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You are here: Home / Politics / So Many Great Choices

So Many Great Choices

by Tim F|  August 23, 20088:53 am| 39 Comments

This post is in: Politics, Did You Know John McCain Was A POW?

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Media pundits are speculating that Joe Biden puts pressure on McCain to play for Pennsylvania and choose Tom Ridge. Who is pro-choice. Thinking of Joe Lieberman for a second, I get the impression that the media isn’t centrist per se but rather just likes watching a politician tell his party’s motivated base to go jump in a lake and shoot itself.

Then again, the religious right doesn’t love Mittens any more than Ridge, Charlie Crist has the gay thing following him around and Bobby Jindal could be a little quicker on his feet. Rudy Giuliani (yeah I know, not gonna happen) would amusingly reinforce McCain’s key points by adding another war-crazy egomaniac with bad character judgment who spastically repeats his one strong resume item at every sign of stress. It would be like the Tourette’s support group from hell. The only choice that worries me is Mike Huckabee. Huck would add a charismatic debater and solid conservative Christian who is enough of a political moderate to blunt McCain’s recent turn to fringe right crazytown.

Then again, McCain-Huckabee could put Rush Limbaugh back on the pills.

I understand what you’re saying. I hate to tell you this, but she’s not alone. I’m here to tell you, if either of these two guys get the nomination, it’s going to destroy the Republican Party, it’s going to change it forever, be the end of it. A lot of people aren’t going to vote. You watch.

Heh. Indeed.

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39Comments

  1. 1.

    HL Guy

    August 23, 2008 at 9:05 am

    I agree- the only one that scares me is Huckabee. The fact that he is a religious nut will help McCain with the fundevangelist dog-whistle crowd, and the fact that he seems jovial and decent slips Huck by the “still want to believe McCain is a moderate” sheep.

    The 2nd place finish in the primary, plus truly funny appearances on The Daily Show and SNL may have raised his profile just enough to make it happen, I worry.

  2. 2.

    The Thinking Man's Mel Torme

    August 23, 2008 at 9:08 am

    Who is pro-choice. Thinking of Joe Lieberman for a second, I get the impression that the media isn’t centrist per se but rather just likes watching a politician tell his party’s motivated base to go jump in a lake and shoot itself.

    Sadly, no. The media likes narrative, which is easier than actual reportage. Lieberman reinforces the whole McModerate/McMaverick McMeme, with the added frisson of intra-faith/intra-ethnic strife, i.e. will the New York and Florida Jews swing.

    As a Floridian, it’s been thoroughly amusing to see how Crispy Crist’s “response” to Fay has been a desperate play for the VP slot. Lots of wind-breaker’d, shirt-sleeve’d, low-angle-stern-pointing photo-ops that amount to nothing. Poor bastard thinks he’s actually in the running. A sawbuck says that “engagement” of his will dissolve on or about December 15th.

  3. 3.

    ploeg

    August 23, 2008 at 9:08 am

    You must remember that whoever McCain picks stands a good chance of becoming president sooner rather than later. People are gonna look at McCain, then they’re gonna look at Hucks, and that’ll be it.

  4. 4.

    Conservatively Liberal

    August 23, 2008 at 9:09 am

    I want Mr. McGoo to choose Mittens, but Huckabee would be a good second. Either one would lead to increased (pop)corn sales this fall, so the farmers would be happy!

    Then again, McCain-Huckabee could put Rush Limbaugh back on the pills.

    What pills, Viagra? Rush would be paralyzed when his whole body goes stiff.

  5. 5.

    leo

    August 23, 2008 at 9:10 am

    Did you hear the latest: Biden once praised John ‘Jekyll/Hyde’ McCain. OMG! I just don’t know how the Obama Campaign will respond.

  6. 6.

    Conservatively Liberal

    August 23, 2008 at 9:11 am

    Damn BJ Moderation Monster didn’t like my Rush and a certain medication joke and I thought it was a good one!

    Help! ;)

  7. 7.

    cmorenc

    August 23, 2008 at 9:12 am

    For a moment, I’m kibbitzing the opposing team.

    Why not Lidsay Graham for McCain’s VP pick? (Republican Sendator from South Carolina).

    Graham has the press (and part of the public) bamboozled into regarding him as a level-headed, experienced, yet youthful voice for the GOP who’s image is conservative, but not insane conservative.

    OK, we’re talking here the media’s perception/projection of Graham, not reality. In reality, he’s a handsome smooth-talking good old southern boy who appears sane and somewhat moderate when contrasted with so many knuckle-dragging Neandrethal knuckleheads in his party.

    And…he didn’t strap his dog to the roof of his car for a long trip.

  8. 8.

    Tim H.

    August 23, 2008 at 9:23 am

    If you really want to put Florida in play why not Jeb Bush?

  9. 9.

    cmorenc

    August 23, 2008 at 9:23 am

    the only one that scares me is Huckabee.

    Huckabee IS a great guy, who’d likely make a peach of a neighbor whom you could count on to watch out for anything amiss at your house while on vacation, not worry about your kids going over to play at his house, and be fun to have over occasionally for backyard barbeques.

    Nevertheless, the above qualifications for “good guy-good-neighbor” are held by lots of people who are utterly unqualified to be President or Vice-President. Unfortunately, being a good person at a personal level may be ONE important qualification we’d want in a leader, but totally insufficient by itself. See – Jimmy Carter for a much better, much smarter example of this than Mike Huckabee. People who are good at a personal level may still prove to be batshit insane at a national leadership level.

  10. 10.

    Andrew

    August 23, 2008 at 9:25 am

    I think McCain should pick one of his North Vietnamese captors as Vice President, just to make it clear that he was a POW, even though he hates to talk about it.

  11. 11.

    PeterJ

    August 23, 2008 at 9:27 am

    Why not Lidsay Graham for McCain’s VP pick?

    Lindsay Graham is suffering from the same thing as Charlie Crist.

  12. 12.

    cmorenc

    August 23, 2008 at 9:33 am

    Lindsay Graham is suffering from the same thing as Charlie Crist.

    Is this one of those “open” secrets in South Carolina (as distinguished from an “openly gay” secret)…um, one of those dichotomies that southern good ole’ boys understand that’s unexplainable to outsiders, mainly because it’s unexplainable to themselves.

    At any rate, maybe I’ve been living in a closet (whups, wrong analogy since I’m hetro both in and out of the closet)…but I’ve never heard that one before.

  13. 13.

    MJ

    August 23, 2008 at 9:42 am

    I think Christ’s engagement may squash the questions about him being gay.

    Other names for McCain VP that Tim didn’t mention that may be under consideration are Palin, Cantor and Pawlenty. I think they be better choices for McCain then the ones Tim mentioned. Jindal has the potential of being a great GOP star down the road.

  14. 14.

    rob!

    August 23, 2008 at 9:46 am

    PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let it be Mittens.

    “Dear God, I’m not a prayin’ man, but…”

  15. 15.

    liberal

    August 23, 2008 at 9:52 am

    MJ wrote,

    Jindal has the potential of being a great GOP star down the road.

    But didn’t he make pretty nasty anti-Protestant comments once upon a time?

  16. 16.

    Andrew

    August 23, 2008 at 9:53 am

    I think Christ’s last minute, sham, politically motivated engagement may squashexacerbate the questions about him being gay.

  17. 17.

    gbear

    August 23, 2008 at 10:00 am

    I noticed that Grover-Nordquist-disciple Tim Pawlenty was left off that list. I worry as much about him as I would Huckabee, but MN has been living with his pretty-boy bullshit for a long time. I’d love to see what the national press does with him. TPaw’s management choices and the collapse of the 35E bridge could yeild some very interesting stories.

  18. 18.

    Mary Magdeline

    August 23, 2008 at 10:04 am

    “I think Christ’s engagement may squash the questions about him being gay.”

    I do not understand what my husband has to do with any of this

  19. 19.

    gbear

    August 23, 2008 at 10:06 am

    correction: it was the 35W bridge. Pawlenty is also an incredibly practiced panderer to the religious right. I think he’s right up there in the running.

  20. 20.

    JGabriel

    August 23, 2008 at 10:11 am

    Tim F.:

    Media pundits are speculating that Joe Biden puts pressure on McCain to play for Pennsylvania and choose Tom Ridge.

    Media pundits are frickin’ morons. PA was always a long shot for McCain – he wasn’t going Philly or Pittsburgh, and Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Erie, and Allentown were all unlikely.

    What Biden does for the ticket, as a hometown Scranton boy, is lock up Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Wyoming Valley, and most of the that Appalachian region from South Central to Northeastern PA, of which Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the population center.

    So rather than putting pressure to play for PA, Biden locks McCain out of PA, by locking McCain out of the Appalachian regions – the only areas where he had a chance.

    .

  21. 21.

    JGabriel

    August 23, 2008 at 10:20 am

    CMorenc:

    Huckabee IS a great guy, who’d likely make a peach of a neighbor whom you could count on to watch out for anything amiss at your house while on vacation…

    As long as you don’t have any special attachment to your squirrels, which Huck will capture and deep fry – or your dogs, which his kid will kill.

    .

  22. 22.

    JGabriel

    August 23, 2008 at 10:22 am

    CMorenc:

    Why not Lidsay Graham for McCain’s VP pick?

    See: Charlie Crist.

    .

  23. 23.

    Richardson

    August 23, 2008 at 10:30 am

    Huckabee comes across as a nice guy, and a near perfect game show host, but I’m not sure if you would want him to be President?

    Myself, I’m hoping for Mittens. Ridge would be awesome too though because the social conservatives would go ape-shit.

  24. 24.

    JD Rhoades

    August 23, 2008 at 10:35 am

    I’d love it if McCain chose Jindal. it would completely short circuit the whole “Obama’s too inexperienced” message. “Well, you picked someone even more inexperienced, Senator, so you obviously think HE’s ready to be President.”

  25. 25.

    w vincentz

    August 23, 2008 at 10:45 am

    Great…pick Huckabee for VP. Campaign slogan: “A squirrel in every pot”.

  26. 26.

    slippytoad

    August 23, 2008 at 11:40 am

    The answer to Mike Huckabee for VP is a siren-like repetition of What Happened to Carol Shields and Who Is Wayne Dumond.

    And of course, a reminder that Dumond was set free to murder Shields because Huckabee thought he’d been unfairly imprisoned by political rival Bill Clinton.

    Deck.

  27. 27.

    OriGuy

    August 23, 2008 at 11:49 am

    McCain/Pawlenty: Watch Out Bridges!

  28. 28.

    cmorenc

    August 23, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    McCain/Pawlenty: The Bridge to Troubled Water

  29. 29.

    Incertus

    August 23, 2008 at 12:16 pm

    If you really want to put Florida in play why not Jeb Bush?

    Jeb! is many things, but he’s not stupid. He knows McCain is going down this time around, and he doesn’t want to be tied to that. Who would? Mittens is just dumb enough to want it, and apparently, so it Charlie Crist, but I have to think that whoever takes the spot behind McCain is looking to be the next Jack Kemp.

  30. 30.

    chopper

    August 23, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    I agree- the only one that scares me is Huckabee. The fact that he is a religious nut will help McCain with the fundevangelist dog-whistle crowd, and the fact that he seems jovial and decent slips Huck by the “still want to believe McCain is a moderate” sheep.

    just close your eyes and imagine a debate between hucklesbee and biden. imagine, at the end, hucklesbee curled up on the ground in the fetal position.

  31. 31.

    gbear

    August 23, 2008 at 1:22 pm

    McCain/Pawlenty: A Bridge Too Far

  32. 32.

    PeterJ

    August 23, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    If you really want to put Florida in play why not Jeb Bush?

    Because nothing says Bush’s third term better than “McCain/Bush ’08”.

    And then Florida won’t matter.

  33. 33.

    FearItself

    August 23, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    Don’t forget: Giuliani would also be a reinforcing pick because, like McCain, he’s an adulterer.

    Ruuudeee! Ruuudeee!

  34. 34.

    Observer

    August 23, 2008 at 3:48 pm

    If McCain were to win Jindal would exorcise Cheney’s demons.

  35. 35.

    Brian

    August 23, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    “Don’t forget: Giuliani would also be a reinforcing pick because, like McCain, he’s an adulterer.

    Ruuudeee! Ruuudeee!”

    I sincerely believe that if Rudy was picked, the Democrats would win a minimum of 35 states. Unless he had a complete turnaround as a candidate, he’d go down in flames and bring every Republican with him.

  36. 36.

    John

    August 23, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    Then again, the religious right doesn’t love Mittens any more than Ridge

    While it’s true that the religious right rank and file doesn’t care for Mitt, the leadership is more or less fine with him, and so there wouldn’t be a public schism in the way there would be if McCain picks someone pro-choice like Ridge (or Lieberman).

  37. 37.

    DMD

    August 23, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    The pick will by Romney. Reason being, McCain has been running straight into the GOP establishment’s arms (Maverick my ass) ever since winning the primaries, and the punditocracy, for what reason I will never know, loves Willard.

  38. 38.

    NonyNony

    August 23, 2008 at 10:15 pm

    The pick will be some Republican dude from a swing state who is willing to take a shot at the lottery. If he wins, he’s the vice-President for 4 years (with a shot at being President himself someday). If he loses, well, it’ll probably be no harm to him in the long run since McCain will get the blame for the loss.

    My money’s on Rob Portman from Ohio. Good solid Republican, no scandals (that I’m aware of). Mostly a fiscal conservative but toes the line on social issues. Loyal Bushie but he detached himself from the administration over a year ago at this point and has been laying low for a while. The worst thing you can say about him is that no one’s really heard of him, but he may actually be able to walk that precarious line between pissing off the various Republican factions and pissing off the moderates McCain needs to attract to get the votes. So I think it’s going to be him in the end – he’s a safe if somewhat boring choice.

    (Though in my heart of hearts I’m still holding out for McCain to go for Lindsay Graham or Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge. I just don’t find it likely.)

  39. 39.

    Baron Elmo

    August 24, 2008 at 4:42 am

    The only choice that worries me is Mike Huckabee. Huck would add a charismatic debater and solid conservative Christian who is enough of a political moderate to blunt McCain’s recent turn to fringe right crazytown.

    Problem with Huckabee is that the moneyed Repubs (the ones pulling the GOP’s strings) hate him worse than poison. Of all the sins a conservative can commit against the Republican party, compassion for the working poor has to be at the top of the list. America’s plutocrats live in terror of the remotest possibility of another Franklin Roosevelt occupying the White House, no matter which party he hails from.

    Hell, look at Pat Buchanan. Right-wing to his toenails, and he was all but excommunicated from his own party for the sin of opposing NAFTA.

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