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McCain would either be Gov. Sanford of SCarolina or Gov. Pawlenty of Minnesota. Huckabee could be a dark horse. Would make some sense, as would Sen. Martinez.
Clearly, it is too early for this to be taken seriously since the polls haven't even closed on Super Tuesday. I am taking the plunge anyway and I will list the three most likely running mates for the four leading candidates of the two parties.
Democrats
Hillary Clinton:
1. Tom Vilsack, former Governor of Iowa. Hillary did not perform to well in Iowa and Iowa is a swing state the Dems need to win the general. Vilsack could be very helpful there and he is moderate.
2. Evan Bayh, Senator from Indiana. Bayh has long been a Clinton ally and comes from the DLC wing of the party that loved Bill's triangulation. Indiana would still remain a long shot for Clinton.
3. Wes Clark, former NATO Commander. Clark brings a lot of credentials with him but I think he is a long shot at best. Look for him to be considered for a cabinet position should Clinton prevail.
Barack Obama
1. Chris Dodd , Senator from Connecticut. Dodd performed woefully in the Iowas caucases but the main criticism of Obama is that he lack experience. Dodd has tons of that and connections on the Hill. Dodd moved up with his performance in the FISA fight.
2. Jim Webb , Senator from Viriginia. Webb has a strong military background that would help bring balance to the ticket in that regard for Obama. Virginia is a battleground state this go round and Webb could help.
3. Bill Richardson , Governor of New Mexico. Richardson also has a hefty resume like Dodd and as an added bonus is Latino. That would help shore up Obama's perceived weakness with the Hispanic vote. On the liability side, would it be possible for a ticket with two minorities on it to win?
Republicans
John McCain
1. Tom Ridge , former Governor of Pennsylvania and Homeland Security Director. Ridge is close to McCain and has been an ally in his race all along. It doesn't hurt that he is from a big battleground state.
2. Mike Huckabee , Arkansas Governor. Huckabee has been helpful as of late in siphoning off votes that McCain's main rival, Mitt Romney would have gotten. Huckabee while thin on international background (McCain compensates for that) is very personable and would be a good running mate.
3. Rudy Guliani , Former Mayor of New York City. His quick endorsement of McCain might be rewarded. All bets are off though if McCain feels compelled to reach to the far right with an olive branch to unite the party. Tom Coburn anyone?
Mitt Romney
1. Mark Sanford , Governor of South Carolina. Solid conservative credentials and a governor to boot.
2. Mel Martinez Senator of Florida. Florida is a must win state. Add to the mix, if Obama is the nominee, a potential draw to Latino voters.
3. Kay Bailey Hutchison , Senator of Texas. Bold move of naming a female to the ticket. Would it be enough to woo women voters away from either Hillary or Obama?
Romney was the hardest to figure as there have been no rumors that I am aware of and he is fighting for his life right now so he probably has given it little if any thought. I don't think any of the four will choose their primary opponent unless it is Hillary asking Obama. Obama gains nothing by taking on Hillary. Romney and McCain will be too bitter to name each other.
So what do you you folks think?
McCain would either be Gov. Sanford of SCarolina or Gov. Pawlenty of Minnesota. Huckabee could be a dark horse. Would make some sense, as would Sen. Martinez.
Sanford would be interesting since the rumor mill often suggests Lyndsey Graham from South Carolina being tapped by McCain.
Conventional thinking would be that McCain taps someone seen as a solid conservative, perhaps on social issues. Graham would just piss off the base more.
Clarence Thomas?!?!?
McCain-Crist would be interesting.
So would Obama-Clark
Don't rule out Clinton-Wariner (former gov of Virginia)
I could see McCain going for somebody like Warren Rudman, or Bob Kerry. Solid pragmatic conservatives that aren't neocon. But I think a governor is more likely.
McCain would be crucified if he asked Bob Kerrey to be his running mate. Kerrey is a Democrat.
Regarding Warner, he is running for Senate and is probably going to win that, since it is John Warner's (no relation) old seat, I don't think they would take away a potential Senate seat pick up to run him for Veep.
Obama/Clark would be intriguing.
You may as well remove Romney's name from the list and replace it with a cooked goose.
Forget Richardson getting the call from anyone. I just saw him on MSNBC and he has grown a goatee. No facial hair on presidential/veep candidates.
Forget Richardson getting the call from anyone. I just saw him on MSNBC and he has grown a goatee. No facial hair on presidential/veep candidates.Yeah, I saw that too. Is he courting the vato vote?
Whoops. Wrong Senator. I was thinking Chuck Hagel, and typed Bob.
Huckabee would appeal to the conservative side with his wanting to kill the IRS and bring in a fair tax and freeing up money.
Other than that, its prob a TICK early.
Giuliani might get a cabinet position but thats it.
Giuliani and McCain are too similar. Strong on security strong on securing the border, but economy wise and all that are very liberal.
MCCain needs an economic conservative to bridge the gap.
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