One of the tenets of the veepstakes’ conventional wisdom is that a strong and comfortable personal relationship with his running-mate is the most important consideration John McCain will be looking, more so than other presidential nominees. But even if this is true, it is hard to see where this could lead McCain, as those with whom he feels the most comfortable would not be acceptable to conservatives: Joe Lieberman remains a Democrat on domestic issues and Tom Ridge is pro-choice.
With McCain’s own problems with his party’s base, can he afford to anger them further with his vice-presidential pick? Robert Novak, who is very well connected among Republicans, has repeatedly reported that McCain is particularly frustrated that he has to choose outside of this comfort zone, not to mention that Ridge could be a boost to McCain’s efforts to pick-up Pennsylvania and to seduce suburban women, an eternal swing group.
The National Review’s latest cover sought to make the situation as clear as possible for McCain, in a conservative effort to ensure that their candidate understands he cannot afford to piss off the Right:
Note that National Review wrote a scathing profile of Florida Governor Charlie Crist in April, reviewing the myriad of reasons for which he would be unacceptable to the conservative movement. Huckabee’s inclusion on this cover is also not a surprise, as the winner of the Iowa caucuses has long been the candidate of social conservatives and has attracted the active hostility of business conservatives ever since he started rising in November. But that the magazine is now including Ridge and Lieberman is noteworthy, as it implies that conservatives are actually getting worried that these two names are under serious consideration, contrary to the conventional wisdom that views them both as long-shots.
But the National Review now has reason to celebrate, as there is a new reason why Tom Ridge’s selection would be politically problematic: Roll Call reported this week that the former Pennsylvania Governor had failed to properly disclose lobbying work he did on behalf of the Albanian government and was late to file necessary papers reporting his $500,000 deal. The McCain campaign has commented that Ridge is within the rules about lobbyists they have laid down, and Ridge is not a registered lobbyist. But ever since American politicians started pretending that they think “lobbyist” is a dirty word (without a significant change in DC practices), associations with lobbyists have become an obstacle for candidates to overcome.
Just as revelations of Chris Dodd’s ties with the mortgage industry two weeks ago likely spell the end of his vice-presidential ambitions, the existence of any gray area surrounding Ridge’s lobbying work make it more unlikely Ridge will survive the early vetting stages. The last thing the McCain campaign wants is to have to answer questions about their VP’s lobbying ties for the coming months. (Note that the same concerns will hurt Tom Dashle’s chances to be Obama’s nominee.)
Finally, Jim Jones is returning to the veepstakes. A few weeks ago, the name of this former general unexpectedly surfaced as a potential running-mate for Barack Obama, though news that Jones is a longtime friend of McCain and an adviser to the Republican’s campaign made that development somewhat puzzling. Last week, news that Jim Jones had joined McCain in an event and boarded the candidate’s plane seemed to confirm that floating Jones’s name was just a PR stunt by Democrats. But the situation has now gotten even more confused: Ben Smith reports that Jones was part of Obama’s “Economic Competitiveness Summit” held a few days ago in Pittsburgh!
Jim Jones might make sense from the perspective of boosting the Democratic ticket’s national security experience, though he would surely anger the Left in a way even Obama’s support of FISA cannot. Not only is Jones close to McCain (signaling that he does not share all of the Democrats views on issues like Iraq) but he is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce, signaling that he is to the right on economic issues as well.
Most recent VP headlines:
- June 24: Biden, Sebelius and Crist campaigning more or less overtly
- June 20: James Jones chooses McCain, Frank warns against Nunn
- June 16: Jindal’s exorcism problem and (more-or-less credible) Democratic denials
- June 13: Colin Powell and Chris Dodd heading out of veepstakes
- All coverage for Democrats and Republicans
When it comes to selecting a VP, McCain will probably not select someone (a) who is a nutty social conservative in the mold of Bobby Jindal; (b) someone who is at all doveish about the Iraq War; and (c) someone who is pro-choice.
I think the Minnesota Governor is McCain’s best choice as VP at this time. I’d be very surprised if McCain came back and picked a rival such as Huckabee or Romney. I don’t consider Huck as crazy as a Jindal, but I don’t believe he would add much to the ticket, either. Romney talks like a conservative, but as governor he really didn’t practiced what he preached. He comes off as someone who will say anything to be elected.