I'm with you! Interesting that McCain will be on with Hannity on Monday and then Mitt will be on with him on Tuesday. I wonder....
Nice photo of Mitt and Ann riding.
Posted on 03/08/2008 6:39:19 AM PST by MartinaMisc
When John McCain begins his search for a vice presidential running mate, he'll quickly come upon a sad fact. He wants a candidate who will be seen as a plausible president. That's criterion number one. He also wants someone who won't subtract from his campaign in any serious way. That's criterion number two. The unfortunate truth is that few Republicans meet these simple criteria. McCain doesn't have much of a pool to choose from.
But his selection matters enormously, all the more because of his age. McCain will turn 72 on the eve of the Republican convention this summer. Choosing a running mate is the first major decision that a presidential nominee makes. And the nominee is judged by the quality of his pick and even by the smoothness of his selection process. So McCain had better choose well.
He has the right idea in mind. McCain thinks three vice presidential picks from the recent past were wise: Republican Dick Cheney in 2000 and Democrats Joe Lieberman in 2000 and Al Gore in 1992. They were nationally known political heavyweights who passed the most important test. They were accepted almost instantly as ready to replace the president if necessary. And they had no significant drawbacks.
The list of plausible presidents is short. Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Tom Ridge, and Joe Lieberman qualify. That's about it. There are a number of popular Republican governors--Charlie Crist of Florida, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Haley Barbour of Mississippi--but they fall short of Cheney-Lieberman-Gore stature. It's not their fault, but it's nonetheless true.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
Logically, it almost has to be Thompson...but he and McCain are going to look awfully old on the podium together.
Alan Keyes
total sarcasm
Please, NOT Crist.
Let’s just wait and let the MSM choose. They picked MCCain.
Old and older. It would be a pathetic ticket. In your face nasty quips aren't going to elect anyone and personally I was never convinced Thompson was any more of a "real" conservative than many others out there. Each candidate had their historical transgressions. It was just that none of us could agree on what was the more serious of all the transgressions.
Fred would look younger. McCain would look shorter.
I’ve been wondering if George Allen could possibly make a come-back for this job. I’m not sure how “national” his little incident actually went (except for on talk radio) and whether it could be overcome at that level.
He is usually a very good spokesman for conservatism and he’s the right age, neither too young nor too old.
PLUS Romney has proven that he has a legitimate shot bringing in Michigan for a McCain-Romney ticket.
McCain is obliged to give John Kerry first refusal. (quid quo pro)
The election motto could be Grumpy old men. That might appeal to some.
Does such a person exist out there?
Please? Gore appeared ready to take over as president in 1992? When? Sandford, Barbour and Blunt are far mose appealling to the base and are much more believable as president than Gore or Liebermann. I wish they’d quit pushing the suddenly conservative Romney.
Indeed it would appeal to grumpy old men. Unfortunately for McCain that's a diminishing demographic. No, most people are on the level of "should I vote for the old guy or the cool guy?".
I don't understand what Barnes means by this. Subtract how?
Maybe Don Rumsfeld?
I agree w/ the conclusion - Romney would be a great choice for VP. He helps the ticket on the issue of the economy, he helps offset the age issue and he would do well in the VP debates.
Okay, here’s another name that should be floated: Lynne Cheney.
Think about it!
She is no less qualified to be president than either of the Democrat candidates.
Haley Barbour gets my vote.
Forget about Tom Ridge. Ugh. A caller into some radio show yesterday suggested two very conservative, very articultate and very intelligent congress women. Forget their names. One is from Texas, the other from Tenn, I believe. I thought they were a great idea.
What I find amazing is how many Freepers were anybody but McLame touters but now they can’t even come up with a candidate for VP..... and a few months ago i was suppose to believe Fred Thompson could become President..... can’t even find much support here for Vice President!
I think it needs to be dynamic..... Powell or Rice. Not much of a chance but those two could take on after McCains term......
Good pick.
“Old and older. It would be a pathetic ticket.”
It would fire up the GOP to get Thompson on board. He brings instant cred.
I guess for you that might be true.
I’m surprised Powell is being mentioned. He is not well liked by conservatives. Plus he is almost as old as McCain.
I don’t know why Fred Barnes dismisses Gov Barbour as not being presidential material. I think he definitely is and would be a great VP or president. But I think McCain needs someone younger.
Barnes says pro lifers would be livid over the choice of Ridge because he is pro choice. But some conservatives like him. He could be acceptable to me if he committed to appointing conservative judges, and supported a ban on partial birth abortion. I wonder how exactly they define “pro choice.” While Mr Bush is lauded by pro lifers, even he is against any federal ban on abortion. If Ridge’s position is similar, then this could work. If he brings in PA, that is a huge victory for the Republicans.
Is that Marsha Blackburn of TN? I have heard her name mentioned. Another female US rep who is well regarded is Candace Miller of MI. But I suppose to select either of these 2 would look like pandering for female votes.
If McCain is to pick a House member then Kasich and Portman make a lot of sense. If they can keep Ohio in the GOP column that would be big. But then when Portman left, his successor Jean Schmidt could barely keep his House seat Republican. So maybe Portman would not have that much influence.
Duncan Hunter.
Joe Lieberman
Plus she has all that experience as Second Lady!
Actually, Lynne Cheney would probably make a great VP. I think she has had some experience in the Executive Branch.
And, anyway, how would the ‘Toons attack her on “experience”—heh heh.
Lynne Cheney could stomp circles around both the Hildabeast and Obama, and do it in such a nice, classy way. And her husband-—although the connection would strike fear and loathing into the hearts of libs everywhere-—unlike the Sinkmeister-—would actually be an asset to her reputation.
Except that their names are forgettable. :)
Guess it’s likely whoever the VP is, he/she will be someone unknown. That is Fred’s point here, methinks-—it’s lamentable.
YES!
You put your finger right on the Very Big Irony in all this.
It would be funny if it weren't so sad.
Like the GOP got fired up with Thompson entered the race?
I don’t see it.
I also think Barbour could be a great campaigner and bring a lot to the ticket and the office.
He has a sort of Jeb Bush appeal-—calm, level-headed, well-spoken. And I’m pretty sure he knows a lot about inside baseball.
The only way to avoid the appearance (or reality) of pandering is if McCain picks a minority who is already very well known and experienced.
Junior congresscritters won’t cut it.
Just heard that Carly Fiorina is RNC advisor on ecomomic themes. Will be fund raising for McCain and “rumor” has it a possible VP consideration. Folks on west coast who remember her management style won’t accept that choice....
Lynne Cheney served as chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 to 1993. In 1995 she founded American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a conservative group that monitors American colleges and academia.
She is a senior fellow in education and culture at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. She also serves as a director of Reader's Digest Association, Inc. She is a director emerita of the Independent Women's Forum.[2]
From 1995 to 1998, Cheney served as a co-host of the Sunday edition of CNN's Crossfire, replacing Tony Snow.
Lynne Cheney served on Lockheed Corporation's board of directors from 1994 to 2001, a $120,000-a-year post she gave up shortly before her husband's inauguration; Cheney served on the board's Finance, and Nominating and Corporate Governance committees.[3][4]
In 2000 she was mentioned as a possible conservative female pick for Republican Vice Presidential nominee on the George W. Bush ticket. The appointed head of the nominating committee was her husband, Dick Cheney, then the CEO of Halliburton, Inc., who eventually emerged as Bush's choice.
She repeatedly spoke out against violent and sexually explicit lyrics in popular music, picking up on an issue originally made famous by former Vice President Al Gore and his wife "Tipper". She also criticized video game makers for similar content.
FreeRepublic Opinion Poll
(3/5) If it’s McCain vs Hillary in the general, how do you vote?
McCain
69.1%
Write-in
8.9%
Third Party
8.8%
Stay home
4.3%
Hillary
4.0%
Leave blank
3.2%
Pass
1.7%
[ Details · Polls ]
Lynne Cheney is a marvelously qualified Veep.
As a CANDIDATE, however ... she would have to change her last name.
Having Rummy and Cheney at the top of his batting order
is the main reason i found Bush tolerable.
But even i say that the name “Cheney” loses more votes than it gains.
Honestly don’t know whether i’ll eventually vote for McCain.
But Romney in the on-deck circle wins my vote for sure.
I think the “experience” issue for the VP is overrated. Sarah Palin is the least experienced name I’ve heard mentioned, so I’ll use her as an example. The author wants me to believe that there are voters who will say, “I can’t vote for McCain because he might die 2-3 years into his term. Then the President will be a person who only has 4-5 years experience in a big-time office. I can’t take that chance; I’m instead going to vote for a guarantee of a President with 4 years experience in a big-time office.”
To the best of my recollection, every other proposed name has more big-time experience than Obama, making the argument even weaker.
Obama is probably going to pick an elder statesman as his VP. If he attacks McCain on the grounds that an youth/elder ticket is bad, he undermines himself. McCain, on the other hand, can make his attack — he’ll be an experienced leader and youth on the side to help make sure he’s “keeping in touch” or however he wants to spin it.
As much as we all like FDT, many have highlighted why he’s a bad choice as McCain’s VP. Romney will be an easy target — the Dems will attack him as a “flip flopper.” The purpose of the flip-flopper attacks won’t be to get voters to question Romney’s leadership, but rather as cover to let them tell the GOP base that Romney is more liberal than McCain.
I'm with you! Interesting that McCain will be on with Hannity on Monday and then Mitt will be on with him on Tuesday. I wonder....
Nice photo of Mitt and Ann riding.
my top 5
Michael Steele
Don Nickels
Christopher Cox
John Thune
Mitt Romney
The list of plausible presidents is short. Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Tom Ridge, and Joe Lieberman qualify. That’s about it.
Romney or Ridge = ok, and might get me to vote for the ticket and “hope for the best.” Neither is a stalwart conservative IMHO, but both are light years better than the backstabbing POS at the top of the ticket.
I agree that’s a problem, but I don’t think it’s insurmountable.
I mean really, the Beast has had to knock down this argument constantly-—that pesky “Clinton” surname and the “dynasty” thing.
So I think Lynne would be somewhat insulated from that line of attack.
As for the *other* reaction to the Cheney brand, well, it’s true he’s been one of the libs worst nightmares. Mainly because he’s a plain talker and he doesn’t back down. (One of their big problems with Dubya, too.) I happen to think the chutzpah of choosing her would knock the wind out those sails.
Of course, I think Dick Cheney could be VP again and win, if he weren’t his age and his health status teamed with McCain.
The point is that I agree with you, but think it would still be doable.
Accepting a slot as McCain’s running mate, is a good way to join him in permanently ending your career in presidential politics.
Gore and who?
Dole and who?
Kerry and who?
McCain and who?
Well he gets almost 7 out of ten. about par with Dole.
Or Rudy or Romney. Slightly better than Huckabee.
How about Bill Frist?
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