Let's Talk Running Mates

G

Gone To Texas

500+ Posts
I didn't see any posts on this topic, so...

GOP - Pretty safe assumption that McCain is going to win. Here are the options I see:

Huckabee. Solid in the south, especially to counter Obama's strength with the black vote. Shores up the social conservatives who have reservations about McCain.

Arnold. Pretty suave pick in my opinion. Puts California into play? Fairly sure this is not a constitutional problem as there is no natural-born requirement for VP. So if McCain dies in office Arnold could be president after all! Does succession supercede the "natural born" clause?

Lieberman. Non-starter. Wreaks havoc with the base. Probably incites a 3rd party run from a disgruntled GOPer.

Other possibilities. KBH, Rudy, Ron Paul ;-)

Dems - I think Hillary will prevail, but it's anyone's guess. I just think she wants it so bad she'll stoop to desperate measures and win.

Obama/Hillary or Hillary/Obama ticket. Is this possible after all the bad blood? Clearly, America is ready for a woman and a black man to be president... but on the same ticket?

Edwards. Any chance he can horsetrade his delegates to get the VP slot again? Is he even wanted? Does the "2 Americas" ******** mesh with Obama's message of unity? Helps with the south in theory, but we saw in practice how much that helped Kerry.

Richardson. I thought he was running for VP from the beginning. Hillary more likely to take him than Obama IMO.

Biden/Dodds. Seems they might have more sway in the Senate due to their seniority than as a VP. Dodds has said he would be open to it, but not sure about Biden. Neither adds much to the electoral college.

Others possibilities: any popular Dem governors out there?

Other thoughts?
 
"Does succession supercede the "natural born" clause? "

No. You have to be natural born to be "eligible" to be president regardless of how you go about becoming president. Arny cannot be president under any circumstance.

Huckabee did well enough last night to make the short list. He did better than I predicted on the earlier thread. I thought he’d win 2 or 3; he got 5.

One of the CNN pundits pointed out last night the Huck isn’t conservative enough for the conservatives to be a #2. He is weak on fiscal matters and Wall Street hates the FairTax. Even on social issues, he’s not as strong as most assume. He had no idea what the Mexico City Policy was during a debate, and that’s abortion 101 stuff for the right.

On the other hand, McCain doesn’t need fiscal help.

Lieberman has already said no. And I agree, that’s a non-starter. McCain already wins independents, and that’s the assumed benefit of Lieberman.

Names being mentioned around my water cooler:

- Florida Gov Crist: Helps lock in a swing state.
- Former Florida Gov Bush: Helps lock FL and helpful with Hispanic and Catholic outreach. Only viable if the last name is less unfavorable 6 months from now than it is now.
- Senator* Cornyn: Sharp candidate. Helps in a big state.
- Senator* Thune: Doesn’t bring much to the delegate table, but an attractive candidate and rising Senate star.
- Senator* Brownback: Helps in small-state KS where Obama is strong for a red state. - - Solid conservative. Long time McCain friend.
- Some unknown former senator/gov/secretary that none of us are thinking about…in the same vein as Cheney.
- Gov. Perry: Same reasons as Cornyn, but executive experience.

* McCain is much more likely to not pick a senator as he already checks that box himself and he will be running against a senator.

Of this list, I like Crist, Unknown or Brownback.

I am the only Texan around my water cooler, so Cornyn and Perry apparently have more national appeal than back home. I know how the board feels about Perry, but that doesn’t seem to track outside Texas.

On the D side, I think it will be Hillary or Obama. Dark horse is Kansas Gov Sebelius if it's Obama, but I don't think she brings much.
 
Obama needs an experience street-cred guy. Biden would be a good choice. Another choice would be if he picked a republican-ish VP like Lieberman, to show he's serious about his rhetoric of inclusion. Dems don't like Lieberman, but what are they gonna do, vote for McCain instead?

Hillary needs someone to soften her ball-busting image. Dunno who that would be, but Richardson might be a good choice.
 
McCain and Cornyn hate each other. I'm using the word 'hate' here.

Crist would be a good choice. Great appeal among African Americans The Link

It won't be Huckabee.

D: RIchardson is the ideal choice. He can hang out west and deliver NM, NV, CO, etc swing states. "Adult supervision" (for lack of better term, perhaps "senior credibility") for Obama, similar to Cheney for Bush. He is hispanic, but the Richardson names gives him the "white male" pander that the rednecks will need to compliment either Hillary or Obama. Plus, his resume is ridiculous.
 
I'm nervous McCain will pick Huckabee b/c it would be just like him to stick another finger in the eye of conservatives. He should reach out to the base and bring in former CO Governor Bill Owens.
 
Huckabee would be a train wreck. He's been in this only a few months and already said we should re-write the Constitution under God's law and takent he side of the Confederate flag yahoos in S.C. Imagine what he'd say given another 8 months.
 
I don't understand how picking the one evangelical as a running mate is a "finger in the eye" of conservatives.

Owens has serious personal problems with the "base." Nannygate.The Link
 
Huckabee will hurt McCain with a lot of independent voters. Especially if he ends up going against Hillary.
 
I've posted this before, but...

I would love to see J.C. Watts as the Rep VP....

He doesn't help with the regional thing, but he's conservative, has held positions of importance in the party and has experience...

The fact that he's AA could also help to blunt the fact that the Dems will be running an AA or a woman....
 
Huckabee scares the **** out of anyone who isn't an evangelical christian, be they republican, democrat, or independent. Couple him as VP to the oldest first term president ever, and you've got a serious issue. There's no way McCain could win a general election with Huck as his running mate.

RIchardson would be a great choice as VP for anyone. Hell, he would have been a good president. He's an excellent public servant with foreign policy cred, and is fiscally conservative for a democrat. His sole problem with being Obama's VP is that he isn't white enough. An all minority ticket might be too much for some people, which is why I think Biden would be more likely as a VP choice.
 
Rick "Adios, Mofo" Perry? "Can't you let us just move on down the road" Perry?

Wow, that is a scary thought for Republicans.
 
No mention of Tim Pawlenty? Governor of Minnesota. Actually won reelection there in 2006, unlike most Republicans, especially midwestern ones. Could put Minnesota (which is hosting the GOP convention this summer) and Wisconsin in play for Republicans. Could help in Iowa. He has been a big supporter of McCain for a long, long time. He's even the national co-chair of the campaign.

I am not saying it will be Pawlenty, but it's weird to have a thread this long without his name being mentioned.
 
McCain's VP choice is more relevant against an Obama/______ ticket as he did well in states he can't win and he did poorly in states Obama did well in (South, Moutain West) that have to be Red state locks.

With that in mind, against Obama, he has to go with a social conservative that won't scare moderates on fiscal issues. Geographically, he's in a world of hurt in the South if he doesn't shore that up. Not saying he'd lose, but he'd certainly have to spend a bunch of money to win TN, GA, FL, VA, MO, LA, etc. His other choice is to go Mountain West as Romney did well there as did Obama.

Against Hillary its much simpler. HC did poorly in States McCain has to win and he did well in States he can't win.

So, Mountain West or South social conservative against Obama or Mountain West social conservative against HC
 
McCain should get Rice as his vp. That would seal the deal!
 
I have no idea if it's plausible, but I'd love for Wesley Clark to be on an Obama ticket. He's got foreign policy in spades and would bring credibility to the table on national security. He also has some appeal in the South.

He did endorse Hillary in September, but I don't think she'd take him as Veep (I really think she's gonna go with Richardson if she gets the nomination).

It might be a dream, but I'd really like Obama/Clark.
 
Personally, I think McCain has to pick a veep from a swing state. Huckabee may be running for VP, but McCain's California sweep gave McCain the freedom to not have to pander to any of the other candidates and more forward on his own.

Personally, I think that Senator Martinez of Florida would be a brilliant pick for McCain, especially if Obama is the nominee for the Dems. Latinos are not scared of McCain because of his sponsorship of pathway to citizenship and the addition of a Latino to his ticket could be enough to lure significant numbers of Hispanics to the GOP side ala Bush in 2000. This could secure swing states like Nevada and New Mexico. Moreover, since Martinez is from Florida, he likely could secure that swing state as well.

I agree that Biden is a perfect choice for Obama as it gives him the foreign policy experience that he lacks.

I have heard that Wesley Clark is an option for Clinton, along with Evan Bayh. Richardson is frequently mentioned (and he could deliver a swing state). Of course, if Clinton secures the nomination, there will be pressure on her to take Obama.
 
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