In a state of near-panic over Obama's choice of Joe Biden,

[saltpoint]

the McCain team likely has conducted several late-night ad-hoc confabs to reassess their choice of Mitt Romney as McCain's veep, there being consensus among staff that Biden is a game-changer and a more effective response must be found to deal with the inherent advantage Biden brings to the Democratic ticket.

Ridge is out. Any pro-choice man or woman is out, because McCain knows he's behind already and if the nutbag fundies don't show up in Dubya-like numbers, he's not going to be even remotely competitive.

It's sheer arithmetic. The fundies have been an easily manipulated base demographic group and have shown up at the polls to support even as vacuous a moron as George W. Bush. If McCain loses even 5% of the nutbags over a pro-choice pick, he'll be buried alive in November.

Romney is out. The fundies don't like him much either. He's Mormon. He's odd. He was governor of Massachusetts. He out-flipflops McCain on social issues, which is no small feat.

Pawlenty is out. He's actually in, which means McCain's staff doesn't have anybody else to pick from. By default, Tim Pawlenty, a man who could put a hyperactive chimpanzee on speed into a coma, is the frontrunner for the GOP vice presidential nomination. The McCain team, dense as it often is, is VERY likely concerned over Pawlenty's having to go up against Biden in the vice presidential debate, likely an event which millions will view. So Pawlenty is out, or he is in, not that it much matters.

Haley Barbour is out. He is the relentless living ghost sleazebag of the GOP Past, holding forth down in Mississippi. He'd be the hatchet man for McCain and could raise some money as well, but there's no gain to Barbour for McCain. Barbour might be too corrupt even for most Big Business types.

Bobby Jindal is certainly too creepy for us. But he's likely creepy to the Republican base as well. Many Republican voters may have noticed that Jindal's skin color is different from the other people at their country club. And quite a few might be unsettled over his public declaration that he's an exorcist. Jindal is out.

Charlie Crist is out, too. Actually I don't think he was ever in. McCain doesn't need him. Certainly progressives don't need him. Charlie's a provincial nobody in expensive clothes trying to launch his enormous ego onto the national stage. Floridians have made consecutive unwise choices for their governor the last 8-12 years.

Tommy Franks is in, but likely wouldn't take the job. Franks isn't the most cerebral individual to ever come along, but he's smart enough to tell McCain 'no.' The luster of glory, such as it was, has faded from Franks in any case, what with the Iraq liberation turning almost instantly into tense Occupation and finally into bloody Mess. Heck of a job, Tommy.

Mike Huckabee's portfolio is, to be kind, a mixed bag. The bag in question is a hyena's scrotum, and the contents range from his ripping off furniture on the way out the door of the Governor's Mansion in Arkansas to his shall we say unusual wife to his animal-torturing son. We're told he's a minister. If he is, I wonder of what religion. Huckabee wants the job as much or more than Romney, and Romney wants it badly enough to cut off his own teensy penis with hedgeclippers. Some fundies think Huckabee is "too liberal," which is hard for me to wrap my brain around, but he might help secure a larger percentage of nutbag support, but IMO not at electoral college victory levels. The vetting process for Huckabee likely involves a panel of psychiatrists hired to determine if he is stable enough to appear in public around actual human beings.

Carly Fiorina is a joke, which of course qualifies her instantly for the Republican ticket. However she's out because many of the more troglodyte Puke base voters would be seriously menaced by having any woman on any ticket, plus it's tough to win the votes of people whose homes are in foreclosure and whose jobs are in Mexico and India when your vice presidential nominee is from the highly privileged and pampered CEO class. Fiorina wants the job but isn't going to get it.

Franklin Graham, IMO, is the only choice of McCain's who could make Mike Huckabee look like a sane and sentient being. I consider him to be a raving psychotic in addition to being an unrepentant racist, and as un-christian a Christian as they come. That said, Joaquin Phoenix should do the biopic, showing Franklin's wild early years in defiance of God's grace through the delivery of his wrteched soul into the fold of major real estate holdings and the love of Jesus, etc. If McCain craves fundie vote totals, Franklin Graham, unstable as he certainly is, would be the choice. He's out because Republicans won't turn over that much influence to the nutbag demographic they've manipulated for so long and which now threatens to shatter their Party to tiny shards.

Little Lindsay Graham is out. "I'm sorry, Senator, you have to be This Tall to ride this ride."

Rob Portman is in, although I imagine he doesn't want the job. He is positioned to be the next major Republican office-holder in Ohio; I can't see why he'd interrupt his forward path to consort with the likes of John McCain in what will almost certainly be an electoral defeat, including in Ohio. Portman likely has a nose for what works and McCain's campaign for the White House isn't working very well at all. "Gosh, Senator McCain, it's quite an honor to be asked, but really, I'm unable to come aboard at this time. All good wishes, Rob."

Cantor is in. I don't like his politics at all but he's smart and tough, two things that might help in Virginia. Virginia is in the Eastern time zone. Its polls close while folks west of the Mississippi are still voting. If the electoral map shows Virginia going blue by fairly early in the evening, everyone west of St. Louis will know that Obama has won the election. The internet, the car radio, and 24/7 cable news flashing Virginia as an Obama win signals to many millions of voters that McCain has lost his bid for the presidency. Cantor may help in Virginia. Not sure if he represents the difference, but if McCain can't hold Dubya's red states, he also has zero chance to win most of the swing states.

Fred Thompson is in, inasmuch as any lumbering oaf sprawled on a poolside lawnchair can be. He might wind up being McCain's pick because he's so lackluster and nondescript and uninterested that the McCain team chooses him on a What-the-Hell basis.

Palin is out. She reportedly is under some political clouds in Alaska and she has a whole slew of children to take care of. Fundies like their gals to stay home and see to the cookin' and raise up the younguns, in that order. For way too many Republican voters, the sign reads No Girls Allowed in the treehouse. Palin is good copy for PEOPLE magazine, but beyond that, I think her current job is her last stop on the political express.

Sam Brownback is in. He's Catholic but Protestant fundies like him because he speaks the language of Judgment. He's more fundamentalist than they are, in fact. And he dresses nicely and knows his table manners. Sam exhibits none of the eat-a-squirrel-raw aspects attendant to the Huckabee model. Sam's from wind-blasted Kansas, can talk prairie-talk, and he is at home in the corporate boardroom luncheon, too. Could solve a few problems for McCain among a wobbly nutbag base.

Condi Rice, in a more mature nation, would never have advanced to anywhere NEAR the jobs she's held in the Bush administration. Certainly no Democrat would hire her. I think she'd be perfect as a done-pretty-good-for-herself piano teacher in Louisville. As a public servant, she has been an inarguable disaster. I imagine foreign leaders wonder if she is Dubya's uh, intimate companion. There's almost no evidence at all that she actually understands the nature of either international security or diplomatic issues. For a woman alleged to be gifted and intelligent, the question remains why she's hanging around with thugs, fixers, and morons like the Bush family. McCain could choose her, but she brings only negatives, of varying intensities, to the ticket, and every hour of the campaign between Minneapolis and the election would be a vivid reminder of the GOP's deceit and incompetence in matters of war and foreign policy.

McCain could choose John Danforth to match Obama's gravitas pick of Joe Biden, but with Danforth, the fundies would collectively freak. As conservative as Danforth is to us, he is Satan's earthly agent to the fundies, having written full-length books criticizing them. It's obvious to a lot of people that if McCain loses this election because the nutbags don't show up in high-enough percentages, the Republican Party will have to become a minority party or else turn itself over entirely to the Dobsons and other far, far Right hyper-religious Bible-thumpers.

Kasich, maybe. Giuliani? A possibility, but Rudy would make doody in his drawers on the debte stage against Biden. Thune? He likely has more sense than to accept an offer from McCain. Jeb? Not this year, and hopefully not any year.

McCain might look to Jim Talent, George Allen, or Mike DeWine as veep options. All lost Senate seats in 2006, thank Jesus, but all remain viable Republican properties in their respective states, not coincidentally three swing states/ battlegrounds. No GOP Congressional seat is imperiled with their selection; at least one swing state could be salvaged for the red team.

I'm very pleased with Obama's selection of Biden, in and of itself on Biden's merits alone. But I like it as a strategic pick also because it has forced McCain into a political corner where all his available choices for his veep nom come with asterisks, and they aren't cute little stardot astericks but giant corroded anvils about to fall on McCain's head.

He'll have to duck into one of his many houses to avoid injury.

[Connie_Corleone]

1. I would love a McCain/Fred Thompson ticket

[saltpoint]

4. The campaign slogan could be, "There's no testosterone like old teststerone."

[bjobotts]

188. Funny,lol. Hey you forgot Lieberman, Ashcroft and Jeb Bush .

[Bluzmann57]

199. Just my opinion

I think that any bush on the ticket would be political suicide at this time. People really don't like gwb and any of his relatives, even reasonably intelligent ones like jeb, will stand a chance. Not now, and hopefully not ever again.

[SCantiGOP]

204. remember Tim Russert's line

from a year of so ago when there where still multiple candidates in both races. He said the obvious GOP nominee would be former Florida Governor Jeb Smith..........if his last name was only Smith and not Bush. I agree with you; the Bush name will be toxic for a long time.

[agentS]

200. How about "Ready to Lead since 1905"?

Those 2 on the same ticket? That's like "Dumb and Dumber" only age-wise as "Old and Ancient".

[Xipe Totec]

16. Yawn McCain and Fred Tombstone? nt

[lib2DaBone]

53. Exxon John and Condasleeza.....

I have always thought this would be the perfect play for Karl Rove. He could play the race card and the gender card at the same time. Crank up the fundie nutbags over abortion and gay marriage and (voila)... you have the perfect Karl Rove sneak-slander and slime campaign.

[guruoo]

90. That's what I was thinking.

[nxylas]

101. Condi would certainly leave us with a dilemma

The most effective weapons to use against her to discourage Repukes from voting for her are her skin color, her gender and the fact that she shares a home and a checking account with another woman. But how do we point this out without being racist, sexist or homphobic ourselves?

[jwirr]

136. All of those are public knowledge - we would just need to continue

to point out her failure as a public servant. As a bushie.

[Danger Mouse]

171. She's death among indies who are sick of Bush.

McCain can pretend he doesn't support Bush, Condi doesn't have that luxury. She'd be poison for him.

[ekwhite]

178. The answer is we don't point those things out

The fact that she is a black woman will make the racists stay home and vote for neither McCain nor Obama. Having to choose between a black president and black vice president just might make their heads explode.

The way we run against Rice is by pointing out how closely she is associated with the Iraq war and with the failure to capture Bin Laden. She would be more evidence that a McCain administration would be just like four more years of Bush.

[AlbertCat]

203. We could point out

that she was National SECURITY Adviser on 9/11.

And there are hundreds and hundreds of hours of her blathering on and on and not answering questions.

Not to mention what a great Sec o' State she is now!

[sasquatch]

91. The adult diaper duo

:D

[southerncrone]

126. Well, between the Tennessee crowd, Lamar Alexander would be

a reasonable choice. They'd give up a Senate seat (if they won..ha ha) but Lamar would actually be very attractive to the Fundie crowd, while making the rest of the party comfortable. He's a slick talker & has held the Repuke line for years. The only thing that I see holding this up is the fact TN has a Dem governor.

[beac]

131. Awesome pick.

And I'll bet his has about 2 million of those hi-larious "LAMAR!" signs still stacked in his garage, so just stencil in "McCain!" and BINGO-- instant excitement!!!!

[Hawkeye-X]

152. Eh.

I'll just post this instead..

[southerncrone]

166. Hey, who said the Repukes were exciting anyway?

Don't take this lightly. As Old Crusoe has indicated McSame is running out of choices. The Fundie vote is crucial to them. Lamer would keep that segment. He has experience running for President, was governor & ambassador, lived overseas (Australia) for a while, married to the same woman forever, has no real skeletons in the closet. There are worse choices out there; and you can bet they are scanning the Rolodex.

It's late, folks, time's awastin'. McSame can't dilly-dally over the excitement factor. Of course, if he wants excitement, he could pick Orin Hatch, Larry Craig, Vitter, or Ted Stevens.

[beac]

219. I see your point on Lamar!'s skeleton-less closet,

but he did so poorly in his own Presidential run, I just wonder if he'd help with anyone other than fundies. He does have a VERY compelling life-story involving pancakes, so he's got THAT goin' for him:

June 12th, 2007 - WASHINGTON -- Lamar Alexander can't forget the day, at age 12, when he watched
helplessly as a black bear ate his Boy Scout troop's breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon.

http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Articles.Detail&Article_id=99bb8fa3-b3a5-466d-bda9-005834441afc&Month=6&Year=2007&IsTextOnly=1


But mostly my post was about the total ridiculous amount of amusement I remember feeling over the "LAMAR!" signs.

[southerncrone]

222. Dammit, pancakes are important to Boy Scouts!

Those damn mooching bears can go pick berries! Hell, they've got the whole park at their disposal, it's a crime that they intruded on our pancake breakfast:donut:! They're just selfish, lazy creatures!



I know what you mean by the "Lamar!" signs. It was almost like they were a warning...Look out! Lamar!
Sorta like "Watch for falling rocks"! LOL

[beac]

223. "Look out, Lamar!"

Priceless.

:rofl:

[johnaries]

164. He's in ExxonMobil's back pocket, too. So he would be a logical choice.

[SoCalDem]

168. I did their bumper sticker in January

Got the order backwards..but...

[jimlup]

215. THat would be a dream team

As long as the voters are actually smart enough to defeat them. After 2004 I have my doubts.

[grannie4peace]

2. isn't it fun to watch them squirm

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

[saltpoint]

7. Yes. McCain is in over his head, and one way I guess that this is the case

is that he behaves as if he's on par with Obama's team.

I don't think McCain's instincts can keep him in the ballgame.

[janetblond]

160. McCain has ALZHEIMER'S. He can't even remember how many homes he has. nt

geesh!

[TexasObserver]

3. the house gaffe sent them into the bunker to re-tool

They needed the VP nominee by Obama to give them media cover from the houses disaster.

They're scheming, and will no doubt redouble their dirty tricks and negative approach. They are who they are, incapable of being something else.

[Demeter]

5. Then I Guess There's Only One Real Choice Left

[saltpoint]

6. Mean Uncle Dick.

What a disgraceful 8 years he has just exhibited.

[Faryn Balyncd]

21. (Perhaps it's time to name Cheney to head up McCain's VP selection committee.)

[muffin1]

64. You should put a warning on that!

Thanks for giving a middle-aged woman even more gray hairs. God I hate that fucker.:P

[beac]

127. I can see the McCain/Cheny bumper stickers : "Vote GOP: Grumpy, Old, & Pasty!"

"Oh yeah, and EVIL... really REALLY EVIL!"

[connecticut yankee]

196. I pefer

Grumpy Old Putzes

[stlsaxman]

134. Ding ding ding ding ding!!!!!! n/t

[D23MIURG23]

153. Oh, please let it be the guy with the 12% approval rating!!!!!

Cheney is definitely my top choice.

:evilgrin:

[Maat]

165. Next time ... warn someone before you put that horrifying mug up!

Arghhhhhhhhh ... I'm going to have nightmares all night now. It's The Undead!

:spank:

[bdamomma]

214. let him go back under his rock, or put in prison

[speedoo]

8. Lieberman? Whitman?

Seems to me they both are in. And wouldn't Crist guarantee Florida?

Most likely it will be someone like Cantor. Someone with a potential national future, since the rethugs have so few with a real future.

[saltpoint]

9. Whitman is a possibility, but she doesn't resonate with the fundies.

I think they're at the control panel. The GOP of the 1960s and 70s was far more moderate than the current brand.

Not my cup of tea even then, but FAR more moderate than the likes of John Cornyn and Tom Coburn, etc.

Those remaining GOP moderates are like the dogs the Russians sent up in space, utterly helpless to determine their own destiny, with the crazed fundie nutbags down at mission control, pushing all the buttons.

[damndude]

50. christ would be a spectacular choice.........

only to have another (R) politician from florida have to come out and reiterate that he is not gay. the simple fact the rumors continue even after his shotgun marriage have probably disqualified him. he's just a stalking horse to keep florida red.

[RetroLounge]

114. Yes, Walt Whitman would be good

Someone younger than McCain...

RL

[beac]

128. Or maybe a half-eaten Whitman's Sampler box?

Because I think a bunch of stale chocolates with the bottoms squished in to reveal their centers would really bring a LOT of excitement to the ticket.

[leveymg]

10. This is an outstanding, informative, well-thought out post. Thank you!

[immoderate]

12. I second that. Very informative rundown. (And I do mean rundown.)

Kudos to the OP.

Hey, what about Jeb Bush? Heh heh.

--IMM

[lamp_shade]

57. Yes... BIG kudos to the OP

[HeeBGBz]

96. Excellent piece

The gawdawful truth of it made me smile.

[lumpy]

143. Hear hear and thank you Old C.

v

[Emit]

11. ...giant corroded anvils about to fall on McCain's head...

:rofl:

:thumbsup:

Thanks for the essay, sums it up nicely -- well done, Old Crusoe.

[saltpoint]

15. Hi, Emit.

Thank you and Happy Convention Time!

We're gonna serve us up a sunday fastball to hapless John McCain in November.

[monmouth]

13. Dear Old Crusoe, You never disappoint, great post...K&R..n/t

[yourguide]

14. Great analysis as always!

Thanks much!

[WillyT]

17. "Tim Pawlenty, a man who could put a hyperactive chimpanzee on speed into a coma..."

:rofl::yourock::rofl:

U sur rite purty!!!

:applause:

K & R !!!

:hi:

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

89. Timmeh is deadly dull

and Biden would pound him into mulch in the first ten minutes of the VP debate.

[bbgrunt]

18. great, witty analysis! k n r

[AuntPatsy]

19. I don't believe it to be mcbushes choice at all, he has proven he will do whatever

they say, he like his predecessor are nothing more than sock puppets which is why they tend to grunt and whimper when other's know they have no real power.

[saltpoint]

26. I'm inclined toward that view too, and am having a bit of

fun watching them try to navigate the political landscape between now and November.

It looks like rough seas for the GOP.

[Faryn Balyncd]

20. I doubt that John Danforth will even VOTE for McCain, much less join his ticket.

Danforth has not only strongly criticized the religious right, he abruptly resigned as UN ambassador just as the Cheneyites ramped up verbal attacks on Syria & Iran, and he was part of the bi-partisan group talking about an independent presidential bid some time back (that group included Hagel, Nunn, Robb, Whitman, and Susan Eisenhower.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/29/AR2007122901476_pf.html

I think Danforth is more likely to endorse Obama/Biden than to even vote for McCain, much less endorse him or run with him.

[saltpoint]

25. Agree. Danforth hates the fundies. He considers them

barbarians, which is far too charitable, IMO.

I could definitely see him endorsing Obama.

[FloridaJudy]

100. Danforth strikes me as being one of the few

Pubs around who still has a working brain, aside from anomalies like Olympia Snowe. So I expect the fundies to hate him, and the sentiment would be heartily reciprocated.

I can't wait for the Repubs to finally wise up and drop the fundie loons like the stinking albatross they most resemble. They courted those troglodytes by embracing the most socially regressive stances imaginable. It'd be nice to see them get bit in the butt as they deserve.

Sometimes Karma isn't pretty. Just gratifying.

[JerseygirlCT]

22. OC, you literally had me laughing out loud on that.

You're a funny guy. And it's an astute take on the spot McCain finds himself in. Which probably means they're going to get as ugly as they can imagine - to make up for the increasingly obvious lack of substance on their ticket.

[saltpoint]

28. A happy Sunday to you, JerseygirlCT -- and your point is

correct about how nasty this is likely to get.

It's like the caged animal in the corner, wounded, instinctually territorial, and unpredictable.

Obama's team seems pretty sturdy to me. I'm hopeful that they have some tv ads and such already in the can ready to go on a moment's notice.

[JerseygirlCT]

58. There's a really fine line between hard-hitting attack ads

(that succeed) and falling over the other side into ugly. I'm thinking McCain and co. are walking a razor's edge right now. As people actually start to pay attention, we may just need to keep pointing out how nasty they're being and it might just be enough to tip things.

I liked the way Biden framed it all yesterday - McCain is a long-time friend, but ...

I'm hoping most of the country starts looking at it like that - maybe the guy used to seem ok, but this new guy seems like more of the same Bush.

[saltpoint]

62. Yes. At their best, the McCain team has been on that razor's edge

and now with Biden on board with Obama, the McCain team will have to get nastier yet, which lends the impression that they are angry and desperate.

And losing!

[JerseygirlCT]

76. And Biden is so good at doing what needs to be done with humor

harder by far to respond to a really great line with nastiness. You look small and lacking a sense of humor.

[bertman]

161. "how nasty this is LIKELY to get." Ain't no "likely" to it. It's gonna be THE Nasty.

Excellent post, Old Crusoe. Most excellent!

Mike Huckabee's mixed bag. LOL


But the funny part is that it doesn't matter who-THEY-pick because THEY "Own" , both literally and figuratively, the VOTING MACHINERY.

[saltpoint]

162. Hi, bertman. The apparatus is in need of rehaul away from

Diebold and back to countable, holdable paper. Point taken.

When Ken Blackwell was Ohio's Sec. of State he was 'a person of interest' in what I feel was the theft of the 2004 election in Ohio.

But when he ran for governor in 2006, the wave of support was so great for Strickland that even voting machine fraud was out of reach for the Republicans.

Strickland more or less buried him alive in that race.

If things unfold as I hope and think they will, there won't be a case for a McCain presidency this fall, and voters, having been fooled badly for 8 years under Dubya, will attempt atonement and support the blue ticket.

[bertman]

224. Old Crusoe, I wish I were as optimistic as you about voting machine fraud being out of reach.

Already we are seeing the "selective" polling to keep the margins close enough that voting machine voter flips will not generate much suspicion, except among those of us who track this crap.

The MSM is going to keep this race "close", no matter if 80% of voters support Obama. It's a simple fact that they do not want a Dem to be President and they will do whatever it takes to sabotage the race. You probably noticed how, after Kerry had the Presidency stolen from him, the MSM began changing the credibility of exit polls. Exit polls have always been right in line with the vote--until 2000 and 2004. So, what happens? Well, the TV-mesmerized viewing public gets earful after earful about how UNRELIABLE exit polls are. That is total bullshit!!

Add to that the over-the-top negative ad campaign that has already begun and we Dems are going to be swimming upstream again.

But what's most astonishing is the "so-what?" attitude that Democratic leaders have toward these voting machine issues. That is downright scary.

[JustAnotherGen]

23. This was excellent to read

You know - of all of those names. . . Brownback? Brownback could be a contender. I dunno. The silence from the McCain team and lack of media 'watch' the way they did Obama's selection has left me feeling uneasy.

[saltpoint]

29. Hi, JustAnotherGen.

I added Brownback to the imagined shortlist after reading DU.

Folks were discussing Sam Brownback as a possible contender. I had completely spaced the guy.

But he kind of emerges as a viable option for McCain.

[Barack_America]

24. This was really an excellent analysis...

And a very enjoyable read.

Thanks for taking the time to compile it.

[Overseas]

27. So refreshing to hear such frank analysis of the RW Blowhards. //nt

[Arugula Latte]

30. Jesus H. Christ.

What a load of kooks and freaks ol' Johnny Boy has to choose from. :rofl:

[Wetzelbill]

31. I say he should go with Conrad Burns

They can take naps and go out the early bird special together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_B0i2LukP4

[saltpoint]

34. LOL! Hell, I'm thinking Conrad's in the running, given the rest of

McCain's field of options.

Conrad Burns -- no. 13 with a bullet!

[Wetzelbill]

39. Here is my favorite one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGOiNbLFwJ0

[Ewellian]

71. How about Newt.

isn't he trying to make a comeback?

[Wetzelbill]

78. Oh yeah, good ol' Newt

My favorite story about Mr. Moral Values Newt Gingrich is that he used to prefer BJs when cheating on his wife that way he could deny ever "sleeping" with another woman.

But the leaving his wife while she was in the hospital is a classy one too.

[beac]

135. How about Mr. Burns?

It's be the world's first identical twins ticket!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

32. I guess they won't be wheeeling out another Bush for some time?

[eleny]

33. When forced to pick, he has to do it... :)

So they may just figure Romney has some economic and managerial creds on the private and government level. Sure, Biden will tear him up. But they have to choose and Romney has background, a history in Michigan and he really wants it badly.

Otherwise, it's a nobody who has a day in the sun and a chance to perhaps at least come out with some recognition and could go on to other things for having walked over the hot coals for the team. He tried and did it with dignity, let's elect him dog catcher or even a governor some day. I'm reminded of Dan Quayle who kept going like the energizer bunny.

My money is on Romney since the buzz says that "everyone" is pushing McCain in that direction. And in the end he has to pick a warm body.

Thanks so much for your posted thoughts. All are analysis belongz to u!

[saltpoint]

36. eleny, hi. Yeah, I don't know who else McCain can pick

so he seems likely to go with Romney.

There were early reports that Jeb's staff migrated to Romney and that some of the current GOP handler-type people thought Romney should be the nominee.

Of course that was pretty early on, and they didn't count on Romney's losing leads in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

It's interesting that the Bush handler-types didn't pick Giuliani. I know why WE wouldn't have picked him, but I have no real clear sense of why he wasn't acceptable to BushCo.

Excellent invocation of Dan Quayle as the Energeizer Bunny. LOL!

[eleny]

41. I think it's because Giuliani made himself into a caricature

His having a speech at the convention baffles me. But I suppose they hope to put him in the Cabinet since he's as mongering as McCain. They'd get along. But again, Biden would tear him up in a debate. And the family values comparison is glaring. Plus, Bernie lingers in the background dripping of corruption. If they want to dress Obama in 'Chicago Style Politics', then Giuliani smells of big city corruption himself. (And I was born and raised in NYC. No escaping the dirty truth.)

Stepping back a sec from McCain's troubles - this analysis of yours illustrates what a brilliant choice Obama made with Biden. One house, one wife, Obama in '08.

[saltpoint]

44. You've got Giuliani nailed. This guy had a commanding lead in

national polling for the entire calendar year preceding the Iowa caucuses and by late fall realized that he'd lose both Iowa and New Hampshire, so he withdraws to Florida and eventually gets smashed there as well.

Arguably the worst-run presidential primary campaign ever, and even worse factoring in the early wide lead.

The GOP convention is more or less on Labor Day forward. It seems like the least best time to hold a national political convention. Maybe Giuliani was the only guy they could find to speak!

[eleny]

52. Giuliani is one of those guys who opens the fridge door for a midnight snack and gives a speech

[a la izquierda]

93. ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I almost choked on my granola bar!

[saltpoint]

112. I love that line.

That's exactly the image the explains Giuliani's self-importance.

[JerseygirlCT]

59. I also get the definite sense that McCain is led by

his advisors to a great extent - especially the Rovians.

[pscot]

35. Great post

Easily beats out the Sunday pundits. Smarter, funnier and vastly more informative.

[bpcmxr]

37. Bravo!

Extremely well-written! :)

[saltpoint]

38. Thank you, bpcmxr, and dammit, I LOVE your sig line quotation!

[Blue-Jay]

40. Fred Thompson would be fun.

[a la izquierda]

94. Oh my GOD!!!!!!!!! ACK!

there must have been something funny in my soup.:rofl:
i'm frickin' dying!

[blogslut]

42. Huckabee got 38% of the vote in the Texas repub primary

That was AFTER McCain became presumptive nominee, I think. Pretty close to the time maybe. It would be wiser for McSame to put the Huckster on the ticket.

I'm tellin' ya. Texas is swinging like a juicy berry on a low branch. Nobody believes me.

[eleny]

43. Anyone else in Texas to select?

[bmbmd]

218. Nobody talks about Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

Seems like a natural to me. She is generally adored in Texas and the southwest.

[saltpoint]

46. I believe you.

Texas is red but there's signs of serious trouble for the Republicans there this cycle.

I think you're right. Huckabee did very well against McCain in primaries after it was clear McCain was the nominee.

[blogslut]

48. Two million, eight hundred and seventy thousand Democrats in 2008 primaries...

...versus 870,000 in 2004.

I say that's gotta be some scary shit for TX repubs.

[saltpoint]

49. I didn't know those numbers, and so I agree with you more than

before now.

Molly Ivins wrote that she was disappointed when they took the star off the top of the Statehouse some years back. She said she held out hope, as long as the star was up there, that it might attract a few Wise Men. No such luck to date, was her assessment.

So maybe this will be the year the Pukes get routed in the Lone Star State.

[eleny]

54. And now that the VP choice has been made I can imagine the motivation

The registrations and volunteer numbers are likely to go up.

[AnneD]

113. Houston is looking very blue....

and both of my red neck brothers are voting Obama-already made up their minds and everything. Obama would have to be caught in bed with a young woman for them to change their minds. Hearkens back to the young woman, dead boy level of scandal.

[PatSeg]

81. Love the picture

They look super heroes!

[yardwork]

45. I agree that Mitt is out and that is very bad news for McCeited.

I think that Mitt lost his chance when somebody asked McCeited how many houses he owns. Now that Obama has chosen Biden, the Republicans simply can't run a ticket that owns something like two dozen houses between them. Even McCaint's team knows that.

Mitt was the choice of bushco, and since they can't get him on the ticket, I predict that they will throw in the towel and let McCeited drown in his own incompetence. They won't steal the election unless there's something in it for them.

Can bushco salvage this ticket? I doubt it.

[LiberalLovinLug]

213. The Bushies have a lot to gain

I'm sure they will let Rove off his chain to terrorize the neighborhood as often as they can in order for that "permanent Republican majority" to be realized.

If McSame wins, the Bushes, the Cheneys, and all their neo-con friends continue to rake in the taxpayer profits from oil, arms, and reconstruction holdings for at least the next four years. And their profits could be astronomical considering all the times McSame has declared that their will be even MORE wars....(my friends)

Also there's the little thing called a Presidential pardon. If, gawd forbid, McSame wins and there is any post-executive privilege charges brought down against the present criminals-in-chief, they know their old grey ringer in the WH will do his duty and set them free.

[RedLetterRev]

217. Or unless they just cash-out what they've got and withdraw

to Paraguay and Dubai where they've already got footholds, land and huge bank accounts. They've stolen and stashed enough where they can say fuckit and just go. There's really nothing left here but empty shells. They've taken the jobs, the money, the technology, everything that's worthwhile offshore. There's nothing for them to stay here for a permanent majority for, unless they get their peckers hard by ruling over religious nutjobs, which I really doubt they do. No money in it and the remaining 75% of us would as leif slit the throats of the corporate raiders and nutjobs alike for wrecking our nation, environment, and Constitution.

I expect they'll cash out, crash what's left of our economy, leave us holding the bag, and withdraw offshore just out of hand's reach. That's what they've been preparing for over the last decade.

[hisownpetard]

47. OC: I would consider your OP to be the ultimate analysis of Repug possible VP choices were it not

for the obvious, startling and, quite frankly, inexplicable omission of one of the main contenders,
the most intelligent, experienced ass-kicking Republican ever:






Chuck Norris.







Seriously. I mean, how could you?

[saltpoint]

51. Norris! The badass Puke Avenger!

I thought after the Iowa caucuses that it might come down to a Huck and Chuck ticket.

Either alone is a nightmare. Together.... good god.


:thumbsup: :hi:

[CrispyQ]

123. Huck & Chuck!

OMG! That sounds like what I do after too much tequila!

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

137. LOL!

[Egnever]

55. Quite the freak show list you got there

I like your analysis. K&R

[seasat]

56. Condi has refused to endorse either candidate.

Every time they've asked her about it, she's refused to say that she supports John McCain despite being a Repub in the Bush administration. I think she's out. What about General Petraeus? I'm still holding out on my dark horse pick of Howdy-Doody Putnam.

[saltpoint]

61. Maybe Adam Putnam has a chance.

He is a guy with a future in GOP politics. He strikes me as someone who lives for the game of Capitol Hill insider stuff.

[seasat]

75. In all seriousness, someone like him would be a smart choice.

Not saying that they'll make a smart choice but it'd help McCain to choose a younger lower rank party member who appeals to their base. It'd be like the Obama/Biden ticket in reverse. It'd help McCain with some of the criticism on his age by having a younger running mate. He could point to his VP as the person that keeps him in touch with a younger generation. Someone like Putnam is appealing to both corporate and fundamentalist conservatives. If McCain's health failed during the first term he'd have a healthy younger VP to run for the Repubs. Putnam is mostly unknown outside of political wonk circles so they get the whole media attention of surprise at the pick and digging up background on him. He's also not associated with Bush/Cheney in the media and would provide McCain with more distance from them. He also hasn't been around long enough for any shady dealings to become public (a problem for most Repubs).

However, McCain is probably going to choose Romney or someone more conventional. The Repubs are more protective of their seniority system than Democrats and there are too many power brokers behinds some of the choices that you listed for McCain to pass over them.

[rucognizant]

105. Adam Putz has certainly caught my eye!

ANd I have a friend whoha retired to his district.\He may not have a shady past at his age, but if he were VP I'm sure he could rally really well and develope some!!

[LibraLiz1973]

60. They could both ride their little rascals to campaign events

And the entire campaign could be sponsored by Viagra.

:puke:

[MasonJar]

63. You left out the girl wonder...Condi Rice.

[saltpoint]

65. Condi "I'm A Russian expert" Rice.

McCain would be throwing caution to the wind with a pick like Rice but at this point in the game, he has little to lose.

It could happen.

[babylonsister]

68. No he didn't; O C got just about all of 'em! Here:

Condi Rice, in a more mature nation, would never have advanced to anywhere NEAR the jobs she's held in the Bush administration. Certainly no Democrat would hire her. I think she'd be perfect as a done-pretty-good-for-herself piano teacher in Louisville. As a public servant, she has been an inarguable disaster. I imagine foreign leaders wonder if she is Dubya's uh, intimate companion. There's almost no evidence at all that she actually understands the nature of either international security or diplomatic issues. For a woman alleged to be gifted and intelligent, the question remains why she's hanging around with thugs, fixers, and morons like the Bush family. McCain could choose her, but she brings only negatives, of varying intensities, to the ticket, and every hour of the campaign between Minneapolis and the election would be a vivid reminder of the GOP's deceit and incompetence in matters of war and foreign policy.

[opihimoimoi]

66. Out of sheer desperation...could Lewis Black be the nom???That would be Rich

[saltpoint]

69. Lewis Black the comedian?

I somehow imagined him to be a Democrat.

I think he's hilarious, in any case.

[opihimoimoi]

72. The Obama Crew should get him to open some of their appearances

He would be the BOMB

[saltpoint]

73. He is terrific.

[Faryn Balyncd]

67. How about an Armageddon ticket of McCain/John Hagee?

[MichDem10]

70. BWAAAHAAAA!

[hvn_nbr_2]

74. I think they'll pick John Tyler. Campaign slogan: Crash-a-plane and Tyler too! nt

[saltpoint]

110. I was shocked -- SHOCKED -- to learn that there is a biography -- a full-length

book on John Tyler. For some reason I always thought the lesser prez profiles wouldn't have biographies, but I'm dead wrong. Tyler has at least one. Frankln Pierce has at least 3. I suppose Dubya will have more than both of them combined.

I hope Gore Vidal lives long enough to do a bio on Dubya. I'd buy a copy of that, no matter what.

Tyler's running mate, William Henry Harrison, might actually be a better candidate for president than McCain. And Harrison's dead.

[HubertHeaver]

220. Given McCain's health and age, he could be a serious threat to

William Henry Harrison's administration longevity record.

[Faryn Balyncd]

77. Strom Thurmond?

[LuckyLib]

79. You nailed Pawlenty. He's the squeaky clean plaid-shirt Christian

who has led the suburban republicans in Minnesota to think they actually have some power. What a twit!

[SeattleGirl]

80. I wish McSame would pick LIEberman.

Between the two of them, they'd put the Pukes in a coma, from which they wouldn't awaken until after the election.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

84. It's fingernails-on-the-blackboard listening to either of them.

(Is it possible Lie-berman cost Gore the election? The vote (at least as reported after Puke cheating) was extremely close.)

[PatSeg]

82. Great rundown

of some far from great choices. I can picture a lot of hand wringing and swearing going on in the McCain campaign. It sucks being McCain.

[lonestarnot]

83. It will be that old bag from tx, whatshername. Kay Bailey Hutchinon.

:puke:

[saltpoint]

169. You picked the right emoticon for "that old bag from Texas," IMO.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :hi:

[LonelyLRLiberal]

85. Great post - BTW Huckster is a Baptist.

On Condi - McCain could pick her in a transparent attempt to hit both the "woman" and "African-American" categories, and they don't mind misrepresenting their candidates' competency and qualifications. She's ugly and unmarried, which might make her okay with the fundies - after all, not her fault she could not take the traditional fundie role of obedient wife and helpmate.

[saltpoint]

120. Yep. As pathetic as she certainly is, Condoleezza Rice is as

viable at this point for McCain as anyone else.

Which doesn't say much for McCain or for his position.

I'm unable to offer any objective assessment of Dr. Rice's political career. I think she's as bad as it gets. She reminds me quite a bit of the floozy women of certain tavern circles who made it a point to hang out with mobsters during Prohibition.

Also I really cannot ever forgive her for abandoning Brahms for Bush. She advanced in music to the point of the high repertoire, and then abandoned it for a thirst for power. She's a cold war-era scholar in a ost-cold war world.

She shoulda stuck with the music.

[ForeignSpectator]

86. LOL at the jindal comment! Good post! n/t

[lamp_shade]

87. Thanks "Old". Know what I really like about you?

Besides writing really thought-provoking essays that is... I like that you remain with your posts and participate in the dialogue, answer people's questions, make further comments, and a thank you where appropriate. So many posters just start a thread and then go to bed or something. You're appreciated.

[saltpoint]

111. lamp_shade, you are offering

kind remakrs. Actually, I did sort of come-and-go on this thread. We went out for a few errands, we hit the grocery store, we torched the local Republican headquarters, ran down a few lobbyists, then came one home.

What I regret is we went to the grocery store before we torched the GOP headquarters and ran down the lobbyists. The popsicles all melted. Next time, damn it, we'll make the grocery the LAST stop.


:hi: :dem:

[steve2470]

190. haha ! nt

[Mira]

88. kIcked ! A thoughtful essay with lots of great observations. I was very interested to ponder them

[Waiting For Everyman]

92. I wonder about Alan Keyes, even though he "quit" the Rep party

or Ted Olsen, or even Ashcroft? Gingrich wouldn't shock me either, or Dick Armey, or Kay Bailey Hutchinson. McCain would prolly choose Gramm, if he could get away with it.

[a la izquierda]

95. Seriously, OC, this was one of the funniest reads in awhile.

Jindal the exorcist? Rudy doodying his drawers? Corroded anvils on the head?

Seriously, I almost wet my pants on many occasions. Kudos!

[Maestro]

97. One of the longest posts I have read

and well worth it! Love the humor interspersed with the hard, cold facts!

[bleever]

98. Very well done.

At this point, even Senor Wences could make the list, given how god-awful weak it is.

:thumbsup:

[asdjrocky]

99. Nicely done OC.

I'm committing it to memory so I can sound very smart. K&R!

[saltpoint]

107. Hi, rocky. I'm trying not to enjoy McCain's limitations too much,

but it's hard!

He really is faced with a slew of lousy choices for his veep.

But of course we knew that already!


:hi:

[anitar1]

102. OC, Thanks for this great post. I enjoyed every line and had rare

laughs while reading it. Such good descriptions. Btw, I think the most rabid fundies would connect Mitt with the polygamists in Texas. No one could convince them that Mitt should be President, if McCain meets his maker while in office. They are deeply suspicious of Mormons. The very thought of it would scare them to death. edit spelling

[saltpoint]

118. Hi, anitar1. It seems as if you're right -- Romney must give pause to

a lot of the fundie base. He's a super-rich Mormon who is FOR liberal positions when he's in Massachusetts but AGAINST them when he suddently wants fundie support.

Hmmmm. Sounds like a potential problem for Romney. He does seem to appeal to the Big Corporation part of the Republican base, but I'm not sure there's enough of them to tilt the elecition toward McCain. They have power and punch, but this year the tide is flowing against them.

If McCain were to be elected but then die in office, it would mean that the fundie base would have a Mormon of fluid ideology in the White House.

I agree with you -- this counts heavily against Romney.

[FogerRox]

103. VIGOR. Biden is a white haired white guy who is vigorous, very unlike McCain.

I could see DAnforth, I hadnt thought about him yet.

[saltpoint]

116. That's one of Biden's great strengths -- his vigor. Joe was always a

"back east liberal" where I grew up, but the Democratic Party county people who first put me to task stuffing envelopes when I was a wee lad eventually turned my cousins' and my attention to more national figures as well.

Along came 1972 and someone named Biden from Delaware.

A "back east liberal."

Over the period of decades between say, th late 60s and 70s and now, an awful lot of those "back east liberals" have been among my favorite people. Biden certainly. The Kennedys. John Kerry. Bella Abzug. Claiborne Pell (I'll smack the living piss out anybody who defames Claiborne Pell.) And on and on.

That vigor of Joe Biden's is a huge plus for our side. McCain is looking and sounding nasty and cranky -- and tired.

Should he pick someone like Fred Thompson, even Republicans will stay home.

[McCamy Taylor]

104. Good analysis of McCain's problem. He was counting on Hillary to mobilize the GOP base.

Biden will bore the GOP base. They will stay home in droves now---or give Bob Barr a protest vote. Seems to me that McCain is going to have to think seriously about the Hucksters---which means that the Little Rock police better solve the mysterious murder (which might be a contract killing) of Gwatney, the Democratic Party chair and political foe of Huckabee before the GOP convention.

McCain can also try Kay Bailey Hutchinson to see if he can get some disgruntled women to take the place of the GOP base. However, to keep the women interested that means promising to nominate Roe v. Wade supporting SCOTUS Justices, which would mean even more of the base will stay home. When abortion finally becomes a major issue this fall, which it will, I expect the base is going to start shitting bricks---unless McCain has an anti-choice VP. In that case, when McCain swears that he will protect Roe v. Wade, the GOP base will assume he is lying to get elected. However, if he has selected a pro-choice VP like Hutchinson to court the ladies and then lies about Roe v.Wade, the base will assume that he is a baby killer.

[saltpoint]

109. Hi, McCamy. You mention Kay Bailey. I think her stock may

have gone up in the last few days, and for the reasons you indicate.

Good call. I'm not sure she was as high on the list this time last week, but I think you are right that she might be this week.

Also I think you are exactly right on how important the pro-Choice/pro-Life hinge might be, and McCain's gamble in choosing a pro-Choice nominee is correspondent to his losing ___% of the fundie base.

I did not know Gwatney at all, and had actually almost no knowledge of him, but grieve his loss. People are allowed to work in politics if they choose in our country and to be punished in such a brutal ambush like that is hard to take. This coming year we may learn more of the details.

[L. Coyote]

106. If Mitt Romney is selling most of his houses this week, we'll know!

:rofl:

[RedLetterRev]

108. Here's an OP that's living proof that the truth can be

excruciatingly funny. Bravo, Old Crusoe.

That ripping sound we've heard all weekend is the sound of the McKook campaign shitting up their backs.

[Monk06]

115. Whatever the choice it won't be Mc Cain making it. As JersyGirl said it's

Rove will make the choice then tell his
protege Steve Schmidt who will then wake
Mc Cain from his nap and break the news
to him.

[K Gardner]

117. Just WOW. Proud to read and re-read this and be the 50th rec ! You're

one of the few I still peep in to read, OC.. and what a beauty you have here ! Well done, my friend :-) :applause: :hi:

[saltpoint]

121. K Gardner, I haven't seen much of you on DU these past weeks,

which is my loss.

Howdy, dammit. I hope your summer's going well and that your fall looks good.

Get the blue balloons preordered for an early evening in November, too. I think we'll all have use of them.


:hi: :dem:

[depakid]

119. My guess is Ridge or possibly Hutchenson

Just my opinion, but my guess is that fundies are no more likely to abandon McCain over Ridge than progressives appear to over Biden's pro-war vote and anti-consumer, financial deregulation stances.

Moreover, if Ridge can deliver Pennsylvania- the race will be over very early in the evening.

[Vinnie From Indy]

122. How about EVAN BAYH?

A good many of us Dmeocrats in Indiana have always considered him to be the lesser of our two Republican senators. :)

[NBachers]

124. Colin Powell would be the cherry on top

I've heard he's not interested, but he still commands "gravitas" with those who don't know what a sell-out house-boy he became. I know we could bring up the missile-launcher cartoons and such, but I think he's still respected by many people.

But are the neanderthals going to vote for an African American?

Chuck Norris is the one that got a big laugh out of me, though.

Excellent analysis. I can sense the bone-sweat of desperation from here. Every single choice they have boxes them into a corner.

[saltpoint]

130. Powell does command respect for a lot of people, but there is

talk of his endorsing Barack Obama.

That would likely be a disqualifying factor in McCain's consideration of Powell as his veep nom. But it would be ok for us, because the stronger the pick for McCain from McCain's point of view, the less likely that person is to accept McCain's offer or, is someone so repellent to the fundie nutbags that he or she has no chance to help McCain.

It's another fine mess the Pukes have got themselves into!

[CrispyQ]

125. Outstanding summary of their field of contestants!

Pretty big field there & not a blue ribbon one in the bunch!

Thanks for the well thought out post & the many yucks!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[beac]

129. Love it! It's the GOP-VP hokey-pokey.

"You put your lame choice in, you pull your lame choice out..."

[jwirr]

132. Franklin Graham s/of Billy Graham? Didn't know he was in to politics.

[saltpoint]

144. So far he isn't, at least not all that much. In the early weeks after 9/11

he did pop out of his hole to denounce Islam as a religion of hatred and terror, or some such racist phrasing.

His father, the "legendary" Billy Graham, seemed to like to hobnob with presidents generally and with Republican presidents especially.

I'm not a fan of the Graham family myself. I'm aware that some are, and I try to tread lightly on the old man, but junior is cut from a more severe cloth. There are more thorns than roses to Franklin Graham.

I've been pushig his name out there for the Puke lurkers to pick up on and begin circulating. The faster the GOP cuts these people off, the better all of us will be, and the problem the GOP faces generally and McCain specifically, is that he can't win without them.

They want a red meat prayers-in-the-schools / abstinence-only / burn the lesbians kind of nominee. They aren't going to have one in Ridge or Romney or Danforth or several others, and McCain can't win with someone they'd affirm.

Of the hyper-Protestant, head-up-the-ass fundie nutbag options, Pawlenty's too dull and Huckabee's too psychotic.

So I inserted Franklin Graham's name into the list of options for McCain, because he really has no other choice but to appease the very demographic base that is destroying his own party.

If he risks Pawlenty, the entire electorate will nod off.

If he risks a pro-choicer, the fundie base stays home.

I think from a demographic / who's actually voting point of view, McCain is down to Sam Brownback, Cantor, or, for the Hail Mary/ go-for-broke option, Franklin Graham.

[jwirr]

147. I whole heartedly agree with you assessment of Franklin and I also

am not a fan of the Graham family - $2 million dollar homes for a so called man of God is not how I see things. Well, I hope they are twisting in the wind about their choices - they deserve to face more dilemmas that this.

[WheelWalker]

133. They really do have a fundamental problem, don't they.

[saltpoint]

145. Boy, do they ever.

Think of a win in November by Obama/Biden, and then imagine the GOP having to resort itself as a national political entity.

Any effort to support the Democratic ticket in 2008 is not only a plus for Barack Obama, but it's also support for many down-ballot Dems as well, and a win by Democrats here, especially a big one to include more seats in the 111th Congress, forces the Republicans to realign.

There's gonna be blood on the floor if the fundies are to blame for McCain's loss. And it's shaping up that way as we speak.

[Tutonic]

138. Steven Segal. He could kick some ass when lobbyists got out of line

and he's not afraid to beat up on the ladies. McCain/Segal 08 Bwahhh!

[Faryn Balyncd]

195. Bugsy Segal?

[TankLV]

139. I haven't even finished reading it yet, and I'm on the floor already...

move over nancy greggs - you don't come even close to this persons mastery of the language!!!

best piece I've read in a LONG time...!!!

[saltpoint]

148. Tank, I'm not hear to pick a fight, but you are hearing this from

the horse's mouth: I hold Ms. Greggs at the top of the mountain.

She's not only wonderful for DU, but she is WELL above the caliber of any commentator I can find in the political media.

If the networks had a lick of sense, they'd beg her on their goddam knees to offer commentary for the 24/7 cable news programs.

I'm ashamed of them that they haven't, in fact.

Frank Rich is awfully good at writing in the liminal zone where politics and culture intersect. I think NanceGreggs writes in that same zone, with extraordinary skill, and with dazzling frequency. Every pitch she delivers plateward is a Sunday fastball. She's demoralized an entire generation of Republicans lurking on this site.

I appreciate the compliment, but IMO it's Ms. Greggs who sets the pace around this joint.

[whistle]

140. Just when was Mitt Romney selected as McCain's Veep?

:shrug: Does that mean McCain has to back off Romney?

[saltpoint]

150. Hi, whistle. I don't think there was any official announcement, but some

sources did report that the McCain team had chosen Romney.

It could have been a bluff for all I know.

But if the report was accurate, I think Obama's deft choice of Biden throws the Romney decision into question.

[happygoluckytoyou]

141. McCain...Thompson... CERTAIN TO CAPTURE the MILF VOTE

[RichardRay]

142. Zugzwang

McCain would love to not have to select a VP running mate. If he could just stand off and take shots and the Obama/Biden ticket without having to add anyone to his own he'd be in better shape.

Unfortunately (for him) he is subject to 'the compulsion to move'.

Definition of Zugzwang

[saltpoint]

146. I appreciate your adding the link for that term. I was unfamiliar with

it.

Agree. The compulsion to move traps McCain in a way he likely didn't plan for or even think about during the primaries.

He seems to be running a Warren Harding era Republican campaign while Obama's agile dolphin swims blue rings around him.

[djp2]

149. Rice is a woman

and possibly will pick up the some of the Clinton vote, and show the world Repugs are hip enough to run a female as VP, not that she has anything worthwhile to offer..

[No Elephants]

202. With Rice or Crist, they may lose their neo theos over gay rumors.

[w4rma]

151. It's likely going to be Cantor. That possibility may be why Obama didn't pick Kaine. (nt)

[D23MIURG23]

154. K&R

[Narkos]

155. Hilarious and spot on analysis! Kick n/t

[Scurrilous]

156. K & R

:thumbsup:

[concreteblue]

157. Really!?

"Condi Rice, in a more mature nation, would never have
advanced to anywhere NEAR the jobs she's held in the Bush
administration. Certainly no Democrat would hire her. I think
she'd be perfect as a done-pretty-good-for-herself piano
teacher in Louisville."
What have you got against Louisville?

[saltpoint]

159. Nothing. I kind of like it, actually.

Just saying that Condi's in way over her head and should never have fallen in with the Bush folks.

Louisville here is interchangeable with Cincinnati or Buffalo or Apache Junction.

[AmericanUnity]

158. FUNNY AND WELL WRITTEN !!

[Oldtimeralso]

163. Great Post OC, but did I just hear some whispers in the McLame camp

Where is Dan Quayle?

[saltpoint]

167. LOL! -- and I hope I don't have to take that laugh back. Because

Quayle is actually acceptable to the fundies, and McCain's veep options are few.

This could get scary!

[RNdaSilva]

182. He can't spell McCain.

[Oldtimeralso]

183. But he can spell his brother's name McAbel

[MurrayDelph]

170. One other strike against Romney

when the chickenhawk was asked to defend all of his service-age sons not enlisting (when he thought the war was so noble a cause), he came up with the bullshit answer of his sons "serving America by helping me get elected."

Compare that against Beau Biden, who is about to be deployed to Iraq (again).

[SoCalDem]

172. McCain's perfect running-mate

[saltpoint]

174. Zell. Zell used to be one of the blue team, some years ago now.

Then the Bush folks got to him and he decided to do the GOP / FOX News thing.

It brought him scorn and derision, richly earned IMO, from progressives and won him damn few friends on the other side.

He's a man without a meaningful past, having traded it for a worthless future.

McCain could actually pick Zell and have fewer difficulties with him than he'd have with most of the others on his options list.

[Hekate]

173. This is a good read. Information, wit, and humor all in one! Thanks. nt

[liberalhistorian]

175. A major problem, though, would be if

he chose Colin Powell. I've read recently on HuffPost and a couple other places that he's being seriously considered. If so, that would be a major problem for us given his very widespread appeal.

If he IS the pick, however, we can hammer home his misgivings about the "proof" he was asked to relate regarding the "justifications" for invading Iraq, yet how he went ahead with it anyway even after calling it "bullshit." His namby-pambiness, practically admitted in his book last year, may very well come back to haunt him if the Dems aren't too afraid to take him on the way they should.

[saltpoint]

176. Good point on Powell -- we can make him do a little explaining on

that U.N. speech.

A good interviewer would ask him if he delivered that address at the behest of Dick Cheney and Cheney's collateral interests or if he, Powell, actually believed there were mobile weapons units in and around Baghdad / western Iraq.


My hunch sounds like the same as your hunch and we could put his feet to the flames on that one.

There is the talk that he's under consideration by McCain, but talk also that he will endorse Obama.

I hope it's the latter, of the two choices. It would go a long way toward cooking McCain for good.

[liberalhistorian]

211. Oh, I hadn't heard the talk that he was

considering endorsing Obama. That would, indeed, be very interesting and be a nail in McCain's coffin. I have been reading articles by some conservative African-Americans discussing their quandary over wanting to see the first African-American president in their lifetime and wanting to endorse Obama versus disagreeing with many of his positions.

[last_texas_dem]

177. Excellent analysis, Old Crusoe

You masterfully laid out the pathetic options available to McCain at this point. I cracked up and felt disgusted simultaneously! haha

[Ninga]

179. Rare form equates rare food for thought and fabulous analysis. I don't want to be

premature about this but gee wiz, the McSame camp is in a pickle and it ain't pretty.

Good job dear OC, and I really enjoyed reading it.


More, please, I beg you!!! :loveya:


:beer: :beer: :beer:

[blayne]

180. Little Lindsay Graham is out. "I'm sorry, Senator, you have to be This Tall to ride this ride."

I'm sorry, Senator, you have to be able to be considered remotely straight to ride this ride. Um...this ride meaning the GOP. Eww...gross!

[RNdaSilva]

181. While we're scraping the bottom of the frying pan,

for those little nuggets to enrich our gravy, has Donald H. Rumsfeld been vetted? Nah, unless there's been a reconciliation not likely to happen. Rumsfeld might even be supporting Obama.

Was wondering if they're going to be passing out uppers for attendees of the Republication National Convention? Else, snoring, as opposed to wild applause, might be rocking the joint. For those Republicans fortunate enough to be staying home there's always the opening of NFL 2008.

Imagine this: Nielsen ratings for the DNC as opposed to the RNC. Could be a huge bump in the polls for the Dems. Don't take that much stock in the polls though...it's gonna be an electoral landslide of monumental proportions.

McCain's team is scraping the bottom of the frying pan. But, no nuggets.

How 'bout Sean Hannity? Certainly no nugget, but...

[JeffR]

184. Boy, am I late to this party.

So: Kick!

[saltpoint]

206. Hey there. Plenty of cold beer left. And help yourself to the sandwiches

too.


:hi:

[Sugarcoated]

185. How about Tancredo?

Is he anti-choice?

[loudsue]

186. Elizabeth Dole.

She'd help him, so I hope he doesn't choose her.

[saltpoint]

207. Liddy has tried for the presidency but didn't survive the GOP

primaries. They more or less installed her in North Carolina as a "Senator," but her heart never seems to be in her work there.

She presided as Chair over the committee responsible for raising money and making connections for GOP Senate candidates in 2006, but she/they couldn't hold a number of chairs and with the election of Jim Webb in Virginia, she's seen as having lost the Senate for the GOP. I imagine they aren't please with that outcome much.

Also she is locked in an increasingly tight Senate race in North Carolina.

Which I hope she loses by a wide margin.

[pnorman]

187. 'Some fundies think Huckabee is "too liberal,"'

I did a Google search one time, about how Huckabee stands on unions. I was somewhat surprised at the results. Here's one hostile hit from an avowedly conservative/fundie site:

Huckabee: unions are the future
Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee's populist campaign continues to stray from conservative, and even Republican ideology with his support of labor unions. This sort of apostasy doesn't go over will with the base.

From Change to Win (a union political website) Huckabee says:

"The real fact is, unions are going to take a more prominent role in the future for one simple reason: A lot of American workers are finding that their wages continue to get strapped lower and lower while CEO salaries are higher and higher.

And the reality is that when you have the average CEO salary 500 times the average worker, and you have the hedge fund manager making 2,200 times that of the average worker, you're going to create a level of discontent that's going to create a huge appetite for unions.

So unions are the natural result of workers finally saying, "Look, I can't go from a $70,000 year job to a $15,000 a year job and feed my family of four." That's when unions are going to come back in roaring form."
*
*
*

http://coloradoconservativeproject.blogspot.com/2007/10/huckabee-unions-are-future.html

pnorman

[Norrin Radd]

189. Do they have any more former POWs?

Double get out of jail free card.

I still think it'll be Romney. If the fundies are dumb enough to fall for w, then they are dumb enough to be convinced that they no longer have a problem with a Mormon.

[deacon]

191. Should be an easy choice. Dick Cheney. n/t

[mythyc]

192. GREAT post OC. I always learn a lot when I read your commentaries.

how you been? I've been awol lately, lurking here and there but consumed with moving (back to SF woohoo!), my brother's wedding (i was best man--lots of work but so worthwhile), and redoing my class from scratch. I'm doing a Plato's cave theme, with a focus on technology media and propaganda; using neil postman, marshall mcluhan, bill moyer's 'consuming images' documentary, delillo's white noise, brave new world revisited, and many more spicy plates... lots of work but having the time of my life: I can't wait to teach this class!

oh yeah, this is a rethug veepstakes thread.... as you were :patriot:

whichever way you cut it they're toast. you've expertly summed up why Biden is such a brilliant strategic move. can't wait to see him whip whoeveritis's ass. karma's a bitch and they know it's closing in on them like the leviathan on Ahab....

[saltpoint]

205. McCain as Capt. Ahab is apt, and the crew under his command should

be getting increasingly nervous about the outcome of th voyage.

Let's have us a white whale November.

I'm more than a little jealous of the students who will have the pleasure and challenge of your course with the cave theme, and featuring some of the best writers there is on the theme of message and communication and the perception of knowledge. Give 'em hell.

And congratulations on the move to the West. You've picked one of the bluest towns we've got and one of the most European, too. Maybe stop in to the Sukothai restaurant for Thai cuisine at Irving & 9th when you get the boxes unpacked. Tasty stuff with generous portions.

[bklyncowgirl]

193. Interesting post. I hadn't heard Brownback & Cantor named before but it makes sense.

The big challenge that John McMansion has in front of him is picking someone who both the Big Jesus and the Big Money wing of the GOP feel good about--then of course you have the neocons but most likely they're pretty happy with McCain himself and can live with whoever he picks.

Cantor, indeed, makes the most sense to me but then again, I'm not a Republican.

[madrchsod]

194. excellent post.......

i think the republicans are waiting for 2012. they`ll have 4 years to weed the party of the dead plants.

[9119495]

197. Kay Bailey Hutchenson?

Seems obvious to me. Or do I just not know enough dirt on her?

[saltpoint]

208. She might help from the Republican vantage point, although most of

us would be puking in the streets.

I think Kay Bailey is honing in on the governor's race in Texas. My thought is she wants that job badly. Real, real badly.

If she says to the Party, 'Hey, I want to be the Governor ot Texas. You install me in that job and I'll take this autumn off to run on the ticket with Loser McCain,' then it could happen.

It seems as if those 2 don't have much natural chemistry, though.

McCain's veep search may be Wilfred Brimley after all.

[9119495]

212. I agree. I'd hate her...

but she represents a chance for him to pick up those disaffected Hillary supporters--you know, the ones that apparently don't understand what is in their best interests on pretty much every political issue of the day?

She seems clean--as clean as any other republican. She is from one of their nuttiest states, but also a state with mobilized youth/hispanic popluations that might bring it close enough for Obama to make McCain spend money there.

[davidpdx]

198. Very colorful anaylsis

I still think he's going to pick Mittens or maybe Romney.

[JPZenger]

201. k and r. informative and entertaining. nt

[MuseRider]

209. Brownback?

Oh God forbid. Perhaps I should shoot myself if he becomes the VP because when he makes his more successful run in 8 years for POTUS I will be too old to lift the gun. The thought gives me horrors that my nightmares have never even begun to challenge.

Bone up on the Bible now, there will be questions.

Great OP Old Crusoe, as always. :hi:

[saltpoint]

210. I'm with you in wishing Sam never gets anywhere near the White House

but he does offer McCain a sort of liaison to the nutbag base.

At this point in the ballgame, I have the feeling that McCain's internal polling is indicating that he needs to tilt toward the fundies or he loses just about every swing state on the map.

The mainstream media suggest a close race, but it shor don't feel like that to me much.

Howdy right back! :hi:

[dpbrown]

216. The Republican National Convention is in Saint Paul, Minnesota, not Minneapolis

The Republican National Convention of 1892 was held in Minneapolis.

They nominated Benjamin Harrison. He didn't attend the convention.

In the Presidential election of 1888, Harrison had received 100,000 fewer popular votes than Cleveland, but carried the Electoral College 233 to 168. That wouldn't happen again until 2000, when the Supreme Court awarded Florida's electoral votes to the man who lost the popular vote there, George Bush.

The Republican nomination of this tainted guy led to Grover Cleveland handing Harrison's ass to him in the general election, making Cleveland the only President to be elected to two non-consecutive terms.

I hope the taint of nominating a Republican in the place that nominated the popular-vote losing Harrison hangs over the Republicans this time as they nominate McCain to replace the popular-vote losing Poseur Prince.

[MiniMe]

221. I think that Pawlenty is out now for sure

He has apparently told several corporate big-wigs that they would have access to McCain through him as the convention host. The FEC is frowning on that. We know it has happened before, but usually the rethugs are a little more subtle about it. Buh Buy Tim.