Draft Condi :)
Posted on 03/09/2008 10:55:56 PM PDT by AllseeingEye33
The Veepstakes [Fred Barnes] There's an obvious winner. by Fred Barnes 03/17/2008, Volume 013, Issue 26
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.
So how about Lieberman in 2008? He's a pal of McCain, a brave backer of the war in Iraq, and now the most prominent Democratic supporter of McCain's presidential bid. He would surely enhance McCain's appeal to independents and moderate Democrats. He's a political adult.
But he's no Zell Miller. Lieberman is a liberal on domestic issues, including abortion. McCain already has trouble with conservatives and picking a Democrat would make things worse. Lieberman would probably subtract more votes from the McCain ticket than he'd add.
So would Giuliani and Ridge. True, Giuliani was a hero of 9/11 as mayor of New York, and Ridge, a former Pennsylvania governor, was President Bush's first homeland security chief. But both are pro-choice on abortion and would horrify social conservatives, an indispensable part of the Republican coalition. Giuliani or Ridge might prompt a third party pro-life presidential challenger.
Fred Thompson, the ex-senator from Tennessee and now a TV actor, is also a close friend of McCain. If he'd run a more spirited presidential campaign of his own this year, he'd be the obvious pick for running mate. But his campaign was dreary and disappointing. McCain needs someone more vibrant and upbeat.
That leads to Romney. He has run a vigorous national campaign and been vetted by the press and his opponents for the Republican nomination. These are very strong pluses. A pick who produces unhelpful surprises, as Geraldine Ferraro did in 1984 (her husband's business deals) and Dan Quayle did in 1988 (his National Guard duty), is exactly what McCain doesn't need. Romney is a known quantity.
Romney has three other add-ons. He's acceptable to conservatives and especially to social conservatives, who disproportionately volunteer as ground troops in Republican presidential campaigns. He's unflappable in debates. With the downturn worsening, the economy may surpass national security as the top issue of the campaign. And after years of success as a big time player in the global economy, Romney understands how markets work. He could shore up McCain's admitted weakness on economic issues.
Romney has allies in the Bush wing of the Republican party. President Bush favors him as McCain's veep. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, preferred Romney over McCain in the primaries, but never endorsed him publicly. Karl Rove, the president's political strategist, has hinted that he considers Romney to be McCain's best running mate.
Is there a downside to Romney? Possibly. It's not his Mormonism. He lost the nomination to McCain, but religion wasn't the reason. As a corporate turnaround artist, he rescued companies, sometimes by laying off workers. When he ran for the Senate from Massachusetts in 1994, the incumbent, Teddy Kennedy, raised the layoff issue with punishing effect. No doubt Democrats would use it again, and it might have resonance if a recession hits and unemployment is increasing.
Mike Huckabee's name is bound to come up in the veepstakes, since he's now run nationally and been vetted. According to Rove, he would "double" McCain's trouble with conservatives. Both foreign policy and economic conservatives would scream bloody murder if McCain chose the Huckster.
Presidential nominees once tried to balance their ticket with someone who'd helped win a state they might otherwise lose. This hasn't entirely gone out of fashion. Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota is often mentioned in this regard. Former House member John Kasich and ex-trade representative and budget director Rob Portman, both from Ohio, are too.
McCain has also been advised, at least by the media, to pick a much younger person for vice president. Governor Matt Blunt of Missouri, 37, and a handful of others have had their names trotted out. Some of them have impressive credentials. Blunt, for example, is an Annapolis graduate and a Naval Reservist called to active duty after 9/11.
But I don't believe the option of choosing a running mate for purely political reasons is open to McCain--not during wartime, anyway. His strong suit against Barack Obama, his likeliest Democratic opponent, or even against Hillary Clinton, is experience. In fact, Clinton has set up Obama to be attacked by McCain on this front.
Her TV ad raising doubts about Obama's readiness to be president was critical to her victories last week in the Ohio and Texas primaries. She also said in a campaign appearance: "Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign. I will bring a lifetime of experience [to the White House] and Senator Obama will bring a speech he gave in 2002. I think that is a significant difference." In Obama's 2002 speech, he opposed the invasion of Iraq. One can envision her comment in a McCain TV ad zinging Obama.
McCain would throw away the experience issue if he named a much younger running mate or someone without national stature or a background in world affairs. Obama's response could be devastating: "If experience is so important, why did you pick a running mate who has so little, indeed less than I do?"
Romney thus appears to have the best ratio of virtues to drawbacks. But there's just one problem: McCain doesn't like him. Just how important compatibility is--that is something McCain will have to decide.
That's such a shame. When I met Ridge a thousand years ago in Philadelphia, he was running for governor of Pa, and was a strongly pro-life Catholic. How the mighty have fallen.
More propping up of Romney, by the establishment “conservative” Republicans, who seem to see the world first in terms of money and the preservation of an aristocratic elite.
Oops -- a tautological term.
Damn, guess my favs, Voinovich and Christy Whitman, are out.
My mom, a staunch conservative actually brought up Condi Rice as a possibility. My mom is pro-life, but considered the weight of Condi on the ticket would be worth it. I have alot of issues with her, but could see her point. She is 67 and petrified of either Obama or Hillary winning and is willing to consider all options.
You gave got to be kidding. To each his own, but I would never vote for that Hamas and Hezbolla loving dolt.
bttt
Are you serious?
Yes. He is a GREAT candidate. John Wayne type stature. Will crack in jokes that would leave opponets bloodied. Even campaigning for W, he had the best lines.
Best Experience. Best Credential on Security. Executive of a Huge State. Successful Governor.
He is the Man!!!
Damn, guess my favs, Voinovich and Christy Whitman, are out....Arnoooold, is "pumpin'-up" on the Left coast. *snicker* /s :D
Tom Ridge is 63. It's an improvement over McCain, but it's a stretch to say "young."
Hillary is 60. He is YOUNG 63. He could kick lots of 53 year old’s butt.
Fred is right about Mitt being the smartest pick. Even Ann Coulter said she would vote for a McCain/Romney ticket.
I saw Sen. McCain not long ago in Seattle. When McCain spoke to the crowd about Mitt Romney there was some body language happening from him. Words of sincere respect were coming from him. This was just after Romney dropped out of the race. McCain had a talk with him earlier that day. Someone in the audience yelled, “Romney for VEEP!” McCain’s eyes lit up. He said that Romney had given him his total support. I perceived in that instant that Romney was the pick for Vice President.
I am hoping that my perceptions were correct.
That’s a good anecdote. I liked Mitt as a candidate and think he is too talented a guy for government to turn its back on, but I think he is the wrong person to be McCain’s running mate.
McCain’s weakness is on the right of the Republican Party (and he deserves every bit of it). I think he needs to pick a conservative to firm up his support. I suggest Fred or Newt Gingrich.
Don't get me wrong; a pick could be worst (like a former HP female executive I've heard a rumor about - you know, the one who single handedly torpedoed HP) but Tom is about as exciting as a fly swatting contest.
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