KING: The governor right now is going through a process you had to go through four years ago, looking for a partner, looking for a running mate. If he asked you, give me one name, Senator, who would it be?MCCAIN: You know, I cant - I cant do that, John. I cant do that to him. That would put pressure on him. Its a decision that only he can make and it has to be dictated to some degree by the circumstances that surround his campaign and where he is at the time of the - that the decision has to be made, which, as you know, is not till the end of August.
Who is that - first question is, can I trust that that person can take my place immediately? But the second thing, obviously, is, is how does this person help me win the election? Lets be clear. That is a - that is a real important factor.
And that decision, I think, can only be made by the president with all the facts that he can gather at the time and that wont be until a couple of months from now at the earliest.
KING: You make your criteria there, ready to succeed you if necessary, God forbid, and to help you in the election. Four years ago, you vetted Governor Romney and in the end settled on Governor Palin. Why?
MCCAIN: Well, I thought at the time that we needed a catalyst. We needed an energizer, which we got. As soon as she spoke at our Republican Convention we were up by three points. She energized our base. Thats what I thought we needed at the time. She had experience as a governor and she obviously had an enormous amount of charisma.
And I thought it was really - and I still do think it was the right choice at that time, and Im still very proud to have had her as my running mate. The circumstances may be very different for Governor Romney when he has to decide, and that is why I dont presume to tell him who he should - who he should choose. But he does have a good bench.
Sheesh.
McCain was joking with a colleague. Chill.
I don’t take John McCain seriously on anything - including this offhand comment that signifies nothing.
Know little of Portman, but if Juan McPain is touting him (even jokingly) then he MUST be a traveling-fellow, Girly-Guy, Squishy, "Reach across the aisle, Useful Idiot, " RINO!!!
This has to be the common sense list: Pawlenty...McDonnell...Palin. Forget rubio/jindal/portman/ryan/rice/christie/ayotte/jeb.
I put this brain drained traitor in the same category as Carter. They’ve way outlived their usefulness. Now they’re just in the way.
He’s one reason I don’t have as much sympathy for AZ as I used to.
Yawn - - -