Republican VPs

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Who do you think should be John McCain's VP running mate at convention time?

The convention will be in Minneapolis-St. Paul in September, after the Olympics.

As bad as things are between him and Huckabee I'd and the fact that he doesn't seem like he'd get along well with either or the other two - I'm guessing none of the above.

He needs Michael Huckabee to energize the Baptists. He doesn't need Romney--he already has the Mormon vote. But, selecting Romney would turn the Baptists against him.

Although he has a long shot of becoming McCain's VP or becoming part of the Cabinet,
I'd say Ron Paul since he is a licensed physician.

I'm not a Ron Paul fanatic, mind you, but...

Picture McCain fainting during a Cabinet meeting.
Instead of shouting, "MEDIC!" someone would shout "Mr. Vice-President!"


To be more realistic though,
John McCain hasn't been energizing conservatives, despite his best efforts.

Ron Paul may run as a third-party candidate
and Mike Huckabee may be John McCain's
best chance of winning over skeptical conservatives.

No one, because McCain shouldn't be the Presidential candidate.

Ron Paul 2008!

I don't think Huckabee is that much of a standard conservative. Sure, he played his Religion up as much as possible, but he's weak on immigration, and has a history of bad pardons while governor of Arkansas.

This is an interesting election, and I think McCain will have to do something profound in order to win. He'll wait to see who the Democrat nominee is (that could be quite an entertaining fight).

Choices I think of: Joe Lieberman (It's not unheard of to have a dual party ticket. Kerry reportedly asked McCain in '04, and Lieberman has been heavily campaigning for McCain during the primaries)

Elizabeth Dole

my favorite pick: Colin Powell.

Powell would make a lot of sense. Whoever the Republican nominee is, they're going to have to distance themselves from Pres. Bush. (The country was pretty much fed up with the Clintons in 2000, which was a strike against Gore). McCain has never been particularly close to the President, but still maintains a strong national security policy (pro-surge, which seems to be a better policy than previous ones). Powell is similarly seen as not a Bush guy, even though he was secretary of state. He has made public statements critical of the President's policies, and feels as though he was manipulated leading up to the war. He would also be able to be an effective counter to the surge of popularity on Barack Obama (energetic, positive, black man). Plus, Powell could be a great answer to Obama's biggest weakness (assuming Obama gets the nomination) of inexperience. Powell was a general who ran a successful and popular campaign in Iraq, as well s Sec. of State.

Huckabee would be the most entertaining.

If the Baptists become any more energized, I will have to emigrate...I would love to see him persuade Condoleeza Rice: brilliant, extremely experienced in foreign policy and well-respected by foreign governments/allies, will endear McCain to alienated conservatives/Bushies, would make an extremely competent President should McCAIN falter and would give the Republican ticket some of the joy and passion of barrier-breaking that the Dems are having---Republicans need to break away from the Old White Guys image we have.Huckabee can be Secretary of Agriculture or something...

OK...surely you jest! They call the guy " DR. NO " in the Senate for his unrelenting obduracy. He's two steps away from the tin foil hat. If you could only see " Licensed Physicians" in their native habitat as I have done for 30 years, your faith in their god-like powers would die a horrible, albeit natural, DEATH... Shudder of revulsion...

I would pick Ron Paul if McCain were president, because he is not synonymous with a particular religious sect.

But I plan to vote for whoever the Democrat is.

Reality is catching up with the economy so whoever gets in will have a mess to clean up. I hope that it's one party gets the majority in Congress and the other gets the presidency. Then they wouldn't waste all their time putting the blame on one party because they'd both have to share the mess.

Joe Lieberman is dead on. He'll get McCain independents.

Lieberman said that he endorced McCain because he was the only one who asked for Lieberman's endorsement.

Lieberman might be a good choice if McCain is planning a centrist campaign. But that choice would alienate many who are challenging his conservative credentials, and it would de-motivate the party's base.

He might be counting on them regardless, it's not like they're going to vote for Clinton/Obama. They may pick McCain as the lesser of the two evils. It's a risky strategy, as they may just not bother voting at all.

The pick of Lieberman would be efective at attracting votes from the center/left side of the spectrum, voters that would be leaning Democrat in this election. The conservative base wouldn't lean Democrat under any circumstances, and if Clinton's the nominee, then they won't have to vote for McCain, they'll vote against Clinton.

Actually, there are a number of conservatives that have announced that they would rather vote for Hillary than John McCain. They believe that 4 years of a Democratic president and Congress would do so much damage to the US, that the country would turn Republican for 40 years after that.