Say McCain wins the GOP nomination in 08. Pick his VP.

[saltpoint]

I don't hate John McCain, but admiring some of his personal qualities is not enough for me to appreciate his voting record. He's really conservative.

At the same time he is a possibility -- one of maybe 5 or 6 -- to be the next GOP nominee.

In a scenario in which McCain wins the GOP nomination for 08, you get to select his VP.

Which rightwinger among the choices below gets your nod, powerbrokers?

[JI7]

1. Chuck Hagel

[saltpoint]

4. Hagel is a definite possibility, JI7. It would draw a lot of --

-- military veterans' votes.

Hagel would then be well-positioned, too.

[AX10]

58. Then the Dems better take Clark/Kennedy 08'.

General Claudia Kennedy(USAF)

http://www.wic.org/bio/ckennedy.htm
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=34048

[saltpoint]

70. That would be a hell of an interesting ticket, AX10.

It ought to compete favorably among veteran voters, too.

[ConsAreLiars]

7. Al Jolson

A fake black songster plus a fake white hero would make an unbeatable combo. Amerika loves the faux. Dead or decaying like the Living Dead, it doesn't matter.

[saltpoint]

8. Al Jolson. I admit that would be a startling choice.

And the campaign would save on hotel expenses, too. They could just leave ol' Al out in the alley and use the room money for booze.

[Bluebear]

2. How can anyone match his beloved?

[saltpoint]

5. O man, that picture is revolting, isn't it?

Yuck City, town hall.

[Kurovski]

9. Talk about the "Stockholm Syndrome."

Geez, It's sad. Really.

[saltpoint]

21. It is sad.

(loved your allusion to the Stockholm Syndrome! Perfect!)

[lonestarnot]

3. Barney

[saltpoint]

6. Are we talking Barney -- Bush's pooch or Barney the --

-- irritating-as-hell purple dinosaur?

[lonestarnot]

60. dat purple ting!

[saltpoint]

64. Well there ya go. Barney the dinosaur it is.

He'd be pretty stiff competition for most Republicans, that's for sure.

[lonestarnot]

72. Well as far as looks, I think he out paces all of them.

[saltpoint]

76. No argument there.

Cartoon characters are very competitive in all categories against most Republicans.

:hi:

[aquart]

10. Can we NOT be ridiculous?

[saltpoint]

14. You might want to check out the May 30th issue of THE NEW YORKER.

The question of a McCain candidacy is less ridiculous when rendered by Connie Bruck in THE NEW YORKER. The piece is not available on-line, so a library trip may be needed.

[EFerrari]

37. No. n/t

[autorank]

11. I picked Barbour because he will just sink the ticket.

McCain is tarnished. He's in the category of "wish fulfillment" when they do polls. He'd melt down in no time and we'd find out about all his bull shit "contributions" while he was piushing for campaign finance reform. Besides, Cox will crash the market by then. They may not run anyone. How could they show up any where?

[saltpoint]

15. I sure like your scenario, autorank. A lot.

I hate Barbour because he represents the world of greased-palm glad-handing, deal-making, profit-only network of operatives in the far right.

Can't stand the guy.

[autorank]

23. "Odious" is the right word. I'm glad Dean is doing "grass roots"...

...if we had stronger state parties, the Barbours of the world would never beat a Democrat. I'm sure there are many in Mississippi who just want to :puke: when they see this guy. They know his deal.

:hi:

[saltpoint]

24. Yes. He got to be one of the most potent puke-inducers of all time.

An accident on a swamp hike with a large and hungry alligator is an outcome with enormous appeal...

[FreedomAngel82]

12. I'd probably say Graham

If Graham runs of course. I couldn't ever bring myself to vote for McCain. I don't like or dislike him really.

[saltpoint]

16. Fair enough. I'd like him as my neighbor but can't cast a vote for him

for the White House.

I think he'll be a player, though. He whomped Dubya in New Hampshire last time and he's better positioned this time to move into the other states with a fat warchest.

YOur choice of Graham is sound at a number of levels. I can definitely see McCain going that way.

[Yupster]

13. I voted other

I picked Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. I don't know why - just thought she'd be a reasonable pick.

I think Christy Todd Whitman would be too, but I don't think he'd do that as he would be trying his best to salvage his ties with the fundy right and Whitman would kill that idea.

Come to think of it, that might make3 Hutchison a no good pick too.

[saltpoint]

18. Some of the other DUers from Texas are saying that ol' Kay Bailey

wants to return to Texas and run for governor.

Wow, I sure would like to see a knock-down drag-out face-punchin' brawl between her people and Perry's people. That would be Popcorn City.

I could see her on the national ticket. It's a scarey vision, but you migh be right. She's star power to some GOP voters.

[tishaLA]

17. I'd say it would be Frist

because he'd need a religious conservative to make the nutsos happy. If he ran with Graham, can you just imagine the debates? Oy oy oy.

We'd have a Democrat pointing out Lindsay's sexual orientation and then we'd be forced to apologize for the next 5 weeks after a campaign adviser said it was "fair game."

[saltpoint]

19. Graham is gay? Good lord I didn't know that.

Really?

[tishaLA]

26. Not just gay.

Really really really gay.

[saltpoint]

28. OK, now hold it. Where have I been?

I feel like Rip Van Winkle here. There's an interview someplace, or some concrete source that says Graham is gay?

I thought the far right would like his voting record.

I'm lost. Bring me in on this one.

[tishaLA]

29. Oh mea culpa

He's closeted. Which is why the revelation at the debates would be so funny. I can just see the Kerry replacement up there saying, "well, John, as you know, your running mate, who is homosexual...." and the audience will gasp and Brit Hume's head will explode.

This is part of the fire Graham played with when he became part of the 14: it's pretty well known he's gay but they have left him alone because he's been a pretty staunch conservative. But when he decided to leave the neo-con campgrounds, he faced greater fire than most republicons because they know his secret. He had to go on Hannity the next day to try to make amends to the loony right base, etc. The republicons would like nothing more than to expose Graham and make it look like it was Democrats "playing politics" with his sexual orientation.

[Nothing Without Hope]

30. Graham being gay is news to me. If it's true, then I would have to

take back my vote. The RW nutjobs would NEVER accept a gay VP.

[saltpoint]

35. You're right -- it would go down kinda sour in years when GOP Nazis

are instigating referenda to ban gay marriage.

But I'm still in eye-blinking bewilderment on Graham's being gay. I have never even heard it mentioned until tonight.

[Nothing Without Hope]

57. First I've heard of it too. I'm taking it with a large grain of salt for

now. It's exactly the kind of rumor that might be spread deliberately by political enemies to the point where it starts sounding true. The Fristian enablers of the neocon cartel would never support a gay man and would instead revile him and fight him viciously. All it would take to set them off is a rumor, and as far as I can tell, that's all this is.

[saltpoint]

32. Boy, I was totally out of that loop of info. I've never heard this before

but knew that Graham voted far-right on most issues.

I think he's an intelligent man -- better spoken than Sessions, DeWine, Hutchison, and many other Senate rethugs, and less mean-spirited than Santorum, Kyl, Coburn -- that bunch.

Don't give me names, but do you have it on reliable sources than this man is closeted?

I'm guessing most South Carolina Republicans haven't made this connection yet...?

[tishaLA]

38. I think this isn't unknown

I didn't mean to post this in the way it seems to be--as a disruption--but I feel like I have read this on several sites, maybe including BlogActive and others. It hasn't been confirmed, of course, but it's part of the whispers.

Here's a link--I wish I knew how to do indents!

The rumor that dogs Lindsay Graham will likely destroy his political career. And it really doesn’t matter whether the rumor is true or false. That is another ugly thing about rumor. In the end, it may be more powerful than fact.

The rumor, of course, is that Graham is gay, and in this repressive, homophobic state, that is enough to destroy any politician. The rumor has been around for years, and it did not stop Graham from having a successful career in the S.C. House and the U.S. House of Representatives. But things are different now. Not only is he swimming in a bigger pond with much bigger and more dangerous creatures, but the mood is changing in Washington and around the nation.

And there are posts about Graham, Ken Mehlman, and Drudge on BlogActive. Go a Google search of Lindsay Graham gay and you'll get lots of stuff.

[saltpoint]

40. Well, I hope Graham and other Republicans are rejected by voters on --

-- the grounds that they are far-right kooks, that they pander to other far-right kooks, especially far-right media kooks,

--and not because they are drawn to same-sex romance.

I don't want men or women rejected for that (in my ideal nation), but rather scrutinized for whether their political focus aligns with the inalienable rights the founders promised.

Oh well, it's late, and that's my take on Graham.

[Fridays Child]

31. I dunno if he's gay but he's always reminded me of Jim Nabors.

[saltpoint]

33. God. Jim Nabors. There's a blast from the past.

Haven't thought of his role as Gomer Pyle for a long time.

Don't laugh -- I used to watch that show alot.

[Fridays Child]

39. (Shhh. Me, too)

;)

[saltpoint]

41. ;) -- I won't tell a soul!

[BlueIris]

20. I went with Fred Thompson: celebrity appeal, name recognition,

kitschy charm (even I like some things about Fred). Plus, from what I recall of Fred, when it comes to public perception of "values," he could balance out McCain's conservatism--Thompson looks safely moderate to some (not saying he actually is, but the spin validates supporters who believe this); he's been a proponent of greater government aid to Native Americans, and I've read that he often refused to play in the Republican Hit Squad against Bill Clinton in the '90s (supposedly one of the reasons his popularity dropped off towards the end of his senate tenure). In '08, I can definitely see people pulling the Republican lever with comments like, "I voted for McCain, and that Law & Order guy."

[saltpoint]

22. Good points all around, BlueIris.

Plus, Thompson and McCain are buddies. They liked each other from the git-go and there was talk of Thompson becoming VP on a McCain 2000 ticket.

You'd probably be betting on a strong horse with that one.

[BlueIris]

49. Which kind of makes me wonder...what dirt can we get on Fred?

I know, I know, bad Democrat. But...to his constituency, McCain looks squeaky-clean. Thompson...I don't know.

[saltpoint]

50. Thompson isn't a great actor, but he'll do, I guess.

Can't say he distinguished himself much as a U.S. Senator, but there've been worse.

He was minority council for the Senate Watergate Commmittee, and rose to stature thru that.

He might be tough to deal with on a GOP ticket.

[AndyTiedye]

25. Walden O'Dell

They owe him big-time.


"committed to helping to deliver the electoral votes of Ohio to the President"
Walden O'Dell, C.E.O. Diebold Corporation

[saltpoint]

27. It's true they owe him bigtime, AndyTiedye. What a devious

company Diebold is to create cyber ballots that don't exist and miraculously tabulate more Rethug votes than ours.

I have no clinical evidence to convict Diebold but the circumstantial evidence is very persuasive.

Provocative choice.

[snowbear]

34. Why wouldn't it possible....

that McCain would choose an Independent or even a Democrat as his running mate? It's been known to happen. And if it's going to happen with anyone, McCain seems like the type ;)

I selected "other" because everyone you show listed is a ReTHUG. I don't think McCain will leave out I's and D's when he starts narrowing down his list of possibilities.

[saltpoint]

36. You are probably right, larissa -- McCain is not a fool politically --

-- and he'll try to get a productive choice. An I or a D is a distinct possibility.

Any ideas on who it might be?

[saltpoint]

42. One scenario that might play out is that McCain would wrap up the

nomination early in the primary season.

He would know that Republicans could run a third-party far-right Christian nutbag similar to Pat Robertson's campaign in the Iowa caucus a few elections back, but that by and large, the majority of that demographic would likely stay in the Republican camp.

So he knows they have nowhere to go unless they go it all alone.

That given, then he's free to try and carve into the swing voter/moderate Democratic vote, and so he tries to go with a female or black or New England/Atlantic seaboard candidate.

What if Santorum loses to Casey in 06? Is it plausible that McCain would choose Santorum to solidify his right-wing creds, or would McCain go for a moderate to steal a couple blue states from us?

[izzie]

43. Oh the Right will not vote for him. He did his duty

When your yellow you do not vote for a hero but more yellows like your self then start wars to show how brave you are.

[saltpoint]

51. Your point is strong because it also reminds voters that --

-- the warmongering Bush administration is packed with non-veterans.

Good post, izzie.

[CanOfWhoopAss]

44. Cheney is a Dick

Who else to keep tabs on the screw ups and to keep them under the radar and continue the current agenda.

[billbuckhead]

45. McCain/Satan

:evilgrin:

[dandrhesse]

46. Who cares McCain is an idiot, chimp lap dog. So how about Sanctorum!

[saltpoint]

52. I have a feeling -- a bad feeling -- that McCain will grab the GOP --

-- nomination and choose Santorum. Maybe neither of those things will happen.

But it's plausible.

And unpleasant to consider!

[Hubert Flottz]

47. Ho Chi Minh's boy, the Bush team said in 2000?

GW Bush was not very kind to McCain on the campaign trail in 2000!

Raising McCain

Snip>

McCain's cleverest strategy has been to associate the anger story with his POW ordeal. This week, citing nasty rumors that his torture and imprisonment in Vietnam had left him emotionally unbalanced, his campaign released medical records indicating that he had never been mentally ill. The records did more than kill a bad story. They revived a good one. McCain got to tour the TV studios retelling his heroic saga. In every interview, he alluded to his wounds, calling his medical records "an orthopedic surgeon's dream." The New York Times discussed his "major fractures" and "solitary confinement." The Associated Press recalled his 1973 testimony that he had survived through "faith in country, , family and God." NBC's David Bloom, recounting how McCain had been "brutally and repeatedly tortured," quoted a commander who said of McCain, "There was no tougher resister among POWs."

The Vietnam angle doesn't just help McCain. It hurts Bush. When stories about McCain's temper first began to circulate, McCain told reporters, "I guess the memo from the Bush campaign has come out to attack John McCain." McCain has since backed away grudgingly from that allegation ("I was speaking metaphorically," he says), but his aides have kept it alive by publicly urging the Bush campaign to make sure its agents aren't spreading the rumors. By framing these rumors in the context of Vietnam, McCain's surrogates create the impression that Bush, who joined the National Guard to avoid Vietnam, is using McCain's war record against him. More...

http://slate.msn.com/id/61726

McCain sold out to his enemy in 2004, when he hugged and kissed Bush on the campaign trail! The man has no shame!

[saltpoint]

53. Agree -- a total sell-out. It made me sick to see it, even from the --

-- far side of the aisle.

And it doesn't make any sense unless Rove promised McCain a clear path to 2008. Rove is less loyal to Slobberin' Jeb than to Dubya, probably a Texas thing, and agreed to block Frist and delay Jeb in return for McCain's 'no' to Kerry for the VP nod and a clear path for 2008.

A strange theory, but I'm still thinking a deal was struck somewhere.

[Hubert Flottz]

61. A deal was struck or a threat was made!

An offer he couldn't refuse maybe! The Texas Mafia might have threatened to whack him or his family!

[One_Life_To_Give]

48. Holy Joe Lieberman

[saltpoint]

54. Could be. Joe might be jonesin' for an appointment in a GOP

administration.

No question that he'd be right at home.

Both McCain and Lieberman are getting on in years, though. It would be theoretically possible that if they were the GOP ticket, the ticket won, they could both croak within a few weeks of Inauguration like William Henry Harrison and the Speaker of the House would become President of the United States.

Which is why we should probably work on getting Hastert and DeLay out of there as soon as possible.

[UdoKier]

55. Rick Santorum, Tom Delay or Pat Robertson.

Whoever it is, it needs to be some asshole who will help McCain lose.

I don't like McCain one damn bit. He is a worm.

[saltpoint]

56. 'Worm' works for me -- and I'm talking about his voting record first --

-- and his campaigning for Dubya second. Can't stomach either one of 'em.

I do thank the man for his service in Vietnam and I respect his adoption of a Bangladeshi girl to his family. On the personal scale he does much better, but dear jesus that political scale is bad news.

UdoKier, I think you could be right on Santorum and Robertson especially. It could be the demographic "balance" McCain, if he's nominated, would need.

[ecstatic]

59. Kerry?

hehe

[saltpoint]

65. That would be a strange turn of events. John Kerry offered McCain

the VP spot on his ticket prior to the Democratic convention. McCain turned him down and then went out to whore for the GOP ticket.

It's one point against McCain that I just can't get around. His accumulative voting record is another.

Do you believe Kerry would take that offer if it came? I somehow see him going to bat one more time for his party's nomination.

[Snotcicles]

62. Mort Neff

[saltpoint]

66. Help me out here, Snotcicles.

I don't know that name...

[nickshepDEM]

63. A conservative like...

Rick Santorum
Sam Brownback
Bill Frist

[saltpoint]

67. Very plausible, nickshepDEM.

McCain, if he does win the nomination, will maybe feel he needs to shore up that conservative wing of the base, fearing that if he doesn't, they'll bolt and run Brownback or some other far-right nutcase Christian in a third-party revolt.

I could (unfortunately) see him choosing any of those three you've named.

[Guaranteed]

68. Well, you know that he'd have to pick some fascist to "balance" the ticket

and after he won another fascist would probably kill him to get his ilk back in the WH.

[saltpoint]

69. Hi, BullgooseLoony. You paint a perilous landscape but there's

a lot of history to back you up.

A lot of presidents were vice presidents a minute ago, and then they look around and history has put them in the top spot.

I would hope a bullet is not the cause, but I'm not blind to the fates of Lincoln and McKinley and Kennedy. Etc. And there were attempts made on several others -- Teddy Roosevelt, even Gerald Ford (the Lynette Fromme incident).

So it could happen as you say it might. I don't think your term 'fascist' is too strong -- McCain himself is way to the right and he might well think a Santorum or someone as bad or worse would "balance" the ticket.

Then if McCain died in office, that far-right kook would become the President of the United States.

At which point I will becom a heroin addict.

[Joebert]

71. With as much TV as most Americans watch, Fred Thompson is the shoe-in.

He's got recognition.

A way too large portion of the country would say things like "I thought he was already president!"

[saltpoint]

77. LOL. Yeah. Fred could play that to big advantage.

He's tall with a kind of John Wayne thing goin' too.

Except he's genuinely smart and capable.

Fred Thompson could be a very strong choice to fill out a McCain-led ticket.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

73. Someone Karl Rove has in his pocket

When the Chimp retires to the ranch to begin coloring his memoires, that will leave a very powerful and dangerous puppetmaster without strings to pull. Karl Rove wields tremendous power in the Republican Party and I don't think he will withdraw quietly from the scene. He lives for the type of shadowy power he's had with Bush and will seek to prolong it through someone else. I realize he doesn't get along with McCain, but McCain may have no choice. It might be someone like Alberto Gonzalez.

[saltpoint]

78. Yes. Rove probably isn't going to settle for a commentator's role on FOX.

He'll back somebody and keep pulling levers behind the scene.

Good point, and good insight into wht probably makes someone like Rove tick.

[The Whiskey Priest]

74. Zell (F***ing) Miller

Would be a great pick.

[saltpoint]

79. O god. You might be right, but let's hope that doesn't happen.

For me it would be a nightmare knowing Miller would be a heartbeat away from the White House.

Yuck Yuck Yuck.

[Hippo_Tron]

75. (Hopefully former) Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania

Santorum is the poster child for the religious wrong and that's the vote that McCain needs.

[saltpoint]

80. I can almost hear McCain's brain telling him he needs to pick

someone like Santorum, but his heart telling him that Santorum is a Nazi.

The scene is plausible. I hope Bob Casey, Jr. can put a dent in Ricky's national profile in the 06 Senate race.

[saltpoint]

81. A feature piece in the May 30th issue of THE NEW YORKER on McCain

gives a good glimpse into his plans and the likelihood of his declaration to run for president again.

Connie Bruck is the author in THE NEW YORKER. The piece is not available on-line, so a library trip may be needed.