# Handicap the GOP nomination race **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 21, 2007, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463 "2007-10-21T12:40:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/361 "2008-01-23T01:05:09Z")
[QUOTE=athelas] I don’t think McCain should choose Thompson for his VP - the last thing his candidacy needs is another (and much more obviously) old guy. He might want to pick Huckabee for VP, partly to pacify the evangelicals, and partly because Huckabee is charming enough to be quite an asset as long as he keeps his mouth shut about policy. [/QUOTE] I like McCain, but with his age, adding Huckabee would be scary to most non-evangelicals. It would cost him a lot of independent votes he can otherwise expect to have a good shot of getting. I think in the end Romney might get the VP nom if McCain wins as he doesn’t appear to be too offensive to the most people. Huckleberry, Ron Paul & Rudy disgust large portions of the Republican base and Thompson is perceived as too old and boring. I don’t like Romney, but I can see those two pairing up with the other if either gets the nomination. Thompson and Rudy are both friendly with McCain, but politics on that level is rarely about friends. Right now I would bet on a ticket that had McCain & Romney on it. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/362 "2008-01-23T04:32:08Z")
I like John McCain but refuse to believe that with 300 million Americans out there, an old man in his 70s is the best they can come up with. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/363 "2008-01-23T05:30:15Z")
[QUOTE=athelas] . . . and partly because Huckabee is charming enough to be quite an asset as long as he keeps his mouth shut about policy. [/QUOTE] :dubious: Thank you, we’ve had quite enough of **that** kind. Ever since 1980, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/364 "2008-01-23T13:13:19Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] :dubious: Thank you, we’ve had quite enough of **that** kind. Ever since 1980, in fact. [/QUOTE] Yes, because the Reagan admin was such a failure compared to lets say Johnson, Carter, Bush or Bush. Or did you mean it was so corrupt compared to Tricky Dick Nixon, pardons for sale on my why out, Lincoln Bedroom for rent Clinton or the current utterly corrupt administration. Overall, as much as I fault Reagan for opening the door to the damn theo-cons, his admin was better than any other in my lifetime. Jim ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/365 "2008-01-23T14:18:25Z")
He was very creative. He created a whole new spectrum of executive power, like the power to completely ignore Congress and do whatever he bloody well pleased. Creative, like I said. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/366 "2008-01-23T16:22:48Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Yes, because the Reagan admin was such a failure compared to lets say Johnson, Carter, Bush or Bush. Or did you mean it was so corrupt compared to Tricky Dick Nixon, pardons for sale on my why out, Lincoln Bedroom for rent Clinton or the current utterly corrupt administration. Overall, as much as I fault Reagan for opening the door to the damn theo-cons, his admin was better than any other in my lifetime. Jim [/QUOTE] Without hijacking all that, my point was that I’d rather have a POTUS whose approach to policy is based on his/her personally **understanding** policy, rather than picking an ideologically like-minded team, letting them run with it, and taking a nap. But that’s not my concern with Huckabee, actually. He’s not a meat puppet like RWR, he’s much worse. If he keeps his mouth shut about policy it’s because his policies (and even his general worldview) are unacceptable to most Americans and he knows it. But if he gets elected . . . ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/367 "2008-01-23T16:33:23Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Without hijacking all that, my point was that I’d rather have a POTUS whose approach to policy is based on his/her personally **understanding** policy, rather than picking an ideologically like-minded team, letting them run with it, and taking a nap. But that’s not my concern with Huckabee, actually. He’s not a meat puppet like RWR, he’s much worse. If he keeps his mouth shut about policy it’s because his policies (and even his general worldview) are unacceptable to most Americans and he knows it. But if he gets elected . . . [/QUOTE] Well, I strongly agree on Huckabee. He is frightening, combining many of the worst aspects of Huey Long and Nehemiah Scudder. I am actually getting pissed at Colbert for helping him. He thinks it is just funny, but he is helping Huck seem like a nice guy. “Oh, he’s not so bad, look he has a good sense of humor”. Ironic that Scudder was elected in 2012. Jim ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/368 "2008-01-23T16:53:04Z")
If you are committed to democracy, you’re pretty much compelled to have faith in your fellow citizens, however much that faith be…strained. I don’t really believe that Huckleberry has any real chance, outside of Divine Intervention. Or, perhaps, a less specific Supernatural Intervention of Indeterminate Origin. Its only fair to admit that at least some of my sanguine calm is due to living less than four hours from the Canadian border, so when they come for me, I’ll be a gone goose in the tall grass. Remember, when the going gets weird, the weird are already gone. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/369 "2008-01-24T20:28:37Z")
Not that it matters much (I don’t think), but [Duncan Hunter](http://michellemalkin.com/2008/01/23/hunter-endorses-huckheads-explode/) has just endorsed Huckabee. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/370 "2008-01-24T21:41:03Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Remember, when the going gets weird, the weird are already gone. [/QUOTE] When it comes to weird, I’d say Hunter Thompson’s original version carries greater authority. Nothing against you, **'luc** , but few people compared to ol’ Raoul Duke in the weirdness department. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/371 "2008-01-28T16:40:36Z")
If McCain gets the nod, I think MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty would be very high on the VP list. He’s a big shot in the McCain campaign, he’s been campaigning for him all over the country, he’s young, he offers geographical balance, he was able to win in a blue state (though with only 44% and 46% of the vote in his two runs) and his positions are generally in line with McCain. Pawlenty is more anti-immigrant than McCain which may help too. Pawlenty has ruled out the VP position saying he will complete his term as governor, but I don’t believe him. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/372 "2008-01-28T17:37:11Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Lance Murdoch] If McCain gets the nod, I think MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty would be very high on the VP list. He’s a big shot in the McCain campaign, he’s been campaigning for him all over the country, he’s young, he offers geographical balance, he was able to win in a blue state (though with only 44% and 46% of the vote in his two runs) and his positions are generally in line with McCain. Pawlenty is more anti-immigrant than McCain which may help too. Pawlenty has ruled out the VP position saying he will complete his term as governor, but I don’t believe him. [/QUOTE] The scuttlebutt up here is that Pawlenty has been sucking up to the GOP for the veep spot for a long time. Minnesota is a “purple” state, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the rat-faced little prick got the spot. His entire tenure in St. Paul has been about pleasing the party on anational level. His main thing has been a really stupid, childish refusal to “raise taxes” (so he can say in a national campaign that he “never raised taxes”), which not only resulted in a lot of disastrous budget cuts for Minnesota (which has involved, among other things, cutting needed social services for people with disabilities, dumping sexual predators out onto the streets [one of whom kidnapped and murdered [Dru Sjodin](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,302637,00.html)] and probably played into the bridge collapse), but which he also tried to turn into a bullshit word game by raising taxes on ciagrettes and then claiming it was a “fee” instead of a tax. He’s also still owed a favor by the party for obeying Dick Cheney’s order to step out of the Senate race against Paul Wellstone in 2002 and let Norm Coleman have the spot. Politically speaking, he’s probably a safe choice for the Republicans. He’s exactly the kind of mean, poor-hating, rich-enabling, homophobic, tax-dodging, chickenhawk little shit their base loves to vote for and may just possibly give them Minnesota, which is getting more conservative lately (once you get outside the metro and into the real rural areas, you might as well be in Alabama). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/373 "2008-01-29T18:22:43Z")
Well Dio, look on the bright side - Governor Molnau! ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/374 "2008-01-29T18:42:48Z")
Romney pulls out a 8 pt win over McCain. Guiliani packs it in after tonight. Hucklebee stays in for one more week and exits after Super Tuesday. Republicans finally settle on Romney as the less objectionable of the final pair. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/375 "2008-01-30T02:02:55Z")
Huckabee is on TV now rooting for the abolishment of the IRS. Has he finally lost it with this appeal to tax protesters and the lunatic fringe? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/376 "2008-01-30T03:07:56Z")
OK, McCain won Florida. I predict Rudy drops out before SuperDuperTuesday, and throws his support to McCain. Huckabee picks up several states in the South, McCain and Romney split the rest. After SDT, there are still three viable candidates, with Romney holding a slight edge in the delegate count. They go into the convention with Romney and McCain virtually tied, and Huckabee holds the swing delegates in the first brokered GOP convention since 1928. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/377 "2008-01-30T03:13:03Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] OK, McCain won Florida. I predict Rudy drops out before SuperDuperTuesday, and throws his support to McCain. [/QUOTE] [Is there a term for when you predict the past?](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/01/giuliani-to-end.html) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/378 "2008-01-30T03:18:01Z")
Does Rudy have a chance at VP under McCain, or will he just be the AG? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/379 "2008-01-30T03:23:05Z")
I think it is actually pretty rare for the nominee to pick one of his primary adversaries as his VP. Obviosly, John Kerry chose John Edwards, but I think that is not a common way of doing it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463/380 "2008-01-30T03:25:45Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] I think it is actually pretty rare for the nominee to pick one of his primary adversaries as his VP. Obviosly, John Kerry chose John Edwards, but I think that is not a common way of doing it. [/QUOTE] They are friends. What do you think of the AG idea? It seems like an easy concession from McCain in exchange for the endorsements. BTW: Reagan pick Bush & Carter picked Mondale & Kennedy picked Johnson. In fact Clinton picked Gore. I think it is more common than you think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicap-the-gop-nomination-race/423463.md?page=20)