All conceivable possibilities listed on this Wikipedia page.
Bobby Jindal is out of the running if McCain has even a lick of sense.
Charlie Crist has been suggested . . . but, no. He’s gay. Hotly denies it, but everybody knows. It didn’t seem to matter much when he was running for governor, but no way will he have a place on a national Republican ticket.
Huckabee would at least shore up some of McCain’s appeal to the religious right, but his economic-populist message would alienate other wings of the party, just as it did in the primaries.
Carly Fiorina has been mentioned, though maybe only by her people. She is out trying to round up the women for McCain now. Picking her would be amusing. First, she screwed up HP and got fired by the board, second, old HPers I know uniformly hate her guts.
He’s young, he has broken with Bush just enough to carry the “maverick” theme. He’s a super-Christian (which he plays down in MN, but I expect it will be played up in the Bible belt), he’s a staunch supporter of the war in Iraq, he is very eager to do the attack work VP candidates are often asked to do, he’s on very good personal terms with McCain and he is from what is being billed as a swing state.
On the down side, he couldn’t deliver MN to McCain in the primaries and he has never won 50% of the vote in his gubernatorial runs so it’s not easy to see him turning the state red for the first time in 36 years. Nevertheless, I think he’s the favorite.
He also has a major freeway bridge sitting in a river - after saving the state money by making his Lt. Gov the head of the transportation department - because, you know, roads in Minnesota are such a small job.
(OK, they cleaned it up, it isn’t sitting in the river anymore - there is still a chasm over the Mississippi that won’t look good on national TV).
If McCain picks Pawlenty he’ll have to stop the attacks on Obama for being young and inexperienced. That alone should prevent it. How can the you say someone is experienced enough to be VP to a 72 year old president but someone else the same age with similar experience is not ready to lead?
My gut says it will be Gingrich, Lieberman, or Huckabee. I shudder at the wretched thought of any of those.
One hope is that it will be Olympia Snowe. It might make things a bit tougher for Obama, but when considering worst-case-scenarios, even though she is pretty hawkish, on a social platform she’s decent. Of course, of any Republicans off the top of my head, I would rather it be Chafee or Paul, but I think Snowe, while not the most ideal, might be the only one of my preferred with any chance.
Another hope is that he picks Romney. The guy is like a parody of a politician or car salesman and would make for a much easier election for Obama. Colbert’s Sesame Street puppet use is perfect.
Finally, a macabre part of me hopes he takes Jon Stewart’s advice and picks Hillary Clinton. What circus train wrecked in a shit storm that would be to watch. It’s gold, Jerry! Gold!
Well, not only that but McCain blamed the Democrats for spending money elsewhere that could have been spent on the bridge which embarrassed Pawlenty as it went against his script that spending more money on transportation in no way could have helped.
I think though that the whole bridge thing would not be a big deal on the national stage.
You spin it. Pawlenty has executive experience. He is in his second (four year) term, not his first (six year) term. He has been to Iraq. Blah, Blah, Blah
Good reasons? I have none. He is however all over Faux getting air time and giving advice('course so is Rove and Ferraro) with Shamity with a new sort of “Contract [del]on[/del] with America” thing, he has ‘experience’, and I assume(though I would be happy to be wrong) that he still has some standing amongst conservatives.
56 years old, has worked in several bipartisan groups, helped guide through Supreme noms … From Minnesota.
Economic gravitas in an enable personal responsibility and enforce the law kind of way, Homeland Security cred, bipartisan cred, knowledge of how the executive works, youngish, from a state McCain eyes but more importantly fits the narrative and would actually help run an administration.
She’s got a high home approval rating and pushes all the right demographic buttons to counter the Democrats: she’s young, female, and has a disabled child. She also has a son in the military. The major downside is her disabled child: he’s a newborn. Can you imagine her on the stump while breastfeeding?
McCain would totally loose the inexperienced attack on Obama if he choose Palin. She has been Governor of the third least populated state in the Union for all of two years, and before that her political experience consisted of being mayor for a town of 8,000 people.
How about Paul Ryan. He could help siphon off some of Obamas votes in swing state Wisconsin. He’s young, been in Congress for almost 10 years, and has some dynamic ideas.
On the down side, he’s too young, and has been in Congress less than 10 years.
Either way, I don’t like McCain, and who he picks as a running mate won’t change that!
