McCain to Announce Veep August 29th
August 18th, 2008 at 11:09pm Mark Noonan
The news story:
…McCain plans to celebrate his 72nd birthday on Aug. 29 by naming his running mate at a huge rally in the battleground state of Ohio, Republican sources said.
That’s a week from Friday, and the day after his rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, accepts the Democratic nomination at a 70,000-person spectacular in a Denver stadium.
The campaign has begun building a crowd of 10,000 for Dayton, Ohio, according to an organizer. McCain is scheduled to appear with his running mate at a large-scale event in Pennsylvania shortly thereafter.
Senior Republicans are in the dark about who he’ll name, although they say former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are prime contenders after a trial balloon by McCain gave him very negative feedback about the idea of picking an abortion-rights running mate such as Tom Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania and the first secretary of homeland security.
Sources close to McCain say he has wrestled with the choice, torn between a high-stakes, high-reward pick like Ridge or Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman — the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000 — or a safer and more conventional selection such as Romney or Pawlenty.
Friends say he has yet to make a final decision, and is not expected to do so until after Sen. Barack Obama announces his choice.
That last bit is probably correct - its better for McCain to wait until Obama’s pick is known that way both the VP nominee and the manner of presentation can be geared for maximum positive effect. Other than that, I really don’t have a clue whom McCain will pick…I still have my slight hopes of Palin (yes, I’d still love Jindal, but I want to “save” him for 2012 or 2016), but McCain has kept this so close to the vest that I doubt more than one or two of his closest aides really know where he’s going.
My only worry was the trial balloons McCain was floating on a pro-choice VP…its not that any pro-choice GOPer is absolutely unacceptable, but that such a choice would put at risk the growing, yet still fragile, conservative movement support for McCain, espcially amongst conservative Catholics and Evangelicals. In the end, of course, the VP pick is only of marginal importance - there aren’t that many voters, if any, who will merely vote based on the VP nominee, but for both candidates the VP selection is important in what it will say about the men, themselves. Public perception will decide this race - and the man the public perceives as the most “Presidential” will win - so the VP pick won’t secure victory, but combined with other things it can go a long way towards helping a candidate to defeat.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Republicans
12 Comments
1. Lucas | August 18th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
I hope and pray Sen. McCain will choose someone who is pro-life and anti-sodomy. It wouldn’t hurt any considering his past in these select areas, not so much that he has shown bad performance in pro-life, but in my personal opinion his whole ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy for military persons was a little shady. Albeit it wasn’t necessarily a horribly bad thing (still shady), I just hope it doesn’t reflect poorly among other voters in which this might be the pivotal area in their vote. But seeing as how Obama is the worse case of the two, it’s obvious they wouldn’t vote for him, the bad part is that they might not vote at all. We can’t afford to lose votes in this election.
I’d personally like to see Sen. McCain pick Mike Huckabee, but I’d guess that’d be a long shot considering the focus at this point and time in the race. Never the less, we need someone who has ideals close to Huckabee’s mind set up there in the White House along side Sen. McCain.
I think McCain is much more the stronger candidate and hopefully, like Mark says, the decision of the timing of the announcement will help to put a foot forward. At this point any sort of momentum can help as McCain has been down a bit in the majority of the popular opinion polls. But hopefully those aren’t as accurate as what they would seem at this point.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. :)
-Lucas-
2. french student | August 19th, 2008 at 1:41 am
As for the importance of the VP slot, since McCain is the oldest presidential candidate ever, I believe that makes his VP choice the most important VP choice ever, would you not?
3. SL | August 19th, 2008 at 2:26 am
I’m not sure why they wait to announce VP’s. I’d think that the one who does it first will create the biggest buzz. Well, whoever announces it first is a smart guy.
4. David A. | August 19th, 2008 at 10:01 am
As I have said before, Gov. Romney is the most logical choice, as well as the best choice. He brings everything to the ticket that McCain cannot. He also helps in NH, Michigan, CO, MN, and other mid west states. Look at the current polls in those states, not exactly favoring McCain at the minute. A McCain-Romney ticket also helps the down ticket, especially in several key Senate races (Schaffer in CO, Pierce in NM, Sununu in NH, Collins in ME, and maybe Smith in OR). Holding the Senate below 60 is almost as important as winning the White House. No other VP can help like Romney can.
Gov. Palin is currently going through a mini-scandal up in AK where she had a state trooper fired. Granted it was for a good reason, but it sort of overstepped her office. Not to mention the fact, that she comes from a state, where Sen. Stevens is under indictment and Rep. Young is one of the largest pork barrel legislators.
Gov. Jindal is been in office for less than a year. He is in his mid 30s. Putting McCain next to Jindal doesn’t make for a good picture. There is no doubt that Jindal has a bright future in the GOP, but his time hasn’t come just yet. Let’s see how he does as Governor first.
Gov. Huckabee. Laughable. This guy is a political joke. Since his exit from the campaign, he has had one misstep after the other. I don’t believe he will ever have another shot at being POTUS nor even a VPOTUS.
Rep. Cantor-Like Jindal, Cantor has a bright future in the party. He has quickly moved up in the House Leadership and will no doubt continue to do so. When the GOP regains control of the House, it is concievable to believe that he has a chance at being Speaker one day.
Sen. Thune is a great man and a terrific Senator, but doesn’t add too much to the ticket. I believe he would make a great VPOTUS or POTUS one day, but the time just isn’t right.
McCain-Romney
5. Eric T | August 19th, 2008 at 10:21 am
David A.
I like Huckabee!! That would be my choice, Tax breaks for rich guys might keep some returning to the GOP year after year.
Not me, the democrats probably would give my income group a nicer tax break. I stay with the GOP, because they are pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment, and support traditional family values. These things you just can’t put a price on.
6. gotbrains? | August 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Aug 29 is the anniversary of Katrina. Perfect symbolism.
7. Weird Cow Friday - ItR&hellip | August 19th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
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8. risultati di giovedi 19 g&hellip | August 20th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
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9. capital of minnesota &mid&hellip | August 21st, 2008 at 1:55 pm
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10. McCain to Announce Veep A&hellip | August 22nd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
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11. Head hits multiple homers&hellip | August 23rd, 2008 at 7:24 am
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12. LERYN FRANCO WEBSITE, GRE&hellip | August 24th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
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