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The Veepstakes: There's an obvious winner
The Weekly Standard ^ | The March 17, 2008 Edition | Fred Barnes, Executive Editor

Posted on 03/12/2008 3:08:10 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

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I don't know what that whole crew has against Fred Thompson: This Fred (me)disagrees with Fred Barnes about Fred Thompson. Mitt's religion would be a serious hinderance, and is probably the #1 reason he is not the nominee right now. Fred Thompson is the logical choice and would motivate the base to get out and work for the party, IMO.
1 posted on 03/12/2008 3:08:12 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Mark Sanford is the logical choice.
http://acuf.org/issues/issue15/040703news.asp
He not only acts politically like Ronald Reagan, he gives the same sense in person that he is the real thing. His best friend and campaign manager is his wife, Jenny. He is devoted to his children. He asks all the right questions and wants to know every option. He questions everything and never accepts something simply because it is the way it has always been done. He is a serious, courageous and committed conservative — in fact, the most conservative chief executive in America.


2 posted on 03/12/2008 3:13:19 AM PDT by ari-freedom (McCain must pick a conservative VP if he wants conservative support)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
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.

By this criteria McCain himself doesn't qualify.

Regards

3 posted on 03/12/2008 3:13:58 AM PDT by ARE SOLE (Agents Ramos and Campean are in prison at this very moment.. (A "Concerned Citizen".)
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To: Politicalmom; jellybean; Josh Painter; ejonesie22; papasmurf; Bobbisox; DesScorp; thefactor; ...

Fred Ping!


4 posted on 03/12/2008 3:14:15 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (http://www.fourfriedchickensandacoke.blogspot.com)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

John McCain might just reach across the aisle and embrace Hillary after Obama trounces her. He would have the best of a bad situation as he could get elected.


5 posted on 03/12/2008 3:20:23 AM PDT by OldEagle
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I believe the best conservative candidate during the early election cycle was Duncan Hunter and would give McCain the conservative vote.....that being said my second choice would be Fred.....


6 posted on 03/12/2008 3:20:59 AM PDT by Vaquero (" an armed society is a polite society" Heinlein "MOLON LABE!" Leonidas of Sparta)
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To: ari-freedom
I agree with you the Sanford would be an excellent choice as VP. McCain, if nothing else, needs a conservative to solidify the base. The fact that he's a Governor helps his chances as well. My only question would be as to how much help he would be in “swing states” because they typically decide presidential elections.
7 posted on 03/12/2008 3:23:39 AM PDT by RU88
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To: RU88

How is Sanford on amnesty?


8 posted on 03/12/2008 3:27:41 AM PDT by ARE SOLE (Agents Ramos and Campean are in prison at this very moment.. (A "Concerned Citizen".)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sarah Palin.


9 posted on 03/12/2008 3:28:34 AM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Condi Rice is obviously the best choice.

In order to win, McCain is going to have to marry the War in Iraq. He has to prove that case, or he is going to lose to the anti-War candidate. He might as well start by putting Condi on the ticket. She has the stature. She has the credibility.

If he puts Lieberman on the ticket, there are not enough noseplugs in the World to get Republicans to vote for this guy. McCain has been successful to this point by spitting in the eye of the base, but at some point that strategy becomes self defeating. VEEP Lieberman is well short of that point.


10 posted on 03/12/2008 3:28:49 AM PDT by gridlock (They don't call us "The Stupid Party" for nuthin'!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

my long running problem with Fred was that he never had that much experience. You’d want to pair a senator with a governor.

Governor Sanford served in the House and has some foreign policy experience. He also created his own investment firm.

I think he has something to offer to Huckabee, Romney and even Ron Paul supporters (though not the kooky ones).


11 posted on 03/12/2008 3:30:16 AM PDT by ari-freedom (McCain must pick a conservative VP if he wants conservative support)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Fred would be a disaster for McCain, not because Fred is not qualified, or not conservative enough, in fact, Fred is the conservative’s conservative. No, it's because he's, how should I say it, “old.” McCain is already old, and with Fred beside him, he looks even older.

I don't think McCain has any choice but to go with a younger, vibrant candidate for Veep. Crist or Romney fit the bill. That said, McCain desperately needs to throw a bone to the conservatives and he could go the route of Tancredo for Veep with the specific task of border control and immigration policy reform.

But if the economy is going to be the defining issue in the general election, he could choose Romney and have him tackle the economy.

He has a lot of good choices, but whatever it is he chooses, it better freaking “WOW” this conservative.

12 posted on 03/12/2008 3:31:25 AM PDT by Shortwave (Islamofascism is NOT America's greatest enemy, our apathy is.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
" ... He wants a candidate who will be seen as a plausible president ... "


First of all McCain isn't a "plausible president" himself, so that suggestion is a stretch for even Fred Barnes.


Secondly, McCain needs someone who won't make him look worse than he already does, and yet bring in a few million votes.


How about that blind, black, socialist New York lieutenant governor David Paterson?

13 posted on 03/12/2008 3:32:26 AM PDT by G.Mason (And what is intelligence if not the craft of out-thinking our adversaries?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I pretty much agree with Fred Barnes on everything here.
McCain needs a heavy-weight pick, not a Dan Quayle type.

Fred Thompson would turn the McCain ticket into an endlessly running “Grumpy Old Men” joke. I like Fred, I was all for Fred as you know, though I was also not afraid to criticize his campaign where I saw it failing. I think he lost because of the very things I was critical about. I was called all kinds of names here for speaking the truth.

But lets face it, if Fred didn’t want to be president, then he sure as hell doesn’t want to be VP. The Red Pickup has sailed off into the sunset.

I was wrong to support Thompson. Perhaps not at first, but we were all beating a dead horse for months. That old dog wouldn’t hunt. He was much happier sitting on the porch. We all should have gotten behind Mitt sooner. I actually started out supporting Mitt long before Fred even gave entering the race any thought. I let all the anti-Mormon talk scare me. I bought into the garbage that a Mormon couldn’t get elected president. Maybe that’s true for Mitt Romney right now, but I don’t think so. But with 4 to 8 years experience as VP, his religion won’t matter when he runs to succeed McCain.

Romney has the knowledge and drive to win. Everytime I see him speak I am impressed with him. I know his abilities would bring a lot to the GOP ticket. More than anyone else I can think of. He has the personality, fund-raising abilities and economic knowledge that McCain is going to need to win in November. Romney did a good job in the end of rallying conservatives. A much better job than Thompson, as it turned out. McCain will need all of the conservatives he can get, too.


14 posted on 03/12/2008 3:32:32 AM PDT by counterpunch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs)
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To: ARE SOLE

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjRiNGQ4MGYxYjE1Y2QxOGRiMzdkNWY1OTc4MjJjMjE=

“I’m the right-wing nut — you’ve got to remember that,” Sanford told me when I asked about immigration. “So it’s not surprising that I’d be in the camp that says, ‘Secure the borders first. It’s a federal requirement.’”

The base’s immigration revolt against McCain, George W. Bush, and other party leaders didn’t bother Sanford; in fact, he appears to have taken some pleasure in it. “I think it’s good to listen to the electorate in the world of politics,” Sanford told me. “When enough people are out there raising Cain, making noise, saying I’m upset — I mean, Lindsey Graham is a very popular political figure back home, but he was booed at the convention on the immigration issue. Well, you do that in enough places around the country, and lo and behold, [politicians] stand up and say, You know what? I got the message. I was wrong on this one. I mean, that’s pretty cool, and it says the system is working.”

As for his own views, Sanford told me that after securing the borders, he’d support “a bill that said to every employer out there, if you hire an illegal you’re in serious trouble” — something he’s trying to do in South Carolina. Beyond that, he explained that he understands the practical problem of trying “to pull off the largest migration in the history of mankind and send 12 million people back outside the United States.” But he added: “Would I have a problem with it, were it to occur? No.”


15 posted on 03/12/2008 3:32:35 AM PDT by ari-freedom (McCain must pick a conservative VP if he wants conservative support)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I don't know what that whole crew has against Fred Thompson

I knew the "obvious winner" would be dumb the minute I saw it was a Fred Barnes column. He's been pimping hard for Romney for a year and can't let it go.

Remember that he and Kondracke were saying in mid-December that only Romney and Giuliani had viable paths to the nomination. So much for Barnes' talent for prognostication.

Romney would be a disastrous VP pick. Where Barnes gets this "Romney is a great social conservative" stuff from, I have no idea. And I'd hate to hear his idea of a social moderate.

16 posted on 03/12/2008 3:34:20 AM PDT by MitchellC (Put a Freeper in Congress! Freepmail me to join the John Armor for Congress ping list)
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To: gridlock
Condi Rice is obviously the best choice.

Right. Condi is over rated, over her head and hates Israel. She is a lousy choice.

17 posted on 03/12/2008 3:34:25 AM PDT by ARE SOLE (Agents Ramos and Campean are in prison at this very moment.. (A "Concerned Citizen".)
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To: Shortwave

I think it would be extremely unwise for McCain to pick Crist. That would leave a very bad taste in the mouths of all of Romney’s supporters, myself included.

I am fully willing to accept McCain as the nominee with open arms, but putting Crist on the ticket would be adding insult to injury.

Romney is the obvious choice.
The only question is if McCain wants to win bad enough to make it.


18 posted on 03/12/2008 3:34:53 AM PDT by counterpunch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs)
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To: OldEagle
John McCain might just reach across the aisle and embrace Hillary

Not much chance that he might reach across the asile the other direction and pick a real conservative.


19 posted on 03/12/2008 3:35:06 AM PDT by Iron Munro (Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.)
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To: Vaquero

Who is this Duncan Donuts, and why do you think he would deliver any votes to McCain?


20 posted on 03/12/2008 3:36:17 AM PDT by counterpunch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs)
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