John McCain's V.P. Dilemma
After beating the odds and capturing the Republican nomination, John McCain faces many challenges—raising money, staying in the headlines, calming the conservative base. But none is more daunting than the first major test of his executive skills: selecting a running mate.
In choosing a vice-presidential candidate, he’ll have to say “no thanks” to many well-meaning (but potentially disastrous) suggestions while staving off a new opportunity for mischief-making from his conservative foes.
At the top of the list of proposed shotgun marriages is a pairing with his former rival Mitt Romney. Conservative pundits, former Romney boosters and even Romney himself have been dropping hints—loudly. Romney even auditioned as McCain’s attack dog (a familiar role for the VP) by labeling Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama “Chihuahuas” in comparison to the “big dog” McCain. Aside from his personal distain for Romney, McCain may be inclined to look elsewhere for a watchdog if he wants someone who could actually help him win in November. After all, Romney did even worse than McCain among religious-right voters in the South. And if McCain is selling authenticity and integrity, he hardly needs a running mate whom he accused of lacking both.
Just as unhelpful to McCain is a suggestion by the editors of National Review Online that the delegates at the G.O.P. convention stage a revolt and hold out for a VP candidate of their liking (presumably someone who passed the conservative purity test). Now, one might wonder why convention delegates pledged in overwhelming numbers to McCain would be amenable to instigation from magazine editors who supported Romney. But either way, the suggestion (or was it a threat?) was likely meant to help shove McCain in the direction of an ultra-conservative VP pick. He hardly needed reminding: conservatives will be mightily disappointed if he does not choose a rock ribbed conservative.
Then there are the conservatives (who normally bemoan affirmative action and snicker that the Democrats are caught in a trap of identity politics) who urge that McCain pick a woman. Apparently, the talent pool of Republican women is thin enough to have made an insiders’ favorite of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She is popular and attractive and shoots deer, which are pluses with many male conservative pundits. Nevertheless, their jabs at the Democratic candidates’ “inexperience” would sound a bit suspect if the Republicans chose their own untested VP.
Some pundits have even suggested Condoleezza Rice, both on diversity grounds and to “emphasize” McCain’s foreign policy credentials. Apparently, word has been slow in getting out in some circles that many Americans at both ends of the political spectrum consider her largely responsible for mismanaging the country’s national-security apparatus for the last seven years. If McCain has any hope in November it lies in running against the mismanagement of the Iraq war. (That would be the war Rice helped mismanage.) Not even the best political consultants could navigate around that contradiction.
The real choice for McCain is whether to reinforce or dilute his “brand”—a maverick, attractive to independents—which might help him prevail against the odds in a hard year for Republicans. If, like Bill Clinton, he chooses to pick a running mate who puts an exclamation point on his strong suits, he might select moderate Governor Charlie Crist or even another party maverick like Joe Lieberman. But then the far right would once again be up in arms.
If McCain instead seeks to mollify the base, he will look for a staunch conservative who could at least be close to the Oval Office and be his possible successor. Still, it is no small trick finding a very conservative, viable commander-in-chief-in-waiting running mate who will not undermine McCain’s appeal to independents.
So the advisers and pundits will circulate lists and the suggestions will pour in. If McCain wants to keep his chances alive for November, he’ll need to practice the trick of politely ignoring them.
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 47.2
- 44.3
- Obama +2.9
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 54.0
- 34.9
- +19.1
- McCain
- 52.0
- 36.1
- +15.9
Yeah, Rice is a non-starter unfortunately. Alaska's governor is unknown and inexperienced.
I hate to say it, but the safe money would be on Romney. That would be the easy and safe choice, while not the most energetic or forward thinking choice.
Why couldn't have JC Watts stayed in congress??
For VP, McCain needs to find a savvy Latino pol with Ricky Martin good looks. The Latinos are gonna swing this election, so strike up the Mariarchi band and play "Hail to the Chief."
Everyone knows this election is going to be won in the middle. John McCain shouldn't worry about further alienating the far right. What are they gonna do? Vote Democrat? Doubt it. Boycott the election? Doubt it. I think they would rather swallow their pride and vote for McCain and whomever else is on the ballot than see a Democrat take office. No matter what they say, they're still going to vote Republican. McCain's only chance is to select another moderate in an attempt to lure more independents and moderates to the Republican party. Governor Charlie Crist seems to be the only candidate that will offer McCain a chance at the white house.
How about Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina? Young, smart and articulate.
Talking about a double standard.....is it sexism or ignorance. How can Gov. Crist be constantly suggested as a running mate (2 years as Governor) and not Gov. Palin (also 2 years as Governor)?
Palin is respected by Conservatives and independents. The battle ground is shifting to the mid-west and Gov. Palin is ideal to appeal to those voters. Palin has more executive experience than both Clinton and Obama. Palin practices straight-talk, which will fit well with McCain.
www.PalinforVP.com
I thought the obvious choice for Republican VP would be Mike Huckabee. He was the runner-up to McCain for a reason - he appeals to more hardcore conservatives, and most especially, to the religious right that McCain can't reel in. The two together would essentially cover every conservative constituency. Plus, Huckabee's charismatic vitality would provide a refreshing antidote for McCain's geriatric militancy. As a liberal, I sincerely hope the Democrats don't have to face this potential Republican powerhouse.
Huckabee as a running mate! I'd support that 100%!
Don't forget Tom Ridge. He and McCain are close and Pennsylvania is a key swing state
Huckster would lose McCain votes. Since he loves the media, McCain doesn't want to disappoint them.
Ricky Martin would be good. Long live the Hispanic bloc! Influencing elections for the foreseeable future, and not reflexively Democrat. Black voters get smaller by the minute.
In my opinion Mike Huckabee would be the better choice for McCain.
Mitt Romney would be his best pick for VP. The conservative right split their votes between him and Huckabee. With Huckabee gone, they'd all support Romney. And Mitt Romeny would slaughter Shill-ary and Obama when it come to getting the economy in order.
MC-CAIN’S “WINNING” STRATEGY IN THE PRESIDENTIAL BATTLE OF THE AMERICAN CULTURAL WAR
With Hillary now condemned by the Kennedy Liberals to be burnt at the stake, McCain is the presidential candidate desperately supported by both panicked Podhoretz Neo-Conservatives and Leiberman Neo-Liberals. His shrewd puppeteer, that political dirty trickster Charlie Black, to compensate for McCain’s reputation being insanely subversive to both traditional Reagan Conservatism and Kennedy Liberalism, and for Obama’s reputation being honorable, shall depend on deceptive propaganda techniques, for a politically suicidal campaign that will predictably culminate with McCain getting a well earned date with a Democrat and Republican firing squad.
This foolish Marxist strategy is transparently intended to miraculously transform the image of Neo-Con McCain into an acceptable Conservative, while transforming the image of young Obama into an unacceptable radical black Liberal, by hook and by crook. McCain has notoriously opposed the Republican efforts to preserve lower taxes, supported child sacrifice by abortion, rebuked and ridiculed Christian sects, suppressed freedom of speech on the internet, supported illegal immigration of Mexican labor, supported the loss of vital American technology and jobs to China, and supported the illegal sacrifice of the wealth and blood of the American People for the sole benefit of Israel; and he has accomplished nothing noteworthy in his long, contentious, and politically divisive public career. Obama has earned an honorable reputation and a promising political future, by his Harvard legal education and his hard honest work as Illinois Senator.
McCain’s insane disloyalty to his Christian God, his Constitution, his Republican Party, and his military forces will be drowned out by Charlie Black’s incessant propaganda portraying him as the most trustworthy and competent Conservative candidate. Endorsements by Judas ministers and turncoat Conservatives will be bought with campaign promises. Much of the freedom of speech on the internet will be suppressed by continuous complaints and threats. Simultaneously, incessant slanderous propaganda attacks will be launched against Obama’s name, religion, patriotism, and political philosophy. Anti-Semite, black-racist, and political-sleaze baiting attacks will be instigated by Black against vulnerable religious and political groups within Obama’s broad spectrum of supporters, and their vices will be deceptively associated with Obama, as in the recent cases of the real estate crook and the old black racist pastor. And political collusion among millions of Neo-Cons and Neo-Libs will be orchestrated through leading Neo-Con and Neo-Lib commentators in the news and entertainment media. Of course, all of this injustice and persecution of Obama will never be forgotten and will certainly be punished.
McCain’s strategy, based on the assumption that the majority of decent and trustful Americans are sufficiently gullible, is foolish because leading Liberals and Conservatives have long recognized that their real enemies in the American Cultural War are these Neo-Cons and Neo-Libs now entrenched in government, colleges, schools, and news and entertainment agencies. Their incessant subversion of traditional Christian culture and Constitutional government has been intensifying since the McCarthy Era, when politically defeated as Marxist refugees from Nazi Germany, they quickly evolved into two species of Neo-Marxists, the crypto-Marxist Neo-Liberal Democrats and Neo-Conservative Republicans, to resume their relentless ideological politically struggle to gain social and economic power over the America People.
Rudy G, America's Mayor
Rudy G, America's Mayor
i think that that romney or leiberman whould make very good VP
Pick a Southerner. That's all I've got for J-Mac. He's too liberal and he's alienated the strongest part of the Republican Party, which split over Thompson, Romney, Huckabee, and staying home. If he picks one of those three, he could, quite possibly, have a case for winning over his party first, and then swinging over undecided liberals.
I think Huckabee is the best choice. McCain's got most of the south, and most of the west locked up. If he gets Florida, Ohio, and Virginia the election is his, no question. Huckabee increases his strength in all 3 of these states. Despite what others are saying, it isn't about increasing appeal to left leaning voters, its about energizing your base. While the Republican base likely wouldn't vote Democrat, a lot very well may stay home. While that probably wouldn't matter in the deep south, it matters a lot in those swing states, especially Ohio.
Yes, Kessler, the business-savvy Mitt Romney would make a good running mate for the economy-disadvantaged John MacCain.
But look at the disgrace that has befallen Barak Orama for his religious associations. The same would surely happen to Romney when the news media picks up on the racist doctrines of the Mormon Church.
As narrated in the Book of Mormon, the good guys, the Nephites, were a fair-skinned people, whereas the bad guys, the Lamanites, being descendants of Cain, were punished by God with a dark skin. (Nephi 5:21, Alma 3:6) According to the Mormon prophet and leader Brigham Young, the “flat nose and black skin” of African Americans were likewise the stigma of Cain. It wasn’t until 1978 that an African American was accepted into the Church priesthood. Then there’s the Church’s history of polygamy and sexism, still much part of the Later Day saint culture in rural Utah and Idaho. Only two women figure in the Book of Mormon, and only in minor roles.
So how could Romney explain that to mainstream Christians?
Carlos Navarro
http://gadfly26.blogspot.com
Carlos,
You got your facts wrong, The Nephites and Lamanites were part of the same family, their linage is Ephriam, not cain. Laman and Lemuel were the older brothers, and Sam and Nephi were the younger brothers. Laman and Lemuel tried to repeatedly kill Nephi because of his visions. So they broke off into separate groups. Why the lamanites were cursed with a dark skin was to help protect the nephites by creating a caste system. It may sound strange to us today, but it worked. The Lamanites, when they were righteous, were a blessed people, and when they were sinful were a cursed people. It was not because the color of their skin that they were cursed, It was because Laman and Lemuel through disobedience to their fathers and brothers warnings, lost their birth right.
As for the black question, I don't know how to answer that, I was born after 1978, so I don't know how it was. All I know is my father was never a racist, he cried for joy when he heard the news, and my grandfather was never a racist, he didn't necessarily like Martin Luther King Jr, but it wasn't because the color of his skin, it was the civil disobedience he didn't approve of. He is a product of his generation, not the church, everyone of that generation had some level of hesitantcy about the race question.
But if you look at it this way, Mormons were anti slavery. You may ask why than was utah a slave territory? Answer is quite simple, to piss off the republicans, The LDS was Democrats back than, the republicans were anti polygomy and anti slavery, and had persecuted the LDS and drove them west, so, to make it so that the repubs had less power they sided with the democrats. But when Civil War broke out, they were on the Union Side.
Also look at it this way, most "white people" (Caucasian, or Europe decent) didn't receive the priesthood until the 1800's. In the time of the Savior they would have been the gentiles. And the gentiles were a "separate" and unclean race while the house of Israel was the chosen people of God.
Peter was finally able to convert them to the gospel after the Lord instructed him to. (The vision with the unclean food that the Lord instructed Peter to eat in Acts 10. the Lord says to him: "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." Now we all are able to have the Priesthood.
Can you imagine how much more the LDS would have been persecuted if the revelation had been in 1838 rather than 1978? I believe that the Lord waited until the world was ready to extend the priesthood to all people.
As for polygamy, I don't have a problem with that. God commanded it. He has commanded it be practiced before, such like Abraham, Issac, Jacob, even Moses had more than one wife. David errored when he took wifes who the Lord did not accept, same as Salomon, but for the ones the Lord did give them, they did not error. God commands you to do something, you do it. Jacob, Nephi's younger brother denounces the Nephites unauthorized practice of polygomy.
Sarah Palin would give him an edge. This might help stop the bleed from the real conservative republicans in States similar to Texas. Tom, Hunter, Mitt, Rudy, or liebermann will not help at this time. But it has to be his decision. But we know we do not need a Dan Qualye. Condoleeza would not be the person you would need.
Former Mass. Gov Jane Swift. Young, smart, articulate, female, not a DC hack, working mother from a rural area. She's moderate in ways that appeal to suburban Repubs and moderate dems and independents. Dark horse, out of the blue candidate who would make McCain even more appealing to disaffected Hillaryites and independents.
Former Mass. Gov Jane Swift. Young, smart, articulate, female, not a DC hack, working mother from a rural area. She's moderate in ways that appeal to suburban Repubs and moderate dems and independents. Dark horse, out of the blue candidate who would make McCain even more appealing to disaffected Hillaryites and independents.
McCain picks former Reagan official to head VP search,
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/mccain-selects-former-reagan-official-t...