Veepstakes – McCain Auditions

Senator John McCain is visiting with three potential Vice Presidential candidates this weekend, despite his campaigns entreaties that he is simply having a social weekend: Governor Charlie Crist of Florida, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. All three of these possibilities would bring certain strengths to a ticket with McCain at the top, as will be discussed later. However, both Crist and Jindal have very little national recognition, and Romney is still primarily known as that Mormon guy who ran for President.

Before I discuss the three who were there, I want to talk about those who were not there. Many believe that Governor Mike Huckabee would be one of the top candidates for Vice President, bringing in many of the evangelicals who are turned off by McCain and shoring up his base in the South. Secretary of State Condolezza Rice is also not an invitee, or for that matter any woman, which would be an interesting choice now that Clinton is almost assuredly not going to be the Democratic nominee. Nor, for that matter, are any Senators on the list, despite McCain knowing those in the Senate better than other public officials. Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the conservative hero who defeated then Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004, has been a darkhorse choice of a few pundits, and myself, yet this invite list makes it look like McCain is focusing on governors for the other spot on the ticket.

If McCain were to choose Crist, he would be strictly following the swing-state approach, which I have consistently criticized on this blog. The conventional wisdom is that Crist’s endorsement of McCain put the Arizona senator over the top in Florida, and essentially clinched the nomination for him. Furthermore, Crist is very popular in Florida, and some believe that a McCain-Crist ticket would guarantee a large swing state for McCain. McCain would then be able to focus time and resources elsewhere (although Obama would, as well). Crist is also younger, but not too young – and has gray hair – thereby mitigating without highlighting McCain’s age. Crist’s appeal outside of Florida, however, is virtually unknown, and it is unclear how he compliments a McCain ticket. Does Crist bring a feel for speaking about economic hardship? Is he a wizard when it comes to immigration? Are evangelicals enamored with him? As far as I can tell, none of the above are true, and all are weaknesses of McCain that would remain throughout the race with Crist by his side.

Governor Jindal, as an Indian-American, would be the first ethnic minority to be the vice presidential nominee for a major party. The immediate danger of placing Jindal on the ticket is that it would seem to be a naked attempt to counteract the appeal of Obama by asking someone of color to be his running mate.  Choosing Jindal would definitely set off a very interesting internal conflict amongst conservative independents and some Republicans who would feel guilty voting against Obama.  Indian-Americans have not suffered the same injustices as blacks in this country, but Obama does not have slavery in his ancestry because his father was Kenyan.  Jindal did spend some time in Congress as a representative, so the experience question would have less of an impact than it would with Crist.

Romney, in my mind, would just be a poor choice.  Romney made several attacks on McCain during the primary that would have to be answered.  Romney was also the least-liked of all of the major Republican candidates, and as was made clear when Kerry nominated Edwards in 2004, there has to be some chemistry between the two candidates.  There is also a question of whether Romney can help McCain with his problems in the evangelical community because of his Mormon background.  Romney does bring business savvy to the ticket, a focus on domestic issues, and the wild card of experience with a health care plan very similar to the one offered by Hillary Clinton (health care will be a major problem for McCain in the general).  The chemistry issue alone should keep McCain from making this selection, however.

We’ll see if more potential candidates make the trip for a “social visit” with McCain.  In the meantime, we have at least the beginnings of a short list.