GOP VP watch
Running mate guessing game begins
Excerpt:
First, Mr. McCain likely will go for someone from outside Washington — most probably a governor. For the four-term Arizona senator, that would offset his 25 years in Congress, muting a target for Democrats — his Washington-insider status.
"John McCain certainly isn't a creature of the Beltway in most respects, but he has been in Congress awhile, so having someone on the ticket who can talk about change will help," said Dan Schnur, who was communications director for McCain's 2000 presidential campaign.
Mr. Schnur said the "two most likely plausible ones that I hear bandied about" are South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Another outsider is newly elected Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a rising star in the Republican Party.
The man or woman whom Mr. McCain selects will almost definitely be more conservative than the moderate maverick senator and likely will be popular among evangelicals, such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, or race dropout Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.
Comment: I'm starting to think Huckabee based upon his ability to generate turnout among Evangelicals. I'm still pulling for Tim Pawlenty!
I am thinking Tim Pawlenty or, for an odd twist on things, maybe Fred Thompson. Thompson was perceived as being more conservative and maybe they'd bring him on to stabalize the situation and balance out McCain's more liberal leanings. But it would be neat to have the convention in the same state as the governor you're picking as the running mate.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere I have a picture of Tim Pawlenty and me (and my son Roger). Gov. Pawlenty came to USMC reserve base for send off of Marines when Roger was called up.
ReplyDeleteIf Pawlenty becomes the VP running mate, I will research digital archive and see if I can find it.