McCain's veep? The tea leaves favor Franklin Graham.

[saltpoint]

Romney is just too hyper-creepazoid for McCain. He'd upstage the old crank, salivating over McCain's croaking early, leaving his Creepness, Willard Romney, the top dog in the White House. Romney wants it too bad. Michigan gets tighter with him there, but tellingly, not Massachusetts.

Huckabee is just too squirrelly to be a vice president. McCain already leads in Arkansas. Handily. Huckabee doesn't even reassure all the fundies. His wife is quite odd and his sons torture dogs.

Pawlenty is a snoozer. Obama may force McCain's hand and McCain will have to pick a veep nom to stay in the news. Pawlenty is a possibility, but my god what a flat-spirited dud.

Bloomberg as second fiddle to John McCain? I'm not seeing it.

Haley Barbour? Possibly, but just as possibly not. Barbour would remind every independent voter in the nation why they're voting for Obama instead.

Portman and Thune? Stronger chances, but would either of their jeopardize what are likely bright political futures to jump aboard a ship ablaze? McCain might ask them, but I think they'd quietly turn him down.

Carly Fiorina? A failed CEO in an era when CEOs are rolling in dough and working people can't fill up the gas tank to drive to jobs they don't have because corporations have shipped those jobs overseas? Seems like a real long shot.

Franklin Graham. Muslim-hating values-baiting psychopath from a southern state and the son of a fundamentalist Protestant legend. He'd fire up the fundies and turn them out in large enough numbers that McCain could be competitive instead of being blown out. Still not enough to win for McCain, but enough to keep him in the race.

[MercutioATC]

1. Damn! You learn something new every day!

I always figured that "Mitt" was short for a first name like "Mitchell"...

WILLARD?

[saltpoint]

2. Hi, Mercutio. Yes. I think his name is Willard.

And I'm lovin' it!

[H2O Man]

12. It is.

Mitt is his middle name.

[Alexander]

3. I think it's Huckabee. The fundies like him and his charm schtick seems to work.

I think he's a major creep, but he would help McCain in the South and with the religious right.

[saltpoint]

4. Hi, Alexander. It's possible. He stayed in the race longer than

he might have and embarrassed McCain in some of the later states.

Agree that he has some sway among the fundies.

[Alexander]

6. He and McCain didn't attack each other much in the primaries, either.

I noticed that about Kerry and Edwards as well - that the two men largely refrained from going negative against each other, and probably worked out an arrangement where the winner chose the loser as VP.

I wonder if McCain and Huckabee have struck a similar deal. They also are perceived similarly on immigration.

[saltpoint]

8. Huckabee probably wants the job, too. McCain's list may be one of the

shorter short lists in veep-picking history because the people who'd most help him may not want the job and the ones who want it badly (Huck, Fiorina, Romney, etc) might be too eager.

Politics is so wayward sometimes.

[Alexander]

33. I doubt anyone on his short list will help him. Huckabee is his only chance.

Romney and Fiorina wouldn't get him evangelical votes, which he needs.

Jindal would but he's too young, inexperienced, and dark-skinned for the GOP's liking.

Crist might help McCain in Florida, but that's it. And he could win Florida without Crist.

I think if McCain has a functioning brain he'll pick Huckabee. That's his only chance.

If it's anyone else, we'll win in a landslide.

[saltpoint]

35. Alexander, you lay it out right in front of McCain's nose if he would

just pay attention. I agree -- he's down to almost nobody on any potential short list.

Huckabee stayed in a might too long for McCain's taste toward the end of the primary, and what's worse, did very, very well in those final contests, winning a couple from Grandpa.

I imagine McCain's still stewing about it.

On the other hand, your point's well taken -- Huck is more likely to help than hurt, so McCain has to find a way to get over his grudges and pick someone.

If he can't get over the Romney grudge and the Huck grudge, he has to choose someone the fundies will turn out for. Like Franklin Graham.

[bklyncowgirl]

13. True the fundies love the Huckster but the Club for Growth and Big Money crowds can't stand him.

I'm guessing that big money will have its veto over the holy rock'n roller, even if McCain thought it was a good idea.

You have to pity McCain. He has three wings of the GOP to please. The Big Money, Fundamentalist Christians and Neocons all have their favorites and also have people they can't stand.

My money's on Charlie Crist the Governor of Florida. Comes off as a moderate but I don't know of any organized group in the GOP who really, truly hates him.

[saltpoint]

16. It could be ol' Charlie down in Florida.

The fundies are of two minds on Huck, which is why Franklin Graham is the better pick to get the fundies all bobble-heading together in November.

Unless Crist can do that, he isn't going to get the fundie base to the polls. He's almost as creepy as Romney. But he's a married man now and Florida's always a bloodpath politically.

It could happen.

I love your breakdown on the GOP voter base. It's a great post for a separate thread. Thank you for that.

[bklyncowgirl]

21. Does Big Money like Frankin Graham?

It seems to me that the only Republican who has a shot of getting to the top is one who knows that whatever Christian utterings he may mouth to the faithful, is one who knows that he cannot, as Jesus once said, serve two masters. In Republican power politics the master who matters, of course, is not the Jesus, it's the gospel of free market, low taxes and no restraints of any sort on corporations.

[saltpoint]

22. I don't know, but I'm guessing they'd hate Franklin Graham.

He's not one of them.

In his years as a defiant helion, Franklin Graham rode a wild tiger through town well after hours. I kind of LIKE that Franklin Graham.

At some point he "repented his sins" and returned to the Fold of his father and His Father, ostensibly out of pious remorse for past deeds but I think more likely because the old man's bank account was of biblical dimensions.

Money talks.

But it's just not the "kind" of money the Big Money Republicans like to sit around the country club inn over.

The Big Money Republicans probably want all the fundies to vote en masse for Republicans, but on the other hand, they get real edgy when one of the fundies actually rises politically and upsets the shindig. Pat Robertson's 2nd-place finish in the Iowa primary in times past, for example.

And they liked the photo-ops with Billy Graham and Nixon, etc., but of course they'd grimace to see Billy's boy in any politically influential role.

You are exactly right. In the Big Money Republicans world, they are the lone masters, and prefer a highly contained "Christian" fundamentalism to boost voter totals. They are the den of thieves and by definition oppose any temple-of-prayer types who might turn over the tables.

[crimsonblue]

37. Huckabee's too tainted already

he just signed a contract to work for Fox News... :puke:

[onenote]

5. gotta remember to put your sarcasm smilie on posts like that

[saltpoint]

9. I couldn't find a half-sarcasm emoticon.

I think the odds are long for a Franklin Graham veep nod but I think he is among the very few people McCain could choose who could rally a key base group -- the nutbags/Rapturists/prayers-in-schools bunch.

Franklin Graham is one of the most loathsome human beings in the public eye in our country, IMO, which means he likely would be attractive to McCain.

Long odds in the real world, but for target-group politics, Franklin Graham would energize the religious crazies.

[Muttocracy]

7. What about JoeLie and Graham Cracker? nt

[saltpoint]

10. Lieberman and Lindsey Graham? Well, at this point, I'd be

a fool to rule anything out for the Republicans. They are facing increasingly uphill odds in this election, so McCain could make one reckless plunge into the gorge and pick either of this guys.

Lieberman would lap it up like a feral animal. He's been way too flirtatious with the GOP in recent times and if our Senate majorities rise in November, I'm hoping Lieberman is relieved of his duties as a Committee chair. He's a liability for our party to govern and I'm sick of seeing his face on FOX News all the time, backing Bush and slamming Democrats.

Perfect for McCain in that respect.

Little Lindsey is sitting in Fritz Hollings' Senate seat. I'm still holding a grudge over that one. I notice that when Graham and a Democrat share an interview on one of the news programs, Lindsey bravely distorts the truth for Bush or McCain, but considering his background, he gets blown out of the water by Kerry, by Dodd, by just about any Democrat. I think Lindsey Graham would be thrilled to death to be McCain's veep nom, altough he must know at some level that McCain is heading straight over the waterfall.

[napi21]

18. Yeah, right. TWO OLD GEEZERS on the same ticket! Hell, who would

help whom getting up & down the flight stairs?

[AlinPA]

11. Palin and Jindal are strong possibilities. Both would grab headlines and the media

would go completely berserk with stories about either of them. 'murca would see them as celebrities.

[saltpoint]

14. Palin would be the headline grabber of those two, even more than Jindal,

IMO.

But there is scandal talk surrounding Palin these days. Actually, every Republican in Alaska is under some kind of major public relations cloud. Stevens has been indicted on 7 counts, Don Young's on his way out, and Palin faces a rough road. Don't know if it's enough to stop a desperate McCain from choosing her, but in addition to the scandal-plagued GOP in her state, Palin just gave birth in April to a child diagnosed with Down Syndrom.

I add that up and I think it's too much to shovel to get her on McCain's ticket. Otherwise, I think she'd be a zinger for him, and god knows he needs a lift.

Jindal appeared to take himself out of the running a week or two ago. He'd set the media aflutter if McCain chose him, and McCain could still ask and Jindal could change his mind and jump aboard. But I wonder if the fundie base will abide a Catholic exorcist? It's harder for the sleavebag RepubliCon machine to smear Obama as a Muslim if McCain chooses Jindal.

[AlinPA]

29. The media would go completely wild with her having been Miss Alaska,

and having children with "unconventional" names. from Wikipedia-"On September 11, 2007, the Palins' son Track joined the Army. Age 18 at the time, he is the eldest of her five children. She also has three daughters, Bristol, 17, Willow, 13, and Piper, 7. On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin"

I didn't read of anything yet where she is having trouble politically in Alaska. Even if she were having trouble, the celebrity factor would totaly eliminate it. 'murcans would eat it up.

I also believe this would cause a big story about who would get "the womens' vote".

[saltpoint]

32. Well I kinda like those names for the younguns.

But I'm still not sold on Palin.

She's gotten herself into a bit of a tight spot here lately and with Alaskans showing vigorous support for the Congressional race blue and the U.S. Senate race blue, her stock might be falling as well.

Not sure what will happen with her, but I surely deeply would love to see Don Young and Ted Stevens turned out of office.

[Coexist]

15. interesting.. Is this a serious post?

I don't know enough about him to know if this is sarcasm.

[saltpoint]

19. Good morning, FLDem5.

It sounds like it might not be at first glance. But I intend it as a suggestion to how untenable McCain's position really is in this election.

If he chooses someone the pro-war crowd likes, he alienates the now-70% of the electorate who oppose Iraq and feel Bush and Cheney lied us into it, and McCain can't politically afford further and deeper affiliation with a disastrous war. Oddly, he's made it the centerpiece of his "appeal," but as long suits go, I think he's betting on the wrong horse and then some. Still, he keep blathering away at it, evidently unaware that people are real sick of this Iraq engagement at all levels.

If he chooses someone who will actually help him, say, John Thune or Rob Portman -- Republicans through and through but not Coburn or Santorum Republicans -- he runs two risks: the fundies will stay home because Thune and Portman aren't psychotically religiously preoccupied enough; and as noms likely to actually help McCain, they're more marketbale in 2012 or 2016 and might very well turn him down. The more wisely the GOP chooses, the more likely its base groups will shatter it to bits, and the fundies in particular.

If he chooses someone who brings out the fundies, it has to be a fanatic. Otherwise, they will stay home, dooming not only McCain but down-ballot Pukes as well. McCain could be the Republican Ahab, lame and obsessed and angry, plunging on into the deadly abyss, taking the whole ship with him.

(God, that would be great!)

So he needs a Hail Mary, go-for-broke choice, IMO. Petreaus has been mentioned (I doubt if he wants the job). I hear Colin Powell mentioned (but I think he's going to endorse Obama). Michael Bloomberg (also likely prefers Obama to McCain, although likely prefers himself to either!).

And I'm adding the name of Franklin Graham. He's an unambiguous nutcase, no doubt about it, but there wouldn't be one single fundie GOP voter who wouldn't get up early on election day and go vote for McCain-Franklin Graham.

He's the choice that solidifies McCain's most unstable demographic and that't the lone demographic that would make McCain at least competitive.

[kimbo fleiss]

17. You really like this guy

If he is somehow selected... you will look brilliant (but in a Rain Man sense), if not you will look just as crazy as Franklin Graham himself.

[saltpoint]

20. LOL! I only type what the voices tell me to type, kimbo.

I need a half-serious, half-sarcastic icon to add to these Franklin Graham posts, but I need the example of Franklin Graham to show how contorted McCain's position is.

[kimbo fleiss]

23. I see...

You're right.

And if McCain picks Romney or Ridge, there will not only be an uproar at the convention but there will also be a lack of turnout on election day.

[saltpoint]

24. Yes . Ridge brings Pennsylvania into play for McCain but it loses him

the fundie nutbags he needs nationally to compete against Obama.

He's all pretzeled up in a Twister game of electoral politicals.

[Perky]

25. Ole Crusoe the only Tea Leaves involved here are the ones you are smoking

He is abject religionist with as propensity to put his foot in his mouth and has no qualification to be President whatsoever which is more important than ever given McCain's age and health, Half the GOP would think McCain had gone around the bend and would seriously consider Bob Barr. The press would skewer him and the Dems would vote in either great numbers It ain't going to happen.

[saltpoint]

26. Perky, that is exactly the outcome I'm hoping for.

Of course Franklin Graham is a nutbag.

Among the nuttiest of nutbags there could be.

[seasat]

27. Adam Putnam rep from Florida may be a dark horse for McSame

The Goppers have been seriously grooming him for leadership. I've seem on the talking head circuit with increasing frequency. He has the GOP pull string in his back so that he automatically spouts the talking points. He's youthful and known here in Florida. The bonus is that he looks like Howdy-Doody and would give us some great satirical images during the campaign.

[saltpoint]

28. Little Adam. The Howdy-Doody of the Swamps.

You know, it could be.

He's what -- 13 years old now? Gettin' up there. Great-Grand dad McCain could pick him. It would serve a dual purpose of making McCain look even more ancient than he already does, plus it would make Charlie Crist's head explode.

I think you are exactly right on Putnam. He's definitely being prepped for a future GOP -- a McCain- and Bush-free GOP.

[seasat]

30. I can hear Charlie now.

"But but but I got married and everything! I even supported covering our beaches in goo for you! Johnny how could you do that to me! I love you...errr I mean I respect your political positions."

[saltpoint]

31. Yep. If McCain chooses Adam P, it might possibly do him a little good,

but it would send ol' Charlie into a Code 5 Temper-Tantrum.

[Motown_Johnny]

34. I still say Romney..... the way McGaffe campaigns they want the VP to upstage him

[saltpoint]

36. LOL! "Upstage me! Please, dear god, before I gaffe again! Upstage me!"