Posted on 02/17/2008 9:00:09 PM PST by CreativePerspective
It will be either Trent Lott or Liberman is what I’m hearing. /sarcasm
I wouldn’t mind seeing J.C. Watts on the short list.
Been thinking ‘bout what name would shock people. I don’t mean good shock or bad shock, just shock. Yes, I know many would say bad, some good, but that’s not my point.
Here’s the name that would shock:
Jeb Bush.
McCain/Steele is the ticket I can vote for without throwing up.
In 2008, with the fanatical support of the conservative base (remember those broken glass republicans?) and the second amendment crowd, GWB beat Al Gore by a handful of votes.
I see nothing but doom for McCain. His association will cost the party congressional seats too.
“In 2008...”
Oops. I obviously meant 2000.
That would be a huge mistake.
No to Graham, no to Crist
I agree. I would love to see him choose Sandford or another strong conservative.
At least you didn't say Alan Keyes.
Haley Barbour. Please, NOBODY from Cali or New York.
Some of us former South Florida residents always found it ironic how Janet Waco was all for “immigration control” when it was Cubans coming in when she was State’s Attorney down there, but who was OK with millions of Mexicans and Haitians coming to our shores. Of course, with Elian she only confirmed what many of us suspected about this Dyke in the first place.
1. Gov. Tim Pawlenty
RINO. Next.
2. Gov. Charlie Crist
Jim McGreevey RINO who loves felons voting. Hell, no. Next.
3. Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Social policy Democrat. Unacceptable. Next.
"4. Gov. Mark Sanford"
Should be at the top of the list. One of the best Governors in the nation.
"5. Gov. Haley Barbour"
Along with Sanford, one of our best Governors. Should be #2 on the list.
"6. Gov. Sarah Palin"
Not enough experience, and from what I understand, has taken a more populist approach to governance and supposedly isn't very good on taxes (at least on businesses/corporations).
"7. Rep. Rob Portman"
Too obscure. Next.
"8. Sen. John Thune"
He beat Daschle, but what has he accomplished in the Senate so far ?
"9. Gov. Mitt Romney"
Hell [censored] [censored] NO !
"10. Rep. Chris Cox”
I think we need to look above the House level for a running mate. I think he's still too obscure.
Names not mentioned: RI Gov Don Carcieri; AL Sen Jeff Sessions; Michael Steele; Ken Blackwell; Dr. Thomas Sowell; OK Sen Tom Coburn; Fred Thompson
Chris Cox...someone I long thought had potential. But I guess he deserves the word “obscure”, since neither of you appear to know that for many months now he has been the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and no longer in the House.
Excuse me, I do know he is no longer in the House (same with Rob Portman), perhaps I should’ve made that clear. I don’t think, however, SEC Chairman (or in Portman’s case, the OMB director, now former, IIRC) is exactly the best case for plucking a VP candidate from. In the case of Cox, it’s highly doubtful he’d help the ticket much, at least with respect to California. I didn’t in any way mean to imply he was a bad man or a RINO. He’d probably be better as a candidate for a Cabinet position (Treasury).
Um, actually, I know very well that Chris Cox is the Chairman of the SEC. Why would you think that I don’t? Because I didn’t say anything about him? Could that be because I think it would be silly for McCain to pick a runningmate from California, even one as solidly conservative as Cox?
Why do you consider Tim Pawlenty to be a RINO? While he did cave to the Democrats in the MN Senate (and Republicans in the MN House, for that matter) and approved fee increases, he is for the most part solidly conservative.
If not Pawlenty, then Sanford. I think Barbour is too much of a DC insider (being the former RNC Chairman), and we need someone from outside the Beltway.
Rob Portman is an interesting candidate, and one that I hadn’t thought about until I heard his name mentioned last week.
I think Pawlenty has been a disappointment, some have called him a disaster, but I don’t want to draw that conclusion until we’ve gotten through another election. The GOP has suffered its worst losses in MN since Watergate on his watch, losing all the other statewide offices, save AG (which we haven’t won since 1966), and his running mate (including a House seat, failure to capture the open Senate seat despite an excellent candidate, and the loss of the MN House). He had to “go left” in order to win reelection, and I’ve gotten a general impression of squishiness on his part (apparently, he buys into the religion of global warming big time, which is disturbing), and also capitulated to Planned Barrenhood on abortion warnings (regarding breast cancer links), obsessed with ethanol subsidies, tax raising and fee raising, etc. Lastly, because he just barely won reelection against an absolute knuckle-dragging moron in ‘06 (and that only after the running mate, an ex-RINO turned rodent herself, shot off her mouth on tv about something stupid). Simply put, I don’t think he’ll help McCain at all to put that area of the country in play. We last won MN in 1972, and given that he only barely carried it last November, I think it highly unlikely it will swing Republican (barring a disaster). If McCain alone isn’t enough to carry MN, Pawlenty won’t help.
I was also told by someone that his Lt Gov, Carol Molnau, is not well-regarded, and her ascending to the Governorship if he becomes VP could become an issue in the campaign, too. I don’t know enough about her to say one way or the other. Most of the Lt Governors have been inconsequential flakes and none have ascended to the Governorship in 32 years since Rudy Perpich (when Wendy Anderson, in an act of colossal stupidity and arrogance, appointed himself to the Senate seat when Walter Mondale became VP, and ended up sinking the entire Dem ticket in 1978 when both the Governorship and Senate seats went to the GOP, a feat not to be repeated again anywhere in the country until 1994 in my state).
Sanford I’d put at #1, Barbour probably at #2. I think he has risen above beltway insider during his time as MS Governor. His expert handling of Katrina (which the media largely played down, since they wanted to portray Republicans as bumblers, ignoring the fiasco-enabling short-bus riding twins of Blanco and Nagin in LA) proved his bonafides as a great leader in time of crisis. Contrast that the only crisis Pawlenty has handled was that bridge collapse.
Portman was mentioned to me by JohnnyZ, but I’d have to see how well he’d poll running in OH with McCain. Problem with Portman is that he doesn’t have any executive experience, and McCain is almost going to have to put a Governor on the ticket (or at the very least, a leading Conservative Senator).
Since Mark Sanford, the man who should be running for President, apparently doesn’t want the Veep job, then Haley Barbour would be the best option. My concern is that a McCain/Barbour ticket will be two old men running. However, Republicans need to convince people that they are the party of competence and results while portraying Obama as a man of empty slogans.
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