quoted by MSNBC as saying that Palin may have “poisoned the well” for all potential female running mates this year.

Charles Dharapak/AP

Mitt Romney stands on the bed of a pickup truck with wife Ann Romney and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., on Wednesday.

Romney also made news along the parade route Wednesday when he directly contradicted a top senior aide by declaring the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care law to be a tax rather than a penalty.
The move aligns himself with Republicans who want to label health reform as a tax hike, but opens him up to criticism over the similar mandate he supported in Massachusetts