McCain / Watts?
A RedState post suggests "JC Watts for Vice President." Of course, the Julius Caesar part might worry some ....
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Seriously, I have wondered why he seemed to just drop what seemed to be a very promising political career that had no where to go but up.
Since I wasn't sure about what the guy had been doing, I Googled him and guess what -- he looks like a principled conservative who believes in making the private sector work to improve life for the people. So trust me , he will definitely scare a lot of Republicans.
Whatever happened to Elizabeth Dole and Kaye Bailey Hutchinson? Better yet, Margaret Chase Smith and Carrie Nation" http://www.jcwatts.com/jcwatts.htm
I suspect he didn't see a route up.
How likely would McCain be to die in office?
I am actually inclined to vote for him.
I'm not sure that Fred Thompson could stay in hiding for 4 years...
Although 3rd party candidates are generally ineffective, I'm thinking if someone ran "None of the Above" this year it could win a plurality.
Am I the only one to whom this congers very bad images...?
Assuming I did the calculation right, using this table, there's about an 85% chance he'll make it through his first term.
Thanks. Unless his running mate is Satan I can take the chance.
"
Why would DC choose to step down to Veep when he's held the top office for 8 yr ow.(??)
Three thoughts:
1. Why take Huckabee when his best asset is still available? Chuck Norris for VP.
2. Someone else who everyone recognizes and is a household name?
Pat Sajak.
3. If he dies in office, we need to know that his successor won't suffer the same fate. Someone really, really young.
Bobby Jindal.
What is Colin Powell doing these days?
Why?
He seems an inspired choice.
CJColucci, your assumption of Republican racism is noted. And it is also BS.
jcr,
Perhaps. You make a good point. However, if genes have anything to do with it, and they do, did you happen to see his 96 year old mother?
Apostates are always more hated than infidels.
CJColucci wrote,
Given McCain's age and uncertain health and vitality, this ticket might be genuinely scary to many Republican voters.
JohnAnnArbor wrote,
CJColucci, your assumption of Republican racism is noted. And it is also BS.
JohnAnnArbor,
Ditto!
However, if you are trying to find a stong minority candidate ESPECIALLY if Clinton tramples Obama on her way to the nomination, leaving many African-Americans disaffected, you could do worse than Colin Powell.
Sure, the social conservatives would scream, but they're going to be unhappy no matter what. But putting a wedge in Black support for the Democrats is priceless. Sixty years ago most Blacks were Republican. Not impossible it happens again.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LgI396kJlOc
The problem with Michael Steele is that his executive experience is four years as Maryland Lieutenant Governor (though he is an extremely articulate and talented individual who has the misfortune of living in a very Democratic state).
J.C. Watts has been out of office since 2003--and his elected experience consists of eight years in the House and four years as a member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
Bobby Jindal is attractive, though his elected experience is three years in the House and one year as Governor of Louisiana. He is also only 37--and that seems a tad young.
Condoleeza Rice has never been elected to any office. Frankly, I don't think she helps given her close association with the Bush Administration.
Of the four, if Michael Steele had managed to be elected to the Senate in 2006, he would the hands-down pick. As it is, Watts is probably the most qualified.
>"Bionic Dick Cheney"
> Am I the only one to whom this congers very bad images...?
Please don't speak eel of bionic folks. They have feelings too, electrical signals though they might be.
Good post. However, it occurred to me that that any of the ones you mentioned have a lot more experience than Obama and he is running for President.
Watts or Steele! That'll shake'em up...
Oh, wait. He's dead.
More seriously, people seem to focus on executive or legislative branch members for offices like the VP. But what would VP Alex Kozinski look like (assuming he were eligible, which I don't think he is)? If not him, how about J. Michael Luttig?
Is it completely unknown to pick the President or Vice President from the judicial branch?
She'd get my vote.
Or Gaius Marius, perhaps (although, if we're worried about traitors, one could always go for Lucius Sergius Catilina).
On the other hand, what McCain really needs is another Marcus Tulius Cicero, but that doesn't seem very forthcoming right now
I don't really see him as a possible president, but he wouldn't scare me like Giuliani or Huckabee do.
When he retired, the only black Republican representative got replaced by the only registered Native American congressman.
No one is going to say JC Watts is not authentically black. Nor is anyone going to question his conservatism.
I can't see anyone having a negative reaction, frankly.
Or Gaius Marius, perhaps (although, if we're worried about traitors, one could always go for Lucius Sergius Catilina).
Would be kind of fun to match current U.S. politicians to the closest corresponding politician from the late Roman Republic, not on political views (which is impossible, the issues of the day were too different) but just on general manner and style.
Only by people who are ignorant, racist, or both.
I think he would be a good choice, as well as Fred or a few others. Before my first and second choices dropped out (Fred and Rudy), I placed McCain as a nose-holder for third, and Mitt and Huckabee as needing a barf bag. I've changed a little on Mitt (closer to merely a nose-holder), but if McCain picks Huckabee for VP, my hands are going to be too full to pull that lever. That doesn't mean I won't try, but.........ugh!
Second, there have been others who have kept term limit pledges, even from Oklahoma. Senator Tom Coburn said he would serve only 3 terms in the House and served exactly 3 terms in the House. He was actually out of office for four years before ending his House career and being elected to the Senate.
I could name others--Bob Inglis and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, to name 2--who have also kept their pledge to serve only a limited amount of time in Congress.
Actually, the sentence should have read, Tom Coburn "was actually out of office for four years between his House career and being elected to the Senate."
Preview is your friend. And posting late at night is often counterproductive.
You heard it here first.
You heard it here first.
Because: http://cache.wonkette.com/assets/ resources/2006/12/Miss%20Wasilla%201984.jpg
Considering how much the Presidency aged healthy middle-aged men like Carter, Clinton &G. W. Bush, I'd say whoever McCain picks as his running mate has a very good chance of inheriting the Presidency.
The Presidency wouldn't kill MCain if he could run a Reagan/Eisenhower style White House where he keeps a sane workload by delegating authority, but that doesn't strike me as compatible with McCain's personality.
Yes, I wonder what these 4 have in common ::hmmmmm::
This entire thread is silly.
Every black conservative is tarred as a token, or worse (e.g. Uncle Tom, oreo, etc.)
Disclaimer: I am by no means conceding that Powell is a conservative.
And as Ned Flanders so eloquently pointed out, "You can't kill the undead, silly." So, we wouldn't have to go through the hassle of finding a new VP if Zombie Regan did move up to the big chair.
No, it's not entirely unknown. In 1916 Charles Evans Hughes resigned from the Supreme Court to face Woodrow Wilson in the presidential election that year. He lost, of course, but did wind up back on the court in 1930 when Herbert Hoover selected him to succeed William Howard Taft as Chief Justice.
I personally don't think that McCain can pick anyone but a middle-aged white guy as his VP. Selecting anyone from a racial minority group or a woman--except for perhaps Colin Powell or Elizabeth Dole--will look like nothing more than political pandering. Looking like a panderer would be a death sentence for McCain's presidential aspirations.
Given his years in Washington, McCain has to pick someone from outside the Beltway (i.e., a governor). Given his weakness in the South, McCain has to pick a Southerner. Given his weakness amongst religious voters, McCain has to pick a self-identified evangelical.
I can't say for sure who fits all of those criteria, but the current list of white male Southern Republican governors is: Bob Riley (64, AL); Charlie Crist (52, FL); Sonny Perdue (62, GA); Haley Barbour (61, MS); Mark Sanford (48, SC); and Rick Perry (58, TX). And of course, let's not forget former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee.
From what limited information I have on each of those guys, I think Crist would be the most likely candidate. He has the advantage of being a popular governor in a Southern state that the Republicans are not a shoo-in to win.
He does have the experience
Kay Bailey Hutchison will be 65 this year--and frankly, having 2 Republicans old enough to be Barack Obama's parents on the ticket might not be the best thing to do.
Lamar Alexander will be 68 this year--and I believe that his age will disqualify him from serious consideration.
I still think McCain has to go beyond "Middle Aged White Guy" and have a running mate who will create "buzz."
All in all, a great balancer for McCain.
And yes he is black. Race is important this election, like it or not - the Dems have called the tune in terms of identity politics, and the MSM will force us all to dance to it, no matter how distasteful.
If Hillary games Obama out of the race, then the black vote will be as splintered as the conservative vote is. If Obama is the D nominee or VP, Watts gives the GOP at least a symbolic presence other than "old white DC insiders".
As for Fred Thompson, no for VP. Not another "old white guy from DC". But there is another ... (place for Fred)
How about this:
Supreme Court Justice Thompson.
A federalist on the highest court in the land.
Think about that for a moment.
That is a job for which Fred is temperamentally perfect, and which would benefit conservatives and libertarians alike. Advantages in a D senate are: "collegiality" from his service in the Senate, his experience in guiding Chief Justice Roberts, and Thompson's reputation with his colleagues as a "fair minded" person (c.f. his split vote on the impeachment was well reasoned, and ironically gives D and R something).
So, start pushing McCain to commit to Fred Thompson as his first appointee to the SC?
1. If HillBilly gets nominated, then the Repubs simply cannot run two old white guys. HillBilly will attract a significant number of republican leaning women, including my wife, just because HillBilly is half female. HillBilly's nomination will also suppress the democratic black vote, because there is no way the dems are getting through this nasty campaign, and then nominating HillBilly, without pissing off that voting group. Blacks sit out, and females don't break for HillBilly.
2. If Obama gets the nod, then many dem leaning women are up for grabs (and they are a more numerous group than black voters). Again, if the repubs run two old white guys, they have no chance whatsoever. But if they have a women vp, and the dems run Obama, the female dem vote breaks for the repubs.
3. The best choice of all for the repubs would be a black women, but at the moment, I can't think of a realistic black woman candidate (not Condi). But a female vp of any persuasion would be inspired.
4. The repubs must get away from running two old white guys. Cheney was and remains a terrible choice for Bush. Had he picked an up and coming woman vp, this election would be very tough for the dems. Cheney was an entirely wasted choice.
Given McCain's age and uncertain health and vitality, this ticket might be genuinely scary to many Republican voters.
JohnAnnArbor wrote,
CJColucci, your assumption of Republican racism is noted. And it is also BS.
JohnAnnArbor,
Ditto!
2.6.2008 7:45pm
The proof will be in the pudding.
I've been shopping her name to friends who are to my right. Only one has not responded favorably. (And he's gay. Do you think that's relevant?)
It has to be Thompson. That ticket has coattails, which we desperately need...perhaps more than in 2004.
You would think the rocket scientists running these campaigns would understand the stupidity of running two old white guys on either party's ticket (although the dems appear to be unable to be that stupid this year).
But what the repubs will do is run one extremely old white guy, McCain, and then in classic insulated committee stupid group think, "balance" the ticket with ... another extremely old white guy. Whereupon they deserve to and will lose badly. Bob Dole as presidential candidate is the paradigm result of this moronic groupthink.
Palin or a choice like her is so painfully obvious that you would think even Karl Rove would get it but they won't.
The repubs need to pay attention this time. They will either be running against the first black presidential candidate or the first female candidate, and if the problem either creates for is not excruciatingly obvious to them (and it won't be) they will lose big.
And all McCain needs to do to get us Thompson voters is to make it clear that Thompson will be AG (although I think Rudy plays well in that shadow cabinet position) and is on his real short list for his first scotus pick.
The sad thing is that Jeb Bush will never get a chance for obvious reasons. He has all the charms of Crist and more -- he's conservative, popular, a former governor of FL (out by term limits, not a loss), youngish and handsome, speaks Spanish, etc.
Crist is rather untested and, IMO, seems too much like a crony, having bounced around between lesser and rather unrelated political jobs -- FL Senate (6 years), horribly failed bid for US Senate, appointment as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (2 years), special election to Education Commissioner of Florida (a position that was already slated for elimination by constitutional amendment shortly thereafter), elected as State Attorney General (four years), and in 2006 elected as governor. And, he's not married, which may give social conservatives pause.
Not a lot of executive experience, but on the other hand, he might deliver Florida, which could be crucial if conservatives don't stay home in November.
It would be too easy to list why each of the choices, save Collin Powell, are rather under-qualified for VP other than the fact that they distract people from noticing that everyone in the GOP's tent is an old white man. So, I'll just compliment the cognitive dissonance required, when maintaining power is more important than all other factors.
Man, I should move back to Oklahoma. Their senators and reps are/were the best. Coburn, Largent, Watts... Even David Boren was pretty good, and he seems to be a helluva university president (except that whole crackdown on drinking thing).
That silly left winged media!
Yeah. But so is Obama.
>>to pick a relatively black guy
Yeah. But so is Obama.
McCain needs someone who's strong where he's weak - a charismatic person, who's conservative on economics and has solid plans in that area, and who knows how to communicate with conservatives. Mitt seems to fit all three, but I suspect there's too much bad blood for that pairing to happen. Huck fails on the first two (the Club for Growth documents his fiscal statism), and his ability to relate to conservates - even his fellow evangelicals - is selective.
Man, this is just so depressing. I really don't want to wait for the next decade to get decent fiscal policy. I don't believe in nothing no more. I'm going to law school.
And yes, you figured out Obama's appeal. It's bc he's black. After all, we've nominated Jackson, Sharpton, and Mosely-Brown the last three times around, right?
Obama?
You're kidding right? Seriously. When, ever, has experience mattered? What experience exactly. RR was gov of CA. Jimmah was gov of GA. What is this "experience" of which you speak.
The dems are either playing the race card or the gender card this year, with all barrels firing (and hell, since we don't know who the dem vp will be, they may be playing BOTH the gender and race card). The GOP will be showing up to a gun fight using their AARP membership cards as their only weapons.
McCain/Palin all the way. He will nuke em to death, and she will cute em to death. Rudy for AG, Fred for SG.
McCain picks a white guy, and by the end of this campaign, the repubs will be longing wistfully for the presidential campaign brilliance that was Bob Dole.
The person who interests me the most--although, I must admit I do not know much about him--is Nevada Senator John Ensign. He seems to be a solid social and fiscal conservative, but is someone who works well across-the-aisle. His position on Iraq seems to be close to McCain's--although he seems to be more to the right on immigration and campaign finance. He's about 20 years younger than McCain and strikes me--from what I have seen of him--as a personable character. I have no idea what his relationship with McCain is in the Senate, but I think it would be an interesting pairing.
Do any Nevadans--or any other folks for that matter--have any information on him to fill in the blanks?
I'm just saying that most people don't want to give the launch codes to someone who is a relative unknown. Does this disqualify Obama, too? Quite possibly.
Get Obama and Palin on one ticket, though, and you may have enough youth and good looks to win it all!
.
CJColucci:,
To mean what? If Republicans don't vote for a guy who has a 100% liberal voting record and is way to the left of Hillary, it is ONLY because they are racist? I have no doubt that the MSM will play it that way, if it were to happen and he lost, but it's absurd.
Speaking of racism, Hispanic Democrats in Calif and elsewhere did NOT vote for Obama at all. Hmmm. Neither did Democrat Asians. There is serious doubt that he can carry Texas because Democrat Hispanic's won't vote for a black man, it seems. Lots of bad blood there.
I think McCain needs a Hispanic on the ticket. Unfortunately, my personal favorite is the Democratic Governor of New Mexico, so I guess that leaves Richardson out. It has been noted that even though Richardson has the most experience by far of any Democrat candidate, he didn't have a prayer of winning. Interesting, no? Could be a good play if McCain could find a Hispanic with conservative credentials who is charismatic and younger, like Obama. I can't offhand, think of anyone.
Any ideas?
Romney? Charsimatic? Are we talking about the same guy?
I guess it's a matter of taste, but I sure don't see it.
Obama/Feinstein.
Obama has run his campaign almost perfectly. He stayed away from the Jena 6. He has stayed away from Jackson/Sharpton (although he and Jackson are buddies in chicago). His only sour note is the lapel flag incident, and I bet he will be wearing one by election day. He has to avoid at all costs being the "black" candidate, and he has (except for the lapel flag).
If he gets the nod and then picks a senior dem woman (a big sister as it were, and most definitely not Hildebeast), a Feinsteinian type, and then the repubs show up to the fight with their slashing AARP cards, then the least embarrassing course for the repubs will be to simply concede the election. That would be better than the 49-1 regeanesque stomping they will get otherwise. you will be looking at 60 dem senators and a strongly dem house.
Eventually, Ruth Ginsberg will be viewed as the hard right of the scotus.
He McCain doesn't particularly need to reach out to the social conservatives. He may not be their first choice, but he doesn't actively piss them off. He does need to increase his appeal with free-market types. After admitting you don't know much about economics, there's something to be said for picking a running mate who does. He doesn't really need an attack-dog surrogate, as he's pretty good at doing that stuff himself.
But most of all what he needs is someone young, healthy, and ready to step right into the Presidency. The guy is 72 years old fercrissakes!
Bring it on!
BUT, if the GOP wants a Veep who has more expereince than Obama, let's have McCain and Heather Wilson.
Ralph, they do exist. Richardson is pretty tough on illegal immigration. As I said before, though, he is a Democrat so probably not a good choice for McCain.
Bring on Chris Cox!!