“Rob Portman is a Bush Administration insider.”
The same would probably apply to Christopher Cox, even though he’s an extremely bright guy.
There are a few that I’d like to see considered, even though they’ve received little mention.
Eric Cantor- a respected, conservative Congressman from Richmond, Virginia, choosing him would be historic. And he would help not only in his native Virginia, but would attract a number of Democratic cross-overs in several urban states.
Paul Ryan- bright, youthful Congressman from southern Wisconsin, shows great intelligence and promise. Has credibility with conservatives.
Judd Gregg- popular Senator and former Governor from a key state (New Hampshire) that’s trending to the Democrats. Conservative, mild-mannered, with an unthreatening presence.
Mark Sanford- outstanding Governor (perhaps the best) and ex-Congressman. However, South Carolina is safe Republican this year.
Robert Erlich- former Governor from a heavily Democratic state (Maryland), was defeated for reelection in 2006 in spite of high approval ratings, but a number of voters there now have buyer’s remorse towards his successor. Would be helpful in the northeast.
Dang! Why did you say Robert Ehrlich? DJ is gonna rip that! LOL
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?
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.