News Analysis: Trump eyes VP candidate to help govern if winning presidential race

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is searching for someone as his running mate, who experts said could help him govern if he wins the race to the White House.

With nomination in his pocket, the controversial brash businessman now faces the urgent task of finding a Vice Presidential candidate, or running mate, who can help him win the presidential race and even help him govern if winning the White House, experts said.

"Trump is looking for someone who can help him govern," Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

"He is weak on congressional relations so needs an individual who can connect him with legislative leaders. Getting bills through the House and Senate will be a big challenge and he requires advice on how to navigate that process," West said.

While there' s been talk of putting a Hispanic candidate on Trump's ticket in a bid to improve his relations with an important voting bloc, West said he doubts the real estate mogul will do so.

West dismissed Florida Senator Marco Rubio as possible VP pick by Trump, citing that the former rival "doesn't have much respect" for Trump.

"He (Trump) doesn't see Rubio as a strong leader or someone who can help with governance," West said.

During the campaign, Trump has alienated and even angered many Hispanic voters with his blistering comments describing Mexican immigrants as criminals, drug traffickers and rapists.

But West said Trump will not pick a Hispanic as his running mate because it won't help him grow that part of the electorate. "Hispanics are upset with Trump due to his policy stances and that is not likely to change," he said.

Indeed, Trump' s wild popularity with white working class voters is what got him to this stage in the game, and analysts said he needs to continue to galvanize that voting bloc, which will be crucial for him to clinch the White House.

"Trump's success will depend on getting a large white turnout so his VP choice will help him with that part of the electorate," West said.

Trump's short list of possible VP candidate includes Senator Bob Corker, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallon and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, he added.

Some experts predict that Trump will be a competitive candidate in the presidential race.

Trump has steamrolled through the Republican Party (GOP) nomination process to win the nomination to face off against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The bombastic businessman is riding the tide of anti-Washington sentiment at a time when millions of Americans continue to struggle to make ends meet seven years since the economic downturn.

The development comes on the heels of Trump's recent surge in the polls, as he for the first time is running neck-in-neck with Clinton. This foreshadows a tight contest in this year's race to the White House.

While many establishment Republicans have opposed Trump during the nomination process, experts said most of them will eventually fall in line. For them, a Clinton presidency would be much worse than Trump in the White House, experts said.

Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that a lot of the GOP establishment and voters are beginning to unify behind Trump despite concerns about his specific policies.

Despite their previous feuding and acrimony with Trump, Republican leaders are starting to endorse him as he has made tremendous progress in unifying the GOP.

As of right now, Trump has a more unified party than Clinton does.