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McCain Veepstakes
- Filed under: Presidential, Republicans '08
- Date: May 12,2008
A few other people have taken a stab at this, so I figured I would give it a try. I know he needs a better pick than the lackluster one John Kerry made in 2004.
Note: I will not be doing this for Obama's possible selections. First, it seems clear he should go with Jim Webb or Wesley Clark. Second, his people will roundly praise whoever the pick is just because he is Obama's pick. He could pick Robert Byrd and his followers would say it was a great selection to balance the ticket.
In no particular order at all:
Tom Ridge - Former Governor of Pennsylvania and the first Director of Homeland Security. Popular in Pennsylvania, a big plus. The biggest drawback is that Ridge is pro choice. The fact that a VP nominee is pro-choice doesn't phase me at all. If Ridge could make PA a toss-up, you almost have to go with him to pin down the Democrats and their resources in the state.
Condoleeza Rice - Secretary of State and National Security Advisor for President Bush. McCain won't take her due to ties to the war. Smart and impressive woman.
Tim Pawlenty - Governor of Minnesota. On everyone's short list. I am not sure why he stands out other than being a governor from a swing state. I do wonder if last summer's bridge collapse would hurt Pawlenty if he was the running mate. It shouldn't, but Democrats would certainly try. Undetermined if he could help bring Minnesota to the Republican column, but Pawlenty must be a tough candidate - he was one of the few targeted Republicans that survived the 2006 thrashing.
Charlie Crist - Governor of Florida. Gave a huge endorsement to McCain right before the Florida primary that might put him over the top in the state, thus basically getting him the nomination. From a critical swing state. Only been in office for two years, which could be a negative.
Bob Taft - Just seeing if you are paying attention.
Jeb Bush - Former Governor of Florida. Would be an obvious pick if he had a different last name; McCain is already hearing the talk of serving out George W. Bush's third term. History would be different today if Jeb had won his race for governor in 1994 against Lawton Chiles. He would probably be president right now.
Rudy Giuliani - Former Mayor of New York. The biggest name of them all; seems to be on good terms with McCain and at times seemed to be aligned with him during the debates against the other candidates. Socially liberal, which could present problems for McCain.
John Kasich & Rob Portman - Former US House Reps; Portman was also the Trade Rep for the Bush Administration. I would highly doubt either one will be the selection, Kasich especially.
Don Carcieri - Governor of Rhode Island. Popular Republican in a very Democratic state. Rhode Island being so small could be something that works against Carcieri. He started his career as a high school math teacher and later became a successful banker and businessman - a good story.
Mitt Romney - Former Governor of Massachusetts. McCain's chief rival in the GOP primary. Would help McCain raise money and is popular with many of primary voters whose first choice was not the Arizona Senator. There might be some bad blood still between the two that would keep Romney off the ticket. Will bring up the Mormon question again. He could shore up McCain's self admitted weakness on the economy.
Joe Lieberman - Connecticut Senator. McCain's favorite Democrat, the Democrats' least favorite independent. If McCain feels the need for a unity ticket, he would probably go with Joementum. Lieberman is with McCain on Iraq, but on most things is just a run of the mill liberal. I would not be in favor of this pick, and I suspect many Republicans feel the same. Lieberman would probably subtract more votes from the McCain ticket than he'd add.
Fred Thompson - Former Tennessee Senator. McCain should already win Tennessee with or without Thompson. Proved not to be a very good campaigner during his brief run for the White House. Also, McCain, probably won't go with another older white senator. Senator McCain needs someone more vibrant.
Bobby Jindal - Governor of Louisiana. Just elected in 2007, Jindal is a rising star in the party. Probably seen as too young and inexperienced (falsely) by most. Louisiana needs him right now anyways.
Mark Sanford - Governor of South Carolina. Did not endorse McCain in the South Carolina primary, which probably hurts him. McCain obviously going to win SC anyways. Still has to be considered one of the frontrunners.
Sarah Palin - Governor of Alaska. Gov. Palin is pregnant and will deliver her fifth child in May. Could be a good story. Won't add already solid Republican Alaska to the McCain column.
Jodi Rell - Governor of Connecticut. Cleaned up the John Rowland mess. Very conservative for a New England Republican. She is however, old, which is probably not what McCain is looking for.
Haley Barbor - Governor of Mississippi. Good speaker, solid conservative, can raise money. Widely praised for his performance after Hurricane Katrina. Former RNC Chairman. Does have ties to the lobbying industry. Mississippi already voting Republican.
John Thune - South Dakota Senator. Republican star, famous for knocking off Tom Daschle in 2004. Lost a close, possibly tainted elected in 2002 against Tim Johnson. Fresh face and very popular. His home state already going to vote for Republican.
Alex Arshinkoff - Hang in there, almost done.
Richard Burr - North Carolina Senator. I haven't seen him listed anywhere, but I like Burr and think he would be a good pick.
John Huntsman - Governor of Utah. I keep seeing this name floating around. I don't get it. Utah is going to go for McCain with like 70% of the vote. If your going to go with a Mormon and let the media drag it around, wouldn't you just go with Romney?
Mike Huckabee - Former Governor of Arkansas. Saved the worst for last. I would revolt if it was Huckabee. I don't think it will be.
And after all that, it will probably be some dark horse candidate not listed. My choices would be, in order of preference, Romney, Ridge, Thune, Carcieri. Your thoughts? Anyone I left off the list that should have been included?
UPDATE: Frequent commenter Chuck handles the possible Dem VP list.
30 Responses for "McCain Veepstakes"
I didn't see anyone on the list that I liked. Of course, I don't like McCain that much either. So, what do I know.
Jim Webb looks like a good one for Obama. It seems like the Dems are winning the special elections by running Blue Dogs, so Webb would fit in there.
There has even been suggestions that Guvnuh Ted might be Obama's pick, but I doubt it.
He should extend an olive branch and offer it to Obama like Hillary did. Or Hillary herself.
Jeb has more skeletons than Obama's former pastor.
Lieberman is not Democrat….he is Connecticut For Lieberman.
I guess Ridge makes a lot of sense. So does Crist.
Romney doesn't really make sens.
Ultimately, I would pick Crist and just be done with it. That way, he can just ignore Florida, as it is locked up (most recent poll had mccain up just 1% in FL)
Or go with Hillary…they are the same on foreign policy.
Unrelated: Admin for this site needs to shut this "Beware" guy down. You may not like Obama, but having a fringe site always tied to you is not good. It would be like those 9/11 Conspiracy guys putting stuff up on TCS every day.
McCain has already ruled out Tom Ridge because he's pro-choice. You know, wingnut purists and all that.
McCain despises Romney. Condi doesn't want it….and my goodness….could progressives have fun with the "third term of Bush" if Condi was the VP.
Lieberman may be McCain's pick. I wouldn't be too surprised. The campaign could be "vote for the two old neo-cons."
Minnesota is going Democratic with or without Pawlenty being involved.
Giuliani and Thompson would be great for laughs.
Crist or Lieberman. Probably Crist. Makes sense. Florida being a rogue state.
I'd put Tom Ridge at the top of the list and Lieberman a close second.
Ridge has no shot. We are already going to have to fight to motivate the Christian right.
I have always said that the smartest pick is Lieberman. What better to combat Obama's purpleness than with a purple ticket. (Clearly, I do not believe any of the Obama BS purple talk.)
thecampaignjunkie.com
You included many names not assessed on my own McCain Veepstakes blog entry at Buckeye RINO, so kudos to you.
Among the names I assessed that don't appear here are: Lamar Alexander, Alan Keyes, Christie Todd Whitman, Elizabeth Dole, Colin Powell, Mary Taylor, Steve Forbes,Jack Kemp, and Ron Paul.
When McCain indicated that he wouldn't pick a pro-choice nominee, he was chatting with Hardball's Chris Matthews in Pennsylvania, and McCain's response was to Matthews' question about Tom Ridge's potential for being on the ticket. In his wrap-up analysis back in the MSNBC studio after the conclusion of the McCain interview, Chris Matthews noted with interest that McCain's exclusion of Tom Ridge on the pro-choice criterion would also rule out Rudy Giuliani, and a host of other prominent McCain supporters.
DJW- It would never be Alexander, Keyes, whitman, Dole (running for reelection), Powell, Taylor (ties to Arshinkoff), Kemp (didnt work in 96), Paul (obvious). Forbes is interesting though.
Campaign Junkie - "I have always said that the smartest pick is Lieberman. What better to combat Obama's purpleness than with a purple ticket. (Clearly, I do not believe any of the Obama BS purple talk.)" Could be. You have to ask if he would bring in more votes than he would lose. I dont think he would.
Rev - probabaly right about Minnesota. Republicans mounted a huge effort there in 2004 and still lost the state when MN Democrats were down.
Chuck - obviously wont be Jeb, but he listed some places
gary - That is pretty much how I feel. Other than Romney, no one else here excites me all that much - except Thune
I was thinking about it earlier today, and even though I like Thune, it probably wont happen because they are both Senators. Too many votes to target.
But if it happened, and they won, SD's Governor Mike Rounds could appoint a Republicans to take Thune's seat, which would be up in the natural cycle of 2010 for that seat. And in Arizona, their governor has to appoint some one of the same party to the seat, I think they are only one of two states to have that law. So basically I am saying that if a McCain / Thune ticket won, Republicans wouldnt lose two more Senate seats by them moving down Pennsylvania Avenue.
How about Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina or the guy that should be in McCain's place as the nominee had the stinking Democrats and the freaking 527 media not made such a big deal out of "Ma Ka Ka"- George Allen?
The chattering class is talking up Carcieri. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas has been tossed around as well as a potential choice.
Im with Ben for Romney.
my sweepstakes choicesin order
1. Jindal
2. Romney
3. Liberman
He would have to have a death wish to name anyone named Bush on his ticket or anyone closely associated with Bush.
While Liberman may not make sense to conservatives from his standpoint it would put him in the positon to tell the conservative wing of the party to stick it and claim the era of bi-partisianship has ARRIVED.
The best choice for the future of the Rep. party would be Romney.. Assuming McCain loses the Reps. finally would have a
potential new leader of the party not that either Bush or McCain give a damn about the party.
Jindal would be a smart pick. It is funny to me that Alan Keyes is even mentioned. If you are going to mention him then you might as well mention Bob Taft.
I don't have a problem with anyone Mac picks. I trust his judgment and know that whom ever he selects will be more than qualified for the position. Coming from SC, I would love to see Sanford on the ticket, but realize there are others that offer more.
If you mention Keyes and then Taft…..well….might as well mention Karl Rove, huh? Abramoff? Oh yeah, I don't think he'll get out of prison in time.
It doesn't matter who McCain picks. And why would anyone want to run with McCain and be humiliatingly beaten?
Maybe Lieberman, he's used to getting beaten.
I salute whoever mentioned Macaca Allen. Gave me a good laugh.
Hey Ben, when you become knowledgable enough to become capable for your own governance, start writing again.
very nice post, i enjoyed reading it. i also agree he should pick romney but that might be because of the influence of all that you have written about him previously.
Marc Dann?
No one associated with the Bush administration or name.
I can't imagine Colin Powell would be interested
I think McCain needs to go with someone moderate, younger and from a state with big electoral power. Help to draw in some of the undecided, independents and even moderate Democrats.
Ben,
Couple points:
Sarah Palin is no longer expecting. She gave birth a few weeks ago. Her child was born with Downs Syndrome and I would assume she has enough responsibilities not to take on campaigning.
Bobby Jindal - While I agree he is not likely the choice, it is funny to hear lack of experience as a reason since he has more experience than the presumptive Dem nominee.
Burr is a sharp individual, but I think McCain need someone with executive experience rather than another senator.
For both McCain and Obama the VP pick is the first big decision. You are right that the media will swoon over whichever clown Obama picks.
We need fiscal leadership, Business experience, This election must be about Survival, Not race, gender, age, conservative, or liberal as Oprah and the Media would have it be. Romney is the Best Choice to help us steer a course to Survival. With either Hillary or Obama there will be No Survival. For Sure Beware Obama !
Largebill:
Agreed about Palin. There is some speculation as to her long-term plans in AK politics given her son's disabilities.
Beware:
Go peddle that trash somewhere else.
McCain holds Romney in contempt. That's the one thing McCain is right about.
Romney was the GOP's money pick. Romney wanted to keep that American money flowing upline to a handful of folks….just like God intended.
Romney spent $35 million on his campaign and isnt even trying to recoup the money.
he could be doing that now but is out working hard for McCain. Good people for Romney.
I should say $35 million of his own money
Ben,
I left you some more info on Mark Sanford on Tom Abraham's blog.
If you would like articles from local papers, let me know. Send an email to me and when I return next week (cruising to Mexico) I will gather them.
Have A Great Week!
What about Bill Frist? That guy has fallen off the earth.
No way for Frist. But good question as to his whereabouts.
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