Who will McCain's VP be?

[Xenia]

We may as well go ahead and speculate. Who do you think? I sure see Lieberman standing behind him a lot :(

[Tamera]

As much as Huckabee campaigned for him, he should pick him. LOL.

[Rebecca]

I don't know, but I'll admit to being curious who he'll pick.

Rebecca

[ProfessorAlan]

He needs someone younger than him, more conservative than him, preferably from another part of the US, and preferably someone with executive experience.

A southern governor of some kind -- Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Charlie Crist of Florida have been mentioned. Or Minnesota Governor Pawlenty?

Huckabee does fit these criteria, and is a friendly, non-threatening sort of fella -- but does not pass all of the far right's "perfect conservative" tests, so probably wouldn't unify the aprty enough.

Of course a woman would not be a bad idea, either. But the best ones are Senators, and not too much younger than McCain -- Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Elizabeth Dole.

No evidence that Condi wants the job -- and don't think Iraq is quite going well enough for her to be considered.

As an outsider/dark horse -- Newt Gingrich.

[Phy]

We may as well go ahead and speculate. Who do you think? I sure see Lieberman standing behind him a lot :(

Interesting. As a republican and a conservative, I'd rather see Leiberman as his running mate than Huckabee.

[Ransom v. Unman]

He needs someone younger than him, more conservative than him, preferably from another part of the US, and preferably someone with executive experience.

A southern governor of some kind -- Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Charlie Crist of Florida have been mentioned. Or Minnesota Governor Pawlenty?

Huckabee does fit these criteria, and is a friendly, non-threatening sort of fella -- but does not pass all of the far right's "perfect conservative" tests, so probably wouldn't unify the aprty enough.

Of course a woman would not be a bad idea, either. But the best ones are Senators, and not too much younger than McCain -- Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Elizabeth Dole.

No evidence that Condi wants the job -- and don't think Iraq is quite going well enough for her to be considered.

As an outsider/dark horse -- Newt Gingrich.

If Huck gets the VP thing, we'll have Dan Quayle all over again, and after the past eight years, I think that would be one of the worst things the Republican party could do. Sanford and Crist might be good guesses...

[ProfessorAlan]

I would say that the Huck is waaaaaay more comfortable in his own skin than Quayle ever was.

[Ransom v. Unman]

I would say that the Huck is waaaaaay more comfortable in his own skin than Quayle ever was.

Perhaps, but it would be enough to make most of the indies and middle-roaders turn tail and run screaming to the Democrats...

[Gravity]

If he picks Colin Powell, that ticket would be well-night unstoppable. I mean, TWO war vets, one of them an articulate black man? The Obama cult-worship would dwindle overnight by fifty per cent or more.

[Tamera]

That could be true. Or it could split the Republicans and cause conservatives to offer a third candidate.

[ProfessorAlan]

If he picks Colin Powell, that ticket would be well-night unstoppable. I mean, TWO war vets, one of them an articulate black man? The Obama cult-worship would dwindle overnight by fifty per cent or more.
Obama's pretty articulate, too, actually.

And there are for the 65%+ who think the war was a bad idea; they might not like the 2 war vets on the ticket.

And the last major public thing Powell did was that UN speech with him holding up the vial ... remember? The message was pretty much: "I have integrity, everybody trusts me, and believe me, they have WMD, I'm sure of it."

[Ransom v. Unman]

Obama's pretty articulate, too, actually.

And there are for the 65%+ who think the war was a bad idea; they might not like the 2 war vets on the ticket.

And the last major public thing Powell did was that UN speech with him holding up the vial ... remember? The message was pretty much: "I have integrity, everybody trusts me, and believe me, they have WMD, I'm sure of it."

Mind you, Powell has also stated that the four years he spent as Defence Secretary were worst years of his life...

With that in mind, I think that's also precisely the reason he would never go running for any office whose major issue is going to be mopping up the Iraq war. People begged him to run for president in 2000, if you'll recall, and he didn't do it then either.

Mind you, he's also pro-choice. :eek:

[Xenia]

Perhaps, but it would be enough to make most of the indies and middle-roaders turn tail and run screaming to the Democrats...

What's an indie?

[ProfessorAlan]

independent.

[MissyKay]

What about Romney? I thought his withdrawal was a little bit premature, given his pollings. Mightn't he have agreed to withdraw if he could get the VP spot?

[ProfessorAlan]

Romney fits some of the characteristics, but it seemed that both Huck and McCain genuinely disliked Romney. But then again, the conservative chattering class seemed to be backing Romney, so McCain might go that way to get back in the good graces of the talkers.

[Xenia]

GOP presidential contender John McCain would not rule out Mitt Romney as a possible running mate yesterday, noting that the former Bay State governor ran an effective primary campaign and is a rising star in national politics.
“Millions of Republicans voted for him,” McCain said during a swing through New Hampshire. “He’s earned himself a place in the future of the Republican Party.”
McCain said he is just beginning his deliberations on a running mate and that it’s premature to say whether Romney is among the names he’s considering. During a national TV interview Tuesday, Romney said he would be “honored” to be selected by the Arizona senator.


http://tinyurl.com/2sfbgf

[righter1]

Whoever McCain picks, it's going to have to be a conservative. If he picks a 'moderate' (aka Liberal in my state), he's not going to be able to get the 'base' to support him.

I've heard the governor of the great state of Alaska floated... I can't remember her name off hand. I've also heard J.C. Watts' name come up (which would be great!) Romney would be good, and some of the press that I'm seeing indicates he's positioning himself for it.

Long and the short of it is we've probably got a few months before a running mate is chosen. Bush didn't choose Cheney until like June or July of 2000 if memory serves.

[ProfessorAlan]

Watts would be intereting; since he's been out of public office, he had fallen off my radar screen. And Gov. Palin of Alaska is intriguing -- a tax-cutter, NRA member, and Alaskans tend to have that "independent spirit" thing going for them. Both are young, and hit demographic groups that McCain needs.

[righter1]

Watts would be intereting; since he's been out of public office, he had fallen off my radar screen. And Gov. Palin of Alaska is intriguing -- a tax-cutter, NRA member, and Alaskans tend to have that "independent spirit" thing going for them. Both are young, and hit demographic groups that McCain needs.

:) Exactly.

About... 10 years ago now, I guess, my mother helped with an event in Wichita for our congressman (Tiahrt, though I doubt anyone here knows who he is) where JC Watts came in to speak. I don't remember much, but he was AWESOME. :)

These are just names I've heard bandied about on talk radio in the last few weeks since McCain sewed up nomination. I'm sure there a lot of other great candidates out there, too. If Sen. Brownback (R-KS) hadn't gone off the deep end recently with the immigration thing, he'd be one that I'd think conservatives could get behind, although he's not as well known as JC Watts is.