Cantor says Obama, Biden show lack of judgment

Richmond Time-Dispatch ^ | August 25, 2008 | Andrew Cain

[jwalsh07]

I disagree there Marlowe, she has to be able to handle the Obamedia. IF she can’t it will hurt McCain and that’s a cardinal sin for a VP candidate. Personally I hope she can because I think she will energise young pro life Catholics and Evangelicals like nobody has ever done.

[marsh-mellow]

I’d like Palin or Cantor. I know less about Cantor, but he seems to be pro-life, which is a crucial issue for me.

[SunkenCiv]

GOP platform may have global warming plank
UPI
Posted on 08/26/2008 3:32:52 PM PDT by Crazieman
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068629/posts

Hill Democrats miffed at Obama
The Politico | July 15, 2008 | John Bresnahan
Posted on 07/15/2008 4:49:36 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045680/posts

[xzins]

Palin, Cantor, Jindal, and Romney stick out as those who've been mentioned seriously.

Obama's victory strategy requires he win some of the red states from the last election. If you look at the current Rasmussen electoral college count, here, you'll see which states are in play.

There is also the issue of any constituency that is represented by the candidate which might be influenced by the selection of that candidate.

Palin:
1. State: Alaska is firmly behind McCain. It has only 3 electoral votes. No real logic in using state as a reason to choose Palin.
2. Special Constituency: females. This is significant and should be considered since Hussein Obama has "burka"ed Hillary.
3. Other: strong pro-life conservative. 4. Evaluation: strong.
5. Weakness: new executive.

Cantor:
1. State: Virginia. Virginia is on the line and Cantor could make a difference in which way it tilts, especially since Kaine was not chosen. Virginia's 13 electoral votes would bump McCain's total up to 260, still 10 short of a victory.
2. Special Constituency: Jewish. The Jewish vote could consolidate McCain's strength in Florida and Ohio, but I don't see any one state that it would tilt to McCain.
3. Other: strong pro-life conservative
4. Evaluation: strong
5. Weakness: limited executive experience.

Romney:
1. State: Massachusetts & Michigan. There is no hope that Romney will sway Mass to McCain. However, he is a Michigan native where his father was a governor, and it went strongly for him in the primary. Michigan could be tilted to McCain by a Romney selection. That would bring McCain's totals to 267, 3 short of 270 needed to win.
2. Special Constituency: Mormon. The Mormon vote in Colorado could tilt that state to McCain. Additionally, Mormons are spread throughout the entire US, and they have shown a tendency to work the political scene on Romney's behalf. There is the possibility, however, that a Mormon VP would send certain elements of conservative Christianity to the Constitution Party candidate or to not vote at all.
3. Other: Romney controls huge wealth which would be a great asset. He also has considerable experience in business and governance.
4. Evaluation: strong with some risk.
5. Weakness: past liberal on abortion and homosexuality. Also, a lightning rod for many conservatives based on health care and illegal immigration positions.

Jindal:
1. State: Louisiana is firmly behind McCain, so Jindal has no impact.
2. Special constituency: I believe Jindal is Native American. This could give McCain some traction with minorities in general. It might make a difference in places like Colorado and Nevada, both on the line electorally.
3. Other: strong pro-life fiscal conservative.
4. Evaluation: strong
5. Weakness: new executive

After looking at all of these, I think that any of the above are acceptable, but Palin and Cantor look strongest to me. Your logic about Palin is sound. It is very reasonable to cause a conflict between the female vote and the minority vote.

[Corin Stormhands]

My parole is almost up and I’ve got to get to work, but quick thoughts:

1) Palin - an excellent choice. She’s young, smart, conservative and it would be a slap in the face to the DNC for not including Hillary on the ticket.

2) Cantor - also a great choice. But a couple of points xzins. 1) Virginia is not as much of a swing state as you would think. Note that last night Mark Warner was moved from the pre-Hillary time slot because he wouldn’t go after McCain. He knows McCain will take Virginia. Obama has pulled his ads from here as well, and didn’t pick our current geographically challenged Governor. 2) Cantor has more experience than Obama.

3) Romney - a safe, predictable choice. They’d go after him for his flip flops. But he could still bring a lot to the ticket.

4) Jindal - hasn’t been governor long enough. And, there’s a hurricane bearing down on Louisiana. I doubt he’ll even make it to Denver next week. His time will come. Just not this year. And, he is not “Native American” he is of Indian (as in the country) descent.

[xzins]

Thanks for thoughts and the correction on Jindal.

I’m leaning in the Palin direction, but I like Cantor.

To keep the dissension to a minimum, to unite the party, a Romney selection would have to be sold.

I think Palin would be just like you said “slap in the face to the DNC for not including Hillary on the ticket.”

I just listened to Donald Trump on FoxnFriends, and he essentially said that Obama was nuts for not including Hillary on his ticket.

Obama’s upbringing ...islamic background???.... probably has him insecure about Hillary.

[alwaysconservative]

I only have a couple of points to make with regard to your excellent post: Jindal is from Indian descent (the country), NOT a Native American. It is a source of bitter irony that Jindal lost his first campaign (against Mary Landrieu, IIRC) because of the whispering that he was “too black”. Where was all the Democrats’ talk of racism when black Republican candidates such as Swann, Steele, and Blackwell (and others) went down against white liberals?

[xzins]

Thanks, AC, for the correction about Jindal.

As a republican conservative who worked for, donated to, and loudly advocated Ken Blackwell for governor here in Ohio, I can only say that the attacks against Blackwell by the dems, and the silence about them by Ohio blacks, was an exercise in bigotry.

[alwaysconservative]

Oops! I should have kept reading after xzins’ post! You made excellent points, and cleared up the Native American question.

It is great to see what a deep bench we have versus the Dems: any one of these four is bright star for our future!

That said, I think Cantor would be the most effective debator, (although Romney has been a HOOT since he dropped out, in a great way), and Virginia is a LOT more precarious than it used to be (look at 2006, for example).

In the end, I really hate to see Minnesota or Louisiana lose Pawlenty or Jindal. These are two of the most effective young governors out there, along with Palin.

I used to think Coleman would be a great, eloquent pro-life choice, but he is also needed in MN to counteract Franken and Ellison.

[Corin Stormhands]

Virginia is a lot more competitive nationally than it used to be. But in other races we’ve always been purple. 2006 was nothing but (I believe Hillary directed) witch hunt against George Allen. Yes, he stumbled, but it was the continual lies spread by the blogs and the MSM (The Washington Post ran a bazillion articles about “macaca”), along with some possible vote fraud. And still, Webb only won by about 7,000 votes.

IOW, I think that still this time around Virginia is pretty safe red. It’s not going to stay that way. But you can’t really base projections on 2005 or 2006.