Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe: McCain’s “Social “ Visit with His Top VP Picks
Nathan Greene
2 Comments
The Race for VP V2.0
By Emily Geiger
So, it’s all over the news today that John McCain has invited a select group of “friends” over to his house in Arizona for Memorial Day weekend for some “socializing.” It just so happens that these “friends” are pretty much the guys who most people think are at the top of McCain’s VP list. The names being thrown out are Charlie Crist, Bobby Jindal, and Mitt Romney.
Ok, if you’ve been following this blog for any period of time, you know that even the thought of Mitt Romney anywhere near the White House makes me throw up a little in my mouth. And if you remember during the primary season, McCain seemed share that feeling about Romney. The two really seemed to HATE each other. But, hey, a $50 million automatic war chest can make anyone a lot more likable.
A lot of what I’m reading about Crist and Jindal is that they could deliver their own states in the general election (which would be especially important in Florida), but some are questioning their level of experience given that they are both first-term governors.
Plus, Crist is 51 and single… with a perma-tan and perfect hair… how does that happen unless there is some “alternative lifestyle” involved? Jindal is extremely smart, but also extremely young. At 37, he’s barely old enough to even be eligible under the Constitution to hold the office of president.
I’ve heard several different theories of what could really be behind this weekend gathering in Arizona. The first is that all this VP talk is really just a distraction from McCain’s medical records, which are scheduled to be released in the next few days. We all know he’s old and has had skin cancer, and I’m sure the McCain camp doesn’t want people reminded of that.
The next theory, which is more related to the actual VP issue, is that this is all a big distraction to get attention and free media for McCain, but that McCain is calling these guys to his house to let them know they are NOT his pick. Crist even recently told the media that the McCain campaign has not requested the kind of personal information it would need from him to even begin the vetting process.
So, if it isn’t any of those three, then who is it? Well, I can tell you that Nathan is terrified that McCain will go the politically correct route and choose a woman as his running mate. The only problem with this is that, unfortunately, neither of us could think of any conservative GOP women who would be qualified. (And for all you Condi lovers, she would have to undergo a major shift on social issues for me to even consider her to be a possibility given her strong pro-choice position.) Worst case scenario, we get VP candidate Christy Todd Whitman… barf.
The optimist in me is still hoping for someone like Huckabee. If you watched Meet the Press last Sunday, it was a little hard to tell if Tim Russert was just blowing smoke up Huck’s derriere, or if he really though that Huck was a front-runner for the job. In any event, Russert called Huck “Mr. Vice President” too many times to count.
Unfortunately, the realist in me is telling me that Nathan’s pessimist is probable more accurate than my optimist. I just hope that McCain keeps in mind that who he picks for VP will determine whether people like me will actually vote for him as a candidate we can believe in, or if he just needs to hope that the thought of an Obama presidency will be so distasteful that we decide we need to come out and vote against the left-wing wacko.
My fear is that McCain doesn't care either way, so long as he gets elected.
Reader Comments (2)
huckabee totally sucks.
Neither Huckabee or Romney bring a single thing to the table as far as VP. Nada zip zilch. They're being brought to the ranch to tell them that they're OFF the list.