Who McCain Should Choose as his Running Mate
This is a quickie analysis of some of the obvious A list people McCain could choose as his running mate and who would be the best among them.
First let’s take Lieberman. Joe Lieberman ran with Al Gore against Bush and lost. He is a long time "friend" and fellow Senator with McCain who has been courted by Republicans for some time. He uses this against his Democrat brothers to get his way since the Democrat majority in the senate is so slim. McCain might need something to make a historic Hillary/Obama ticket to excite America to vote for him. Adding a Democrat to the Republican ticket might just be what the electorate ordered. Americans generally hate the partisanship of politics and this would be a clear signal that McCain was about something different. It could however backfire on him. He is already on this ice with conservatives. Selecting Lieberman as a running mate just might be the straw that broke the camel’s back so to speak. If conservatives stay home because they are pissed off, Hillary wins. It may be that McCain doesn't need so much jazz to stop a Hillary/Obama ticket. There may be enough people voting against them (as opposed to voting for someone else) that McCain just needs to play it straight to win. In the end Lieberman is just too risky to be selected.
Huckabee may be a likely choice. He has some baggage (pastor in chief image) that has kept him from doing better in the primaries thus far. He may also be even more liberal than McCain. But McCain may have to choose him if Romney does well enough on Super Tuesday. Adding Huckabee's delegates and strong showing in the southern states maybe the deal with the devil McCain needs to make in order to own the ticket. You can bet Huckabee isn't joining a Romney ticket for sure. No Baptist pastor is going to give a Mormon his blessing to run for president. That may be enough to force Huckabee to endorse McCain just so he decides McCain wins instead of Romney. Depending on how hardball Huckabee plays he could just say if I'm not the VP I won't endorse anyone and you can fight for my delegates. If that happens you might see Mitt Romney win because of McCain's disfavor amongst the Republican elite. Super Tuesday will tell.
That leaves choosing Mitt Romney. If McCain wins decisively on Tuesday, or if he can broker a deal that doesn't include the VP seat with Huckabee, Mitt might be the perfect (hair) candidate to fit the bill. Let's face it. America (USA) is not a Christian country anymore. A Mormon VP is just not that big a deal. Heck Huckabee get's challenged on religion more than special underwear Romney. By selecting Mitt, McCain might unruffle some of the conservative feathers that are out there. The two together would have a strong Republican mandate by consolidating the two strongest vote getters in the primaries. McCain would still do well against Hillary and I think Mitt would trounce Obama in a debate. The two of them would show strong on national security and the economy. What's not to like? Mitt said he wouldn't do it but he would if McCain asks.
I know there are others out there. But when you select a VP, he has to be ready to be president. Who else is ready? You don't want a child as your VP nominee. They are going to have that on the Democrat side with Obama. One of the keys to winning this election is to show experience on your side. I guess you could take a hard look at Newt Gingrich. He's been prancing around the press for the past few years. He's a true Reganite. Maybe maybe. Who knows...?
This is a quickie analysis of some of the obvious A list people McCain could choose as his running mate and who would be the best among them.
First let’s take Lieberman. Joe Lieberman ran with Al Gore against Bush and lost. He is a long time "friend" and fellow Senator with McCain who has been courted by Republicans for some time. He uses this against his Democrat brothers to get his way since the Democrat majority in the senate is so slim. McCain might need something to make a historic Hillary/Obama ticket to excite America to vote for him. Adding a Democrat to the Republican ticket might just be what the electorate ordered. Americans generally hate the partisanship of politics and this would be a clear signal that McCain was about something different. It could however backfire on him. He is already on this ice with conservatives. Selecting Lieberman as a running mate just might be the straw that broke the camel’s back so to speak. If conservatives stay home because they are pissed off, Hillary wins. It may be that McCain doesn't need so much jazz to stop a Hillary/Obama ticket. There may be enough people voting against them (as opposed to voting for someone else) that McCain just needs to play it straight to win. In the end Lieberman is just too risky to be selected.
Huckabee may be a likely choice. He has some baggage (pastor in chief image) that has kept him from doing better in the primaries thus far. He may also be even more liberal than McCain. But McCain may have to choose him if Romney does well enough on Super Tuesday. Adding Huckabee's delegates and strong showing in the southern states maybe the deal with the devil McCain needs to make in order to own the ticket. You can bet Huckabee isn't joining a Romney ticket for sure. No Baptist pastor is going to give a Mormon his blessing to run for president. That may be enough to force Huckabee to endorse McCain just so he decides McCain wins instead of Romney. Depending on how hardball Huckabee plays he could just say if I'm not the VP I won't endorse anyone and you can fight for my delegates. If that happens you might see Mitt Romney win because of McCain's disfavor amongst the Republican elite. Super Tuesday will tell.
That leaves choosing Mitt Romney. If McCain wins decisively on Tuesday, or if he can broker a deal that doesn't include the VP seat with Huckabee, Mitt might be the perfect (hair) candidate to fit the bill. Let's face it. America (USA) is not a Christian country anymore. A Mormon VP is just not that big a deal. Heck Huckabee get's challenged on religion more than special underwear Romney. By selecting Mitt, McCain might unruffle some of the conservative feathers that are out there. The two together would have a strong Republican mandate by consolidating the two strongest vote getters in the primaries. McCain would still do well against Hillary and I think Mitt would trounce Obama in a debate. The two of them would show strong on national security and the economy. What's not to like? Mitt said he wouldn't do it but he would if McCain asks.
I know there are others out there. But when you select a VP, he has to be ready to be president. Who else is ready? You don't want a child as your VP nominee. They are going to have that on the Democrat side with Obama. One of the keys to winning this election is to show experience on your side. I guess you could take a hard look at Newt Gingrich. He's been prancing around the press for the past few years. He's a true Reganite. Maybe maybe. Who knows...?
posted by John Husband at 1:11 AM
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