John McCain's Dwindling Outside-the-Box V.P. Options
Yesterday, Barack Obama lost one of his better V.P. options when Jim Webb backed out of the running, apparently deciding that the rigorous vetting process and the intense scrutiny of a national campaign weren’t for him.
Around the same time, one of John McCain’s most intriguing options might also have removed herself – but not intentionally. That would be Carly Fiorina, whose nonchalant mentions of Viagra and birth control at a breakfast with reporters yesterday are reverberating in the blogosphere today, seemingly confirming the conventional wisdom that the ousted Hewlett Packard C.E.O. would simply be too risky an addition to the G.O.P.’s national ticket.
You can actually make a case that the bluntness she exhibited yesterday would actually help McCain and the G.O.P. – loosening up the party’s uptight image and simply drawing more attention to the ticket – but the conventional wisdom is probably still right: The circumstances of Fiorina’s departure from H.P. in 2005 alone would probably haunt her and McCain well into the fall if she were to join the ticket.
But if not Fiorina for McCain, then whom?
Obviously, if McCain wants to make a safe choice, he has plenty of options – chief among them, Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty. But as I (and others) have written, he would reap no meaningful benefit from taking a Pawlenty, who would strike most Americans as a generic politician. But doesn’t McCain, who is running uphill, need a V.P. pick that will spark some more interest than that?
Fiorina obviously fits the bill as an outside the box candidate, but her prospects seem to be fading. Bobby Jindal, the 37-year-old Louisiana governor and son of Indian immigrants, is another obvious option, but some regard him as too green – and also risky – just as Sarah Palin, the 41 44-year-old first-term governor of Alaska (two years removed from being the mayor of a town of 800 5,500 people) is also dismissed as too inexperienced. Bill Gates’ name was floated last week, but that couldn’t have been serious. He’s not even a Republican, is he?
The idea of picking an unconventional running-mate seems entirely consistent with McCain’s political instincts and style. But when I try to think of who he could realistically pick to fill this role, the only name that seems truly plausible to me is Joe Lieberman. Are there others out there? Am I forgetting someone?
CORRECTION: Palin, as it turns out, is 44 and not 41, and the town she served as Mayor, Wasilla, has about 5,500 people, not 800. Also, she left the mayor's office in 2002, and did not jump directly from Mayor to Governor in 2006. No excuse for these errors.
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
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- 49.6
- 43.8
- Obama +5.8
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- 54.9
- 36.1
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You can count on me to vote for you Sen. McCain if Hillary
is not on the ticket.
Gladys
You forgot Rudy Giuliani.
gladys,
is your vote so fickle that you choose to vote on spite rather than on issues? Senator Obama, and Senator Clinton are virtually the same when it comes to the issues, where as McCain is the complete opposite. When i see people say they won't vote for Obama if Hillary isn't on the ticket, it baffles me. Do you Care what direction the country goes at all, or just that your candidate didn't get the nomination. Obama won the nom. fair and square, get over it.
While I agree that Palin, like Jindal, is too inexperienced, and would undercut one of McCain's stronger arguments against Obama, they would be risky picks because they're not only pro-life, but both oppose exceptions for even victims of rape and incest; an untenable position to maintain on the national stage.
By the way, the pretty Alaskan governor is 44, not 41.
What about Bloomberg?
Could never see Bloomy second fiddle to anyone, let alone putting his assets into a blind trust while he serves.
Palin also had executive experience before she was Gov.
- Commissioner of the state's Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission (big deal in Alaska)
- President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors
I also believe she was a business owner.
Actually, she is more qualified than Obama to be President. Have you seen this video of her?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXfiOSCfY44
Gladys and the last commentator are totally bonkers. A Clinton as VP is no benefit at all to Obama. And some hick from Alaska is more qualified than Obama? Have you guys been licking toads?
I was thinking that a very unconventional VP choice for McCain and i think a cake walk into the white house would be Sen. Clinton.I mean c'mon whats there not to love about that ticket? ^_<
Three points:
1. If someone who was a state senator and then a US senator with virtually no accomplishments for just three years is qualified to be the nominee for President, a Governor of the largest state in the country by geography with a very strong record of accomplishments in the field of energy (just yesterday she announced agreement on a new pipeline) is surely qualified to be the nominee for Vice President, especially at the time when energy will be the dominant issue in the campaign (Dick Durbin just reversed himself and backed off-shore drilling - will Obama now change also?). Whatever challenges Sarah Palin's limited government experiences may cause her are made up ten fold by her being a woman who can make inroads with some Hillary supporters, her being a strong conservative who can excite the base, her being a reformer who can strengthen McCain's reformist credentials.
2. "Am I forgetting someone?" Yes, one in particular: Meg Whitman. She is actually a far better candidate from the field of business than Carly Fiorina, both because she does not have a "negative exit" problem and is far more successful; e-Bay is a pretty iconic brand at this stage. Second,
3. The idea that one honest remark will destroy Carly Fiorina chances of being VP is silly. Mitt Romney said more silly things during his campaign for President than most people (starting with his kids "serving the country" by campaigning for him), yet he is still in the running.
Do any of your corrections regarding Palin's age and experience change your opinion of her as a running mate? How about the fact that even her limited experience is more relevant to being president than Obama's equally limited experience, since both her positions were executive while his were legislative? And that she would be #2 while he would be #1?
Wow, I have been reading about this Governor Palin, (after I read your article) and she has a very interesting bio. I am not sure where to start, by why did she not run for President? This would cause me to vote Republican.
"Are there others out there? Am I forgetting someone?"
How about Ileana Ros-Lehtinen?
Ros-Lehtinen, like Senator Mel Martinez, was born in Cuba and is therefore constitutionally disqualified from contention for the vice presidency.
I have an excel spreadsheet that has gotten pretty extensive and Sarah Palin is coming in as easily the best pick with the most 'x''s in her column. I've been doing research for awhile.
There's really little to attack her on. She's great on TV based on the clips on YouTube. It turns out she has plenty of experience and most of it is executive. She already has the large accomplishment of taking out most of the Republican corrupt machine in Alaska. She has a wonderful media-plus family and a little baby boy with Downs Syndrome.
She is just an incredible story that I think McCain ignores at his own peril. Seems like an easy decision.
One last thing (and DON'T underestimate this), she seems to be a nice person too, and will be incredibly attractive choice for all American women (and men). She has strength and leadership skills that the Hollow O-Man doesn't. Witness Obama trying to desparately pander to all interests by waffling and flip-flopping even more than McCain.
What's a shame is that she'll probably be Vice-President but would be a great President. Maybe she can be the President in 2012.
The problem with a businesswoman like Whitman or Fiorina is that they have NO political experience which really McCain needs. Plus, they are liberal on too many issues once you start to dig into their statements.
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