McCain-Forbes '08?

An amusing window into the Club For Growth's cloud-cuckoo-land.

Comments

That was pretty funny, Ross...I just loved how their first choice for VP was that Sanford guy from South Carolina, who I believe was named one of the three worst governors in the country by Time a few years back. Good call. And Phil Gramm? I thought everyone on both sides of the aisle hated him. And, you know, if only Pat Toomey had managed to beat Arlen Specter in 2004, I'm sure he'd be putting his own name into consideration right now. Just kidding, he would have lost in the general, big time.

I thought McCain was alright with the fiscal conservatives--he's not a supply-sider, sure, but he does actually seem to care about excess spending and all that. The idea that McCain is going to have base problems is nonsense, and I say this as a liberal Democrat. They're all going to show up, especially against Hillary. McCain has got an elite problem, and if he were really worried about it (and I suspect he isn't) he can just pick Rush Limbaugh as his running mate. But the conservatives will all fall in line. Some people were surprised by how well received his CPAC speech was by conservative types but I wasn't. They want to stay in power but they don't want McCain in office, so they tried to keep him from winning. So, he gives a fairly unremarkable speech at CPAC and they all effuse BS about how they were converted. Why? So they can jump on board while saving a little face. McCain will have the whole GOP behind him, regardless as his running mate. Democrats believe this. Only a couple of Republican elites don't seem to.

Posted by Lev | February 9, 2008 3:43 PM

What Lev said. The demands by various CPAC types that McCain now heed their wishes after they accused him of being the worse sort of traitor to their parter are pretty funny. It still baffles me how they convinced themselves that McCain wasn't the consistent conservative he is, and that Romney, of all people, was the standard-bearer the movement needed. Any insight there Ross?

Posted by Justin K. | February 9, 2008 4:49 PM

Gawd, Steve Forbes? Nice guy, horrible candidate. He's less animated than Ben Stein in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Anyone? Anyone?" Snore...

The other candidates Toomey mentions have little name recognition and no minority status, which is problematic given the merest possibility of a Clinton-Obama ticket. McCain should wait to select one of them until after we know what the Democratic ticket will look like.

We need to think outside the box here. I don't know that picking a white, male, GOP governor or congressman with zero name recognition is the way to win. Lieberman and KB Hutchison are not pro-life, and that has to rule them out because they could end up POTUS. If the Dem ticket is either Obama, or Hillary-Obama, we need either a female, Latino, or Black (Condi Rice?) VP. If it's Hillary-Webb, or Hillary-Edwards, we need not worry as much. What about Elizabeth Dole or, better, Mel Martinez?

Huckabee is preferable to any of the candidates Toomey mentions in terms of helpfulness in mobilizing voters, but I can just imagine what a field day Limbaugh will have if McCain picks him... If he picks Fred Thompson, that may turn into Dole-Kemp II. Kemp proved to be a very weak running mate, and did little to get out the vote.

Posted by MD | February 10, 2008 2:49 PM

Ross:

Nice oped for the NY Timess. Totally agree that Forbes isn't the face the GOP needs to project in this economic crisis. We need someone who can reach out to working men amd women in places like Ohio and Michigan. That's not Forbes, regardless of his economic sense.

BTW, off topic, I hope you'll consider doing a blogger's conference call at some point as your book nears publication. I think there are several bloggers in KY who'd be interested in helping you plug it.

Is there a site we can look at to get updates as the date approaches?

Posted by Cyberhillbilly | February 10, 2008 6:06 PM

I think the importance of Vice Presidential candidates is usually grossly overstated. There’s never been a greater mismatch in VP candidates than in 1988, but Lloyd Bentsen didn’t win any states for Michael Dukakis, and Dan Quayle didn’t cost Bush the Elder any.

In any event, while none of the names Toomey floats would be horrible selections, I have to wonder just who’s supposed to get excited about any of them. None of them could deliver a key state or even a significant number of votes. None of them would make the the conservative base less suspicious of McCain, and none would bring in voters not already inclined to vote Republican.

So, while I’m not inclined to mock Steve Forbes or Jim DeMint, I can’t figure out who’s supposed to get excited about them, or which of McCain’s problems those guys are supposed to solve.

In fairness, there aren’t many people in either party who could help the ticket much from the #2 spot. I can’t think of anyone whose presence on a ticket could turn any blue state red (or vice versa). So, for both McCain and the Democratic nominee, the best advice is just pick someone you think would make a good President in the event of your demise. All other considerations are unlikely to matter much.

Posted by astorian | February 11, 2008 10:41 AM