Brawl in St. Paul (Delegates should not let McCain pick a liberal Vice Presidential candidate)

National Review Online ^ | March 12, 2008 | The Editors

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

John McCain won the Republican primaries by running as a pro-life Reagan Republican, committed to low taxes and a strong defense. We assume that he will therefore pick a running mate who shares his positions on fundamental issues whom conservatives can support with enthusiasm. We assume, as well, that he is more interested in winning the White House than in redefining the Republican party, and will not try to make the party platform reflect each of his views.

Win or lose, in picking a running mate Senator McCain will also be conferring front-runner status on a candidate for his party’s future nomination. A selection that reassures wary conservatives will help to enthuse his supporters for the tough race he faces. We also assume the Senator appreciates that the right pick is good politics.

Should the senator make an error in judgment in these respects, however, conservatives should have an insurance policy. With the names of unacceptable candidates being bandied about as possible picks, conservatives should bear in mind that they are not powerless with respect to McCain’s choice. The delegates to the Republican convention have real clout. Even McCain’s own delegates should be willing to use their power, if necessary, to pursue the party’s (and McCain’s) best interests.

[Antoninus]

Someone with a deep understanding of the economy is what should be first on his agenda. Romney would fit the bill here nicely.

Flip Romney is the very definition of a guy who would cause me to bolt.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

who was the last president to die in office other than assasination?

FDR. Others who died from natural causes are William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and Warren Harding. None of them were 72 when they took office, or had cancer.

[Eva]

I can’t see McCain picking Romney because I can’t see McCain admitting that Romney would bring anything to the ticket. If he picked Romney, he would immediately marginalize Romney’s influence, just like Bill Clinton did to Al Gore.

[Ancesthntr]

I’m not going to gamble on his death. Besides, who was the last president to die in office other than assasination?

Its not exactly a gamble. McCain WILL be the nominee, unless he dies, strokes out or some huge and as yet unknown scandal goes public (maybe he's Client #10?). Being the nominee, he WILL choose a Veep. That's about all there is for us conservatives this time around. You fight the campaign with the Party you have, not the Party you wish you had.

The last President to die of natural causes in office was FDR. He was quite sick when reelected in 1944, something that couldn't, I believe, happen now. However, McCain will be the oldest President ever to take the oath, and he is not in the very greatest of health. I wish him good health and a long life (like his still-living mother, age 96), but one must be a bit realistic. His chances of survival go down each day (as does everyone else's).

Note that Nixon didn't die in office - physically (though politically is a different animal). But he was forced out, and his Veep took over. That is unlikely, but also another reason to put in a conservative Veep.

Finally, whoever is the Veep will have a leg up for the next campaign that doesn't feature McCain (though Fred Thompson likely won't run in 2016 - too old, and he's not the type to spend his old age in a job like that).

[cripplecreek]

Like I said, the ploys to attempt to get me vote for him have become pathetic.

[Abathar]

Yes that is true, which makes it very sickening because McCain even admits he lacks the necessary knowledge to handle the economy, but is the type who won’t give credit to someone else who helps him on it. Crusty old b*stard must be hell to work for, I would bet the house on that.

[MEGoody]

I would think that McCain would be smart enough to pick a solid conservative as his running mate, since he knows he needs to solidify the conservative base.

[isrul]

That’s his short list, for sure

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Like I said, the ploys to attempt to get me vote for him have become pathetic.

Nothing in the editorial suggests that someone who isn't planninmg to vote for McCain change their minds and vote for him. It simply says that no matter how you plan to vote in November, it would be better to have a conservative VP candidate than a liberal one.

[Abathar]

"Unless he dies in office. Then the Veep choice matters a LOT."

That lesson is being driven home right now in the State of NY, and I think will be very much on the minds of voters come November as well.

[isrul]

He hasn't been nominated. If the ship has sailed. It is the Titanic on her maiden voyage. There is no reason to roll over and just accept it. at the very least that convention should be rocked to its very foundation by protests, so it is clear that while they may have the power to nominate, the power to elect is in our hands.

sometimes it is necessary to raise more than a little hell to get the devil's attention.

[M203M4]

McCain and his enablers in the RNC may just be taking a look at how far to the left Obama is trapping himself (well, whether or not he is trapped depends to a great degree on how forgiving "forgetful" the media is), say 'screw conservatives' and go for the supposedly vote-rich so-called middle.

Say they pick Joe Lieberman, or even a figure like Mark Warner or Bill Richardson (hell, I wouldn't even rule out John Kerry). And there are a bevy of rats who could be selected just to put a state into play, changing the math.

IMO, the delegates wouldn't, as a group, offer any resistance and conservatives would get steamrolled.

"Hey, what are right-of-center voters going to do? NOTHING, except vote for the (R) nominee! Hahahaha! Like finely tuned instruments - they'd vote for the (R) ticket even if the other half was Hillary Clinton."

[Emrys]

Would it be worthwhile to look at Elaine Chao for VP? She has been in the Bush Administration for 8 years and is happily married to Phil Gramm. She is a woman and a minority— a twofer in the diversity pool. What do you think?

[ex-snook]

It won’t matter who is on ticket, Bush will be McCain’s running mate.

[Ingtar]

If Huckabee or one of the others had remained in and if people would have voted for him instead of crossing over to mess with the dims, the prospect of a brokered convention if McCain exploded before September 1 was real. As of today, he still does not have enough delegates required to vote for him to win on the first ballot.

[isrul]

Then he could be stopped if there was the will to do it.

[ansel12]

“If we are destined to have McCain for 4 years (*sigh*) we might as well put some brains in behind him to at least keep the economy rolling along so that we have a better chance to 2012 to then put someone better in office. Just because Romney is VP doesn’t mean he will get the nod in 2012. “

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The republican party needs to distance itself from the empty, genetically liberal, stepford man Romney.

The 61 year old Romney was a lifelong anti-conservative, he was against Goldwater as a young man, against Reagan during his presidency, and then he was against the republican revolutionaries of 1994.

Lacking any inner self, 30 months ago he created a conservative strategy to win the presidency, he even reshaped himself as the ‘new Reagan’ by attempting to reshape Reagan’s memory to fit his own twisted past.

I don’t see Romney as a great mind, I see him as a shallow empty suit that is only good at focusing on his own narrow ambitions.

To ignore dedicated movement conservatives that have been fighting the good fights for years and decades to embrace a freshly written 2006 campaign strategy written by a liberal 59 year old power hungry outsider from the liberal NE, is to destroy conservatism for the future.

[Abathar]

What you say is all true, but it is all moot because McCain will still be the focus of this election. His faults are many, but Romney knows money and the economy and in that one sector of the executive branch he does have what it takes to make informed decisions, even McCain has grudgingly admitted to that.

[ansel12]

“His faults are many, but Romney knows money and the economy”

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You guys need to start some threads on that, because I am not convinced, and I would like to see the discussions on it.