{"id":15624,"date":"2008-05-22T10:37:15","date_gmt":"2008-05-22T14:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/15624.html"},"modified":"2008-05-22T10:37:15","modified_gmt":"2008-05-22T14:37:15","slug":"mccain-to-meet-with-three-possible-running-mates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/mccain-to-meet-with-three-possible-running-mates\/","title":{"rendered":"McCain to meet with three possible running mates"},"content":{"rendered":"

The next big step in the general-election phase of the campaign is poised to get underway. The Obama campaign indicated this morning that it has begun the search<\/a> for a running mate, and Jim Johnson, a former top aide to John Kerry, will lead the process. John McCain, meanwhile, is going to have some possible picks over to one of his houses for a casual get-together<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Senator John McCain of Arizona is set to meet with at least three potential running mates at a gathering at his ranch this weekend in Arizona, suggesting that he is stepping up his search for a vice-presidential candidate as the Democratic contest heads toward a conclusion, according to Republicans familiar with Mr. McCain’s plans.<\/p>\n

Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and a onetime rival for the Republican nomination, have all accepted invitations to visit Mr. McCain at his ranch in Sedona, Republicans said.<\/p>\n

After a week of campaigning, Mr. McCain is heading home on Friday for three days without a public schedule. His campaign described this as a social weekend that would include 10 couples, and — as has been its policy — declined to discuss any aspect of the vice-presidential search.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The point, apparently, is to measure “personal chemistry” with those likely to make McCain’s shortlist.<\/p>\n

Controversial lobbyist-turned-strategist Charles Black told ABC News<\/a> that no one should read too much into the meeting, saying it has “nothing whatsoever to do with the vice presidential selection process,” adding that it would be “pretty awkward” given that Crist, Jindal, and Romney would presumably be in competition with one another, and yet, they’ll all be at the same social gathering together.<\/p>\n

Fair enough. It’s probably best to consider this the opening, getting-to-know-you phase of the VP-selection search. It’s hardly a stretch to think these three will be seriously considered, but the list almost certainly will include several others.
\n
\nThat said, Jonathan Martin does a solid rundown<\/a> on these three, and what they bring to the table.<\/p>\n

Jindal, for example, is extremely conservative and would immediately garner enthusiastic support from the GOP base. On the other hand, he’s just 36 years old: “His youth could offer a contrast with the 72-year-old McCain but it might also highlight the presidential nominee’s age, rather than assuage voters about it. And despite his depth of policy experience, he has no national security credentials. Given the threats that confront the nation — and McCain’s stated desire to find a vice-president who could quickly become commander-in-chief — Jindal may represent a risk.”<\/p>\n

Crist, meanwhile, is a great campaigner from one of the nation’s most important electoral states, and if Crist were on the GOP ticket, Dems probably wouldn’t even try too hard to win the state. Martin notes the odd downside:<\/p>\n

His populist streak, however, leads some in the party to be wary of Crist. Conservatives in Florida prefer his predecessor, Jeb Bush, and don’t view Crist as one of them. One problem is that Crist embraces what he calls a “live and let live” approach to cultural matters. He was once pro-choice and is now pro-life, though he displays little enthusiasm for the issue. He’s also single, something that makes him unique among a crop of vice-presidential prospects who are all married with children.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Romney, of course, became well known as a competitive presidential candidate, where his strengths and weaknesses became rather obvious. McCain and Romney clashed more than a few times during their competition, but Romney has since become an enthusiastic McCain cheerleader. (He really<\/i> wants to be the VP, but knows it’s unseemly to push too hard for the gig.)<\/p>\n

Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The next big step in the general-election phase of the campaign is poised to get underway. The Obama campaign indicated this morning that it has begun the search for a running mate, and Jim Johnson, a former top aide to John Kerry, will lead the process. John McCain, meanwhile, is going to have some possible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15624\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}