Posted on 07/12/2008 8:03:50 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Many handicappers believe that former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge could help McCain rev up Republicans in that key state. But the party's conservative base is not likely to stand for a pro-abortion rights Republican lounging a heart-beat away from the Presidency.
That reality keeps Mitt Romney in the hunt. A related problem hampers another former McCain opponent, Mike Huckabee. Huckabee passes the Right's social values test, but is viewed as too "compassionate" by fiscal conservatives.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is perhaps the prospective Veep who best fits the characteristics McCain needs. Tim who? Former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber pointed out Pawlenty "has been a conservative Governor in a fairly liberal state." Pawlenty is young, yet a veteran of two terms in the Governor' office, mediagenic, cool with both social and fiscal conservatives and he stems from "blue-collar roots." But the problem is Pawlenty is little-known. Virtual anonymity hinders another touted V.P. candidate, former Ohio Congressman and Bush OMB Director, Rob Portman.
More problematic for Portman may be his tenure in the Bush Administration. As Newsweek put it, "Portman's strong ties to the deeply unpopular policies of the Bush years would do little to deflect the "McSame" attacks that have plagued McCain since he clinched the Republican nomination in March."
(Excerpt) Read more at knbc.com ...
You've seen it many times and you can say with a straight face that Romney has never been pro abortion? I've seen your posts, you're not stupid but you are spinning like a top.
Simply an unfortunate truth - Alaska has fewer people than Bakersfield, CA. Palin doesn't bring any constituency to the ticket, and her addition will simply be seen as more GOP tokenism.
The real problem is that the GOP has no bench strength, so everyone is groping for the inexperienced but charismatic Palins and Jindals instead of rallying around a logical sixtyish, nationally prominent, popular candidate with military experience and a track record of success in the private sector...who doesn't exist.
Romney comes closest, but if he is chosen the line between LDS and FLDS in subsequent MSM editorializing is going to get too thin for comfort - and McCain knows it.
Dang! Why did you say Robert Ehrlich? DJ is gonna rip that! LOL
I don’t think he’ll react that way to Erlich, even if he disagrees. However, anyone who proposes Mitt Romney as the running mate doesn’t want him to read it.
The problem with Cantor & Ryan: No Congressman has been elected POTUS since Garfield in 1880.
Mark Sanford would generate little excitement and like you say, SC is a safe State for the GOP this years.
Erlich: Like Rick Santorum and George Allen, who both lost in ‘06; once you “lose” you are pretty well finished.
Judd Gregg is o.k., but NH doesn’t have that many Electoral Votes (4).
What about Sarah Palin?
Sarah Palin is a great lady, but she’s untested. I say give her more time to make a record.
As for Robert Erlich, a significant number of voters in Maryland think they made a mistake in voting for Martin O’Malley. Erlich (and McCain, by extension) could benefit from that.
http://insidecharmcity.com/2008/03/05/release-o%E2%80%99malley-approval-rating-plummets-another-6/
Signing a bill into law that gives women access to $50 abortions, paid for by the taxpayers, sounds pro-abortion to me.
Ehrlich was a fine governor. Trust me I live here. His ratings never fell below 50% in four years. He may well win a rematch however I don’t think we have much if any chance of capturing MD in the presidential race. There are huge minority populations in suburban DC (PG’s and Mont counties) and less large but still significant block in Baltimore City. They will vote reflexively for Obama, Ehrlich or not, and they will be very difficult to overcome.
Sanford and Pawlenty are my top-two choices. I know DJ doesn’t like Pawlenty, but he’s a blue-collar social conservative who could get us an extra 27 electoral votes (MN, WI and IA) that would probably otherwise go to Obama by a small margin. My third choice is probably Rob Portman, who is from OH, which is huge, and he is a solid conservative with ample experience; if he had “Governor” in his résumé he would probably be my first choice.
Chris Cox would make a fine VP, but I’m not sure that he’d be all that helpful electorally. If McCain carries California, it will be due to Obama’s inability to attract Hispanic and Jewish voters, not because a little-known former Congressman from the LA suburbs is the VP nominee.
Paul Ryan is great on paper (and in person, I’m sure), but the media would immediately Quaylize him because he’s young and good-looking. Also, I’d rather have a governor.
Eric Cantor could conceivably help us get an even greater share of the Jewish vote than McCain is poised to take due to Obama being the Dem nominee, and he could shore up the Richmond area for us and thus carry VA, but, again, we’d have to members of Congress with no executive experience on the ballot.
Judd Gregg has cast too many liberal votes to help McCain turn out conservative voters. And, frankly, I don’t see how much additional help he would be to McCain in the Northeast, since McCain runs stronger in the Northeast than any other Republican that is conservative enough to carry the South and the Midwest.
Bob Ehrlich is pro-abortion, although he favored the PBA ban, and MD wouldn;t be in play for us even if he was on the ballot. I would support Ehrlich for the Senate (maybe in 2010, with Steele running for Governor), but not for VP.
Females, duh. Present in all 50 states.
Romney comes closest, but if he is chosen the line between LDS and FLDS in subsequent MSM editorializing is going to get too thin for comfort - and McCain knows it.
Screw the MSM and those FLDS fanatics.
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