The VP Sweepstakes
Posted by: Matt Kauble | 02/12/2008 6:00 AM
Seems as if most everyone who writes a blog or has a talk show of some sort has come to the conclusion that McCain is the inevitable nominee for the Republican Party, so he needs to choose a VP who will help him unite the party.
As the thinking goes, this VP needs to be relatively young, articulate, accomplished, and be morally and fiscally conservative. This eliminates Condi Rice & Rudy Giuliani (who are "pro-choice"), Phil Gramm & Jack Kemp (who are not young), and probably Mike Huckabee (who is cast as not being fiscally conservative). So of the remaining candidates that have been raised for scrutiny who stand out?
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford - fiscally and morally conservative, can help McCain deliver the South, not real well known outside of South Carolina.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour - has shown he is fiscally & morally conservative and can handle emergencies by evidence of his state's reaction to the devestation left from Hurricane Katrina. Former super lobbyist, ties to lobbying groups may hurt his image if criticism is not handled correctly.
Former Maryland Lt. Governor & Current GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele - fiscally & morally conservative African American Republican who is articulate and is in his fifties. Popular with the base of the party, lost in a blue state Senate election by a small margin trailed within the margin of error all the way through the election against eventual winner Ben Cardin. Potentially neutralizes Obama if he is the Dems VP choice.
Given who McCain is as a personality I see him most likely choose Michael Steele as his running mate. This makes the heir apparent for the Republican nomination a conservative, relatively young black man. And if anything were to happen to McCain there would be someone with whom conservatives would be comfortable with.
Allen Wilson is exactly the kind of person who would like another Bush term. I applaud the SGV...
Good article.
I like Steele, but 4 of our last 5 presidents were former governors. Since it appears that our next president is going to be a former Senator, it would seem that in addition to everything else you mentioned, that filling the VP slot with a governor would give McCain a leg up on the Dem nominee. Unfortunately, Steele does not fit that bill. I like Sanford, but some other suggestions I have include Crist (Fla), Gilmore (Fmr, VA), and if McCain really wants to make a gamble, Blunt (MO).
"Morally" conservative? That's a new one...
I don't tend to talk in terms of socially conservative, primarily becuase there tend to be two types of conservatives lumped together into this category. And although they do overlap they are not mutually exclusive.
The two types I talk of are Moral Conservatives, for whom the moral issues of abortion, homosexual marriage, and religious freedom are paramount issues, and Liberty Conservatives, for whom the 2nd Amendment and Property Rights rank at the top of their concerns. There are plenty of Libertarians who are Liberty & Fiscal Conservatives, but are not Moral Conservatives. While there are a number of Moral Conservatives who can only talk about abortion and the "homosexual agenda", but could care less about guns or property rights.
So forgive me if I threw you a new term you were not entirely prepared for.
Newt Gingrich for VP!!!!
Has anyone noticed that today in the media, the current presidential candidates are now stealing Newt Gingrich's "Solutions for America" slogan? He's had a website by that name since before all the candidates cast their hats into the ring, and now the Dems are trying to use it...Newt, dude, you should have run!!!