The voters have spoken. There's far more prejudice against someone of Romney's faith than there is against any other minority group. Just as occurred in the GOP primaries, millions of evangelicals would refuse to vote in the GE for a ticket that included a mormon. Ain't gonna happen, indeed.

Lieberman isn't a pro-lifer.

Joe Lieberman may be many things, but when did he become a pro-lifer?

McCain is so old, and so old school and well, _white_ (he disappears against a snowy backdrop), he has to nominate a person of color if he's to generate any excitement vs a Dem trailblazer candidate.

That would mean Rice, Powell or Bobby Jindal. I'd guess the ddds of each are 50-30-20.

teph,

I respectfully disagree. I think McCain has to shore up his conservative credentials for the base that still doesn't really like or trust him, so he'll go right.

Would that leave Rice in the mix, still? Probably not. Definitely eliminates Powell. And Jindal is too new the scene (can't run against the inexperienced child Obama with Jindal on your ticket), although as a Dem he scares me down the road. No, I think McCain has to stick close to the GOP base.

Does that mean Romney? Tough call - except for the Mormon thing, he's a Right Winger's dream. (At least he was in the primaries - he obviously changes positions and ideologies like some folks change underwear.)   But I think McCain hates him too much to choose him. Which is kind of too bad, because Romney is the stereotypical Vice President - weaselly, shiftly, slimy, style-over-substance, a guy you shouldn't trust. It's like he's from "24" central casting.

William Kristol's suggestion that Clarence Thomas would make a good Veep candidate is possibly the most astute piece of political analysis I've heard this month.

Then again, I've only heard four other pieces of political analysis this month, specifically that (a) the nation's governors exhibit a "flehman response" to help move pheromones into their Jacobson's organs in the event of proximate pussy; (b) Dan Brown's forthcoming follow-up to "The Da Vinci Code" concerns the Texas primary/caucus system; (c) Hillary Clinton is behind the New York Yankees signing Billy Crystal--not to mention them losing Joe Torre; and (d) John McCain taught Penn and Teller a magic trick involving beetles, rice, and cancerous moles that he learned while in that North Vietnamese prison of war camp, but everyone's in denial and lawyered up about the whole thing.

So, maybe the Kristol thing isn't that astute, comparatively speaking, if you want to look at it that way.

Tep, I agree with your general reasoning, but not with your conclusions. I do think McCain needs a candidate who can generate "breath of fresh air" excitement. But naming a black VP would probably alienate far more white Republican voters then it would attract black Democratic voters. Which is to say, even a tiny number is greater than zero.

That's why I think McCain needs to look at a woman. And not a dinosaur like Hutchison or Dole, but a younger, next-generation Republican like Sarah Palin, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, or "Mean" Jean Schmidt. A woman VP would give McCain just as much of a fresh look excitement boost as would any minority man, and it would give him a greater chance to win meaningful votes on the basis of demographic solidarity.

As a side benefit, it would be entertaining to see the Gloria Steinems and Erica Jongs of the world try to pivot gracefully away from their women-who-don't-vote-for-the-woman-are-self-hating-sex-traitors positions for Hillary to their new positions of principled feminist opposition to the ticket with the woman on it.

Point taken re. Jindal, but not Powell or Rice. We have hard and voluminous data from the GOP primaries: widespread anti-mormon prejudice among the GOP's hard right fundie base sank Romney.

When you have evidence that >50% of the social conservative base votes against Romney, in state after state, you can't persuade me that these people would be more hostile to Powell or Condi than to the mormon.

I don't understand the Sarah Palin idea. I look at her background and have to wonder whether this is an elaborate joke. Jindal has *far* more executive experience than Palin does.

I'd still like to make a small wager that Jindal will be on the ticket. Who cares about Louisiana? The presidency's on the line, and he's at least as qualified as Obama. A much more capable executive manager, too.  

I don't think Palin is a serious candidate. For one thing, she is pregnant again.  

Jindal? McCain is going to need a VP with some gravitas, not a guy who kind of looks like a kid.  After all, McCain is 72.  Succession is a significant issue in his case.

I think it will be Crist.   The deal was probably made back in January.

"Jindal has *far* more executive experience than Palin does."

Please explain. I see on Jindal's bio that he has more total government experience, but most of it as an elected legislator or an appointed bureaucrat. She was a mayor, president of the state mayor's association, a nonprofit executive, and also an appointed bureaucrat before becoming Governor a year before Jindal. (Palin: governor since December 2006. Jindal: governor since January 2008.) So where is his vast reserve of executive experience?

tep,

Jindal's an interesting possibility, but I just don't see how McCain could credibly attack Obama's inexperience, particularly with regard to foreign policy, with Jindal on the ticket.  It runs into the same logical problems of the current Clinton "not OK as CiC, but fine as VP" angle.

Rhubarbs: I don't think Steinem and Jong *would* try to pivot away, or at least try very hard -- I think they'd tacitly would want the Dems to suffer for their "misogyny" against Hillary.  

I was thinking of Jindal's experience running the health system, and then the state university system, before he was 30. I think Louisiana is a much rougher school in which to be an (honest, principled, competent and dedicated and change-oriented) executive manager than Alaska, but maybe I'm wrong.

Jindal will never be on McCains ticket. If Obama is against him Jindal is both too young and also has a funny last name, McCain ain't going to throw away the yahoo vote. And Jindal has absolutely no national constituency. How many Indians (India) are there in America? If against Hillary, Powell or Rice would kill Hillary with blacks who will love any excuse to vote against Hillary. If it is against Obama he will get the heaviest weight he can find and claim his VP is more qualified than Obama.

I think it's Crist.  I get the argument for Jindal, but McCain needs to cover his base, not send a piece of them off into the stratosphere and neuter his arguments against Obama.

It's the Huckster.

Thank you blackton.  That covers the whole subject as far as I am concerned.

I can't escape the idea that he's going to end up picking someone flying under the radar right now.  It may be more of a punt than a particularly daring pick like some of those above.  Someone like Sam Brownback: safely conservative enough to appease the base, mostly harmless GOP-wise (and unlikely to be damaged that much by his own unsuccessful bid for president simply because, evidently, not that many people outside of Iowa ever knew he was running), maybe shores up a GOP region in case Obama's the nominee and threatens ever-so-slightly in the Plains, and he seems to get along with McCain.  Not particularly exciting, but safe.  

Since when does Fred Barnes have anything worthwhile to say about anything?  The guy is a shameless, inveterate water carrier for all the right's lost causes and is a total fool.

And Mormonism did not sink Romney.  Not running on his strengths sank him.  Running to the right of everyone when he obviously is not a true conservative and never has been is what killed his chances.  Even Matinee Mitt couldn't make that sale.