RepublicanVeep Pick (predictions)

[RedImperator]

I'm wondering, are there any Republican VP possibilities who wouldn't come off badly with this Biden character? I don't knowm uch about American politicians, but Biden comes across as the sort of guy who pulls no punches in debate, and he has seemingly no problem calling bullshit on basically everyone.

No. Biden can and will mercilessly hammer whoever McSame picks, as well as McSame himself. There are Republicans who could hold their own against him, but they're not in the running. The fundamental problem everyone on Team McSame faces is that McCain's positions simply aren't defensible in the face of the evidence. A skilled debater might be able to bullshit through that handicap, ditto a mediocre debater facing a lightweight like John Edwards or Holy Joe (who got his ass kicked by Cheney), but there aren't any skilled debaters on the McSame's list and Biden is no lightweight.

Again, I don't know much about him, but he gives me the impression of a goddamn freight train. Which is awesome, but I'd like to know how valid this impression is.

Biden is a throwback to the days of bare-knuckles Irish politics in America. He's happy not just to call bullshit on people, but mock and ridicule them for it, and do it over and over again until the message sinks in. And I mean call "bullshit" literally--the actual word "bullshit" has flown out of his mouth before, such as when a reporter asked him to comment on the Wonder Chimp's Kinesset speech (the one where he compared Obama to Nevile Chamberlain).

[D.Turtle]

Again, I don't know much about him, but he gives me the impression of a goddamn freight train. Which is awesome, but I'd like to know how valid this impression is.

Here are a few videos that show him in action (from this diary on DailyKos.com):
On the Iraq War: "Saddam is dead, there were no weapons. . ."
"Rudy Giuliani: A noun, a verb, 9/11 and nothing else . . . This man is truly not qualifed to be president."
Another nice Rudy smackdown:
Biden's debate response to a deranged gun owner. The famous "will you keep my baby safe" moment.
"This is bullshit!"
Biden to Mukasey: "You Act Like You Float... in the Ether"

[irishmick79]

One of the darkhorse names that I keep hearing periodically is Kay Bailey Hutchinson, seinor senator from Texas. She would be an....interesting choice. She certainly has the conservative credentials to keep the base happy, and her slow-southern style might contrast well against Biden in the VP debates.

[The Dark]

Charlie Crist governor of Florida has been listed as a possible, but I don't know enough to evaluate this.

Crist is on engagement number five, undermines the experience argument, and has some potentially killer scandals lurking in his background--among them, that as attorney general, he refused to investigate Lou Pearlman's Ponzi scheme because Pearlman was a big campaign donor.

Crist has also been embroiled in a possible scandal with (of all people) Jack Thompson. Florida law requires that a signed copy of the oath of office be submitted by all public officers within 30 days of inauguration, or their office is considered vacated. Apparently, Governor Crist failed to do so. Thompson uncovered this in the process of also discovering that the judges who have ruled against him not only had forms that were submitted too late, but had forged signatures. Of course, it's possibly Empty Chair Charlie just wasn't aware that was the law - we must be sympathetic to those people who fail the bar exam twice.

He was also tangled up in the Schiavo case as Attorney General, during which he also failed to investigate her missing DCF file.

I think the most scathing non-scandal-based condemnation of Crist I read was summed up well: "his knowledge of issues is a mile wide and an inch deep." He's interested in everything, but doesn't bother to learn the details. The "wing and a prayer" method can sometimes work if you have good subordinates at the local or state level, but on the national stage he'd get ripped to shreds.

[Patrick Degan]

The VP is going to be chosen entirely on the basis of (comparative) youth and ideological purity to the present political gospel of the GOP. He also has to be male, and white. So don't count on anybody with a lick of sense getting the slot on the ticket, since those considerations rule out in one way or another everybody we're hashing over. The way things are in the party, it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up paring the Gimp with Tommy the Bug Man DeLay.

[irishmick79]

The VP is going to be chosen entirely on the basis of (comparative) youth and ideological purity to the present political gospel of the GOP. He also has to be male, and white. So don't count on anybody with a lick of sense getting the slot on the ticket, since those considerations rule out in one way or another everybody we're hashing over. The way things are in the party, it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up paring the Gimp with Tommy the Bug Man DeLay.

I don't think they necessarily have to be male. I think with the ad about how Hillary was telling the truth about Obama, and the way they've been trying to use Hillary against him that McCain is at least thinking about going after those disaffected Hillarybot supporters who won't embrace Obama. Picking somebody like Kay Bailey Hutchinson will help him do that without necessarily making the base go ape shit about her being a woman and all, since she's a solid conservative.

And a KBH pick would give the GOP an opportunity to be gleeful hypocrites about how they were the party who wound up putting a woman on their ticket while the democrats gave women the shaft when the party faithful shot down hillary.

Basically they get the chance to pick off Hillary supporters and shred her credibility amongst democrats while taking their shots at Obama. Neat way to kill two birds with one stone.

[Battlehymn Republic]

They're going to save Jindal to be the GOP Obama in 2016 once they've been defeated and demoralized again in '12.

[Pelranius]

KBH would make sense, probably because no one outside of Texas has heard of her.

I voted for Lieberman, since I reckoned he was the most likely after Huckabee, who wasn't on the list and since McSame hates Romney so much.

[Patrick Degan]

The VP is going to be chosen entirely on the basis of (comparative) youth and ideological purity to the present political gospel of the GOP. He also has to be male, and white. So don't count on anybody with a lick of sense getting the slot on the ticket, since those considerations rule out in one way or another everybody we're hashing over. The way things are in the party, it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up paring the Gimp with Tommy the Bug Man DeLay.

I don't think they necessarily have to be male. I think with the ad about how Hillary was telling the truth about Obama, and the way they've been trying to use Hillary against him that McCain is at least thinking about going after those disaffected Hillarybot supporters who won't embrace Obama. Picking somebody like Kay Bailey Hutchinson will help him do that without necessarily making the base go ape shit about her being a woman and all, since she's a solid conservative.

And a KBH pick would give the GOP an opportunity to be gleeful hypocrites about how they were the party who wound up putting a woman on their ticket while the democrats gave women the shaft when the party faithful shot down hillary.

Basically they get the chance to pick off Hillary supporters and shred her credibility amongst democrats while taking their shots at Obama. Neat way to kill two birds with one stone.

The problem with that theory is that the GOP has a several-inches thick glass ceiling they've put in place to keep the top leadership exclusively in the hands of where it "belongs". We're also talking about a party which is increasingly becoming the American Taliban. They'll let women and minorities rise up to a certain level, but you can bet they'll never put a woman on the ticket with the Gimp. Ideology is increasingly trumping even political common sense in that party.

[Pelranius]

I don't believe Ms. Hutchinson supports overturning Roe v. Wade, which is going to be at least extremely awkward with the fundie crowds.

[irishmick79]

The VP is going to be chosen entirely on the basis of (comparative) youth and ideological purity to the present political gospel of the GOP. He also has to be male, and white. So don't count on anybody with a lick of sense getting the slot on the ticket, since those considerations rule out in one way or another everybody we're hashing over. The way things are in the party, it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up paring the Gimp with Tommy the Bug Man DeLay.

I don't think they necessarily have to be male. I think with the ad about how Hillary was telling the truth about Obama, and the way they've been trying to use Hillary against him that McCain is at least thinking about going after those disaffected Hillarybot supporters who won't embrace Obama. Picking somebody like Kay Bailey Hutchinson willhelp him do that without necessarily making the base go ape shit about her being a woman and all, since she's a solid conservative.

And a KBH pick would give the GOP an opportunity to be gleeful hypocrites about how they were the party who wound up putting a woman on their ticket while the democrats gave women the shaft when the party faithful shot down hillary.

Basically they get the chance to pick off Hillary supporters and shred her credibility amongst democrats while taking their shots at Obama. Neat way to kill two birds with one stone.

The problem with that theory is that the GOP has a several-inches thick glass ceiling they've put in place to keep the top leadership exclusively in the hands of where it "belongs". We're also talking about a party which is increasingly becoming the American Taliban. They'll let women and minorities rise up to a certain level, but you can bet they'll never put a woman on the ticket with the Gimp. Ideology is increasingly trumping even political common sense in that party.

True - if the republicans view McCain as a likely loser in November, then they can nominate KBH as VP on a 'principle' ticket. Even though your reply basically outlines where they're coming from, they still have to throw up just enough credible smoke screen to convince people to believe otherwise. KBH is increasingly getting her name dropped as a potential candidate for national office in GOP circles, and a failed run in '08 would certainly help her increase her national profile.

[Guardsman Bass]

Fred Thompson, mounted an anemic campaign during the Republican primary, by all accounts a conservative stalwart. Pros: would probably allay conservative suspicions of McCain. Cons: The 2 old-white-guys ticket what's not to like.

Thompson brings nothing. Which is sort of a shame for him, because a job where he doesn't have to do anything except look Presidential, go to funerals, and wait for McCain to die is right up his alley.

Why do people even suggest Thompson? It's not like McCain would be assuaging anyone with him; Thompson was a nobody. It'd probably be more likely that McCain would pick Ghouliani.

Mitt Romney, mounted the biggest challenge to McCain during the primary. Pros: After McCain has the widest support among republican base. Cons: Would (probably) scare off independents, Baptists, and dog lovers. Also no one was all that satisfied with his tenure as governor, so that's a bit of a detraction to the ticket too.

I would suspect Mittens myself, except he reinforces the "out of touch millionaire" meme, he frightens the base, he's a flip-flopper so transparent even Republicans can see through him, and McSame hates his stinking guts. And actually, considering the rest of the field, he's still probably the best candidate. He's had more personal and political success than anyone else on the short list and he has great hair. If McSame is looking for a nice-looking mannequin he can use as a campaign prop, Mittens is the guy. The one thing which comes off a sign Mittens won't be picked is the fact McSame is running attack ads quoting Joe Biden from the primaries saying Obama isn't ready to be President. If he picks Mittens, the Democrats are going to return the favor in spades.

To be fair to Mitt, he has at least some managerial competence (in business, sort of) - he really helped pull together the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics when it was mired in scandal. I remember thinking that, considering that he's flip-flopped on various conservative issues (and comes from a family background that was moderate Republican), he'd probably be okay as long as you stuck him with an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress. "Okay" as in "not as good as having a competent democrat, but better than the other Republicans".

Tim Pawlenty is governor of Minnesota. Pros: The Republicans might think they can steal Minnesota, a squishy democratic state, getting that to swing might save some trouble in other swing states. Also Pawlenty is 48, and has executive experience. Cons: VP's winning their home state hasn't worked that well recently (as I believe RedImperator mentioned in another thread).

The Republicans are daft if they think they can steal Minnesota. It's a "squishy" Democratic state that hasn't gone Republican in decades. Other than the entirely imaginary chance of carrying Minnesota, Pawlenty brings nothing to the ticket. He undermines McCain's experience theme (same goes double for Jindal, Crist, Palin, and any other state governor early in his or her first term), and he'll get clobbered by Joe Biden in the VP debates. Apparently has the charisma of dry toast, too.

I've heard him described as the "plain white bread" choice of the Sam's Club Republicans. Watching him debate Biden would not be pretty, although perhaps he could goad Biden into saying something stupid.

Bobby Jindal is governor of Louisiana, elected recently after K. Blanco chose not to run again. Pros: Indian-American (as in the subcontinent) to balance the ticket. Governor once again giving some executive experience. Jindal is 37. Jindal is also Roman Catholic, maybe he'll pull some of those who'd choose Biden. Cons: Jindal doesn't have much gubernatorial experience, it's a little early to call his term a success.

You forgot to mention that he believes in exorcism (scary for independents and moderates) and he's a brown person (scary for the base). Also undermines McSame's experience argument, will also get demolished by Biden in the VP debate. At any rate, Jindal has stated flatly that he's not up for consideration and hasn't been vetted. He could just be lying, but that's pretty rare; most people who know they're on the short list but don't want to say just act coy about it.

Would the base really vote against Jindal just because he's of East Indian extraction? It's not like they have anyone else to vote for except Bob Barr, or not voting at all, and Jindal is at least liked by some prominent conservative figures like Rush Limbaugh. "Inexperience" would be a bitch for him, though, although perhaps McCain could play it up as a "Master and Apprentice" type of thing.

Charlie Crist governor of Florida has been listed as a possible, but I don't know enough to evaluate this.

Crist is on engagement number five, undermines the experience argument, and has some potentially killer scandals lurking in his background--among them, that as attorney general, he refused to investigate Lou Pearlman's Ponzi scheme because Pearlman was a big campaign donor.

So he's actually a womanizer? I thought I heard a rumor that he might be a closet homosexual.

Joe Lieberman former Democratic (now Independent) Senator from Connecticut. Pros: More "MAverick" cred. Cons: It would certainly scare some of the staunch conservatives, as Lieberman is much more liberal on social economic stuff than any Republican I can think of.

Holy Joe would cause the base to die of apoplexy en masse. Look how they reacted to Tom Ridge's name; what do you think they'll do if McSame picks a pro-choice moderate Democrat? The only issue where Lieberman votes consistently with McCain and Bush is Iraq, and the Wonder Chimp just undermined McCain-Lieberman's entire position by agreeing to a withdrawal timeline with Malaki. PS: Holy Joe is a Jew, another reason the Neanderthal demographic won't like him.

I've heard this one discussed and promoted by Republitards on other forums, and it makes me laugh my ass off - they honestly don't realize that he's a moderate Democrat aside from foreign affairs area (probably why he was on the Democratic ticket in 2000).

Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, a McCain surrogate whose name has been floated. She would add youth to the ticket and probably win over the PUMAs, but she would seriously reinforce the "out of touch rich guy" meme for McCain. Her business record has been touted, but her actual business record goes like this: downsize 20,000 employees, push the stock price over a cliff, get fired for incompetence, collect $40 million in severance pay on the way out. She's also not nearly reactionary enough for the base--in one hilarious moment, she said the law should mandate health insurance companies cover contraception, which McSame has voted against multiple times.

I think at this point Romney is the most likely choice, but they're all flawed enough that I wouldn't be surprised if McSame picks someone totally out of left field.

Fiorina would be a hilarious choice. I would expect some amazing Internet ads attacking her if McCain was actually stupid enough to pick her.

[irishmick79]

Can somebody explain to me why Fred Thompson enjoyes the level of prominence in GOP circles that he has? Is it just that he's an actor and people actually know who he is? For a guy who's done very little to justify his relatively high national profile, he gets his name tossed around for this kind of stuff a lot.

[Glocksman]

Can somebody explain to me why Fred Thompson enjoyes the level of prominence in GOP circles that he has? Is it just that he's an actor and people actually know who he is? For a guy who's done very little to justify his relatively high national profile, he gets his name tossed around for this kind of stuff a lot.

Thompson's got a high profile in conservative circles from his days as Tennessee's US Senator.
McCain picking him would shore up his base quite a bit because he's acceptable to both the secular conservatives and the religious conservatives.
Huckabee would generate more enthusiasm among the fundies than Thompson would, but his populist (for the GOP, anyway) economic views drive the corporate wing crazy.
I think Thompson would be an OK but not spectacular choice, because while he'd hold his own in the debate with Biden, he's not really suited for the 'attack dog' role.

IHMO, one of the biggest missteps the McCain campaign's made so far was not in going negative with stupid shit, but in letting McCain do it personally.
Ideally, it would have been the RNC or the various state parties running the character assassination ads because it would have allowed McCain to appear to be running an 'honorable' race.
As it is, doing what he's done has finally made a few members of the media lose their McCain mancrush.

[irishmick79]

Well, it looks like Pawlenty is out of the running, along with Romney and Huckabee according to various media outlets. Attention is focusing on Sarah Palin, Tom Ridge, and freaking Joe Lieberman.

Dear God, please oh please convince McCain to pick Lieberman. I can't imagine a more deflating pick for the GOP as they head into their convention.

[Glocksman]

Well, it looks like Pawlenty is out of the running, along with Romney and Huckabee according to various media outlets. Attention is focusing on Sarah Palin, Tom Ridge, and freaking Joe Lieberman.

Dear God, please oh please convince McCain to pick Lieberman. I can't imagine a more deflating pick for the GOP as they head into their convention.

Heh.
Both Pawlenty and Palin used the 'I'm going to the State Fair' reason as to why they wouldn't be in Dayton.

Of course Biden flat out denied it was him up until the moment it was leaked to CNN that he was the choice.

[Lonestar]

She also tried to get her brother in law fired from the state police because he's in a nasty divorce and custody battle with her sister. When the state Commissioner of Public Safety refused, she fired him instead. It's a scandal big enough to get a Republican legislature to appoint a special prosecutor. Add to that the usual young governor problems--no experience, will get demolished by Biden--and the fact there has been no apparent activity around her by the McCain campaign, and she's off the ticket

No offense, but if her brother-in-law did indeed taser his 11-year old stepson, then maybe there was some justification in trying to get him fired. The commissioner was also offered another job but refused that one...no doubt he didn't want to deal with the Union, whcih seemed to be what was preventing the brother-in-law from getting fired in the first place.