Helen Radnor just said it will be McCain/Bloomberg for GOP

[Doctor_J]

She's pretty well plugged in and these are the rumors that very heavy right now.

[tekisui]

1. Bloomberg is less dangerous as a running-mate than a third party.

[MADem]

11. Bloomberg is a BILLIONAIRE. He won't take Second Fiddle. AND he isn't a REPUBLICAN.

I don't know where people dig this stuff up...!

Bloomie was a Dem his entire life. He flipped to GOP just to avoid a crowded primary. Now, he's an independent. He left the Republican party--he's not a candidate for a party he rejected. It just doesn't make sense.

Also, he's unmarried, short, Jewish, and has a long-term "girlfriend" he has NO intention (oh, the horror!) of marrying....AND he spends every weekend outside the US in his Bahamian hideaway.

And he's not a "Holy Joe" Jew, either. Holy Joe is RELIGIOUS, Mike is SECULAR. The Evangelicals perceive a difference, and not in a good way. Holy Joe, GOOD. Secular, not so good!

Holy Joe is moving TOWARD the GOP. Bloomie has moved away. If McCain is going to hitch up with a Jewish VP to have "Change" on his ticket, too, it's gonna be the guy who will deliver New York (the whole STATE, not just the city--and maybe the tri-state area) and Florida, as well. IMO.

[MADem]

2. I am not going to rule out McCain/Lieberman. Holy Joe can deliver FL and NY...

IF Clinton is not the nominee.

It will be the GRUMPY OLD POLS (GOP) campaign...!

[book_worm]

7. Holy Joe wouldn't even be able to deliver CT

and he certainly couldn't deliver NY no matter who the democratic nominee is.

[MADem]

12. I think he could. I really do. NT

[aquart]

8. Like hell he could.

[MADem]

15. He was down in FL just yesterday campaigning with McCain.

He's flogging the Jewish vote -- it was a masterful performance, too. Check the CSPAN calendar and see if you can find the appearance--you'd get that "concerned" feeling like I did.

It was MASTERFUL...a lot of easy banter, a very positive 'town hall' and it was like The Odd Couple. They worked VERY WELL together and the crowd responded to them.

All politics is local. It's important not to forget that. If Clinton isn't the nominee, Holy Joe could help McCain in a big way in those two states.

[in_cog_ni_to]

3. Bloomberg is an Independent. I don't think the RNC will go for him.

JMCPO.....

[aquart]

10. Bloomberg is a billionaire CEO. NOT an assistant.

He's looking for meaty work to do for the rest of his life. He is not looking for a bunch of funerals to attend.

[bidenista]

4. this would be a mess

The Repuke base would go ballistic, but the combo would be a draw for independents and even some Dems (depending, cough, on the nominee). Overall? I reckon a McCain-Bloomberg ticket would be VERY tough.

[Drunken Irishman]

5. That would kill McCain with the Republican base in the general election.

A pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, liberal Jew on the ticket? Oh man, 20-30% of the base would sit this election out.

[Thrill]

6. Bloomberg wouldn't be on a GOP ticket

Not going to happen.

[soleft]

9. Ensuring every fundamentalist stay home?

[JPZenger]

13. I expect McCain to Pick a True Conservative as VP

To bring together his party, I expect McCain to pick a person with unquestioned credentials as a religious and fiscal conservative. That could be a problem, because McCain would be 75 at the end of his term. People may vote for someone they think is open minded, and end up getting a right wing nut.

[PATRICK]

14. I find it hard to

imagine anyone who would help his ticket more than hurt. It seems a curious intuition compared to Romney who could exercise a lot of options. If the predetermined Romney result doesn't happen I think you will end up with a Bob Dole deflated balloon against any strong Dem. Anything moving away from a dedicated Bush crony script means the GOP's bigger, surer defeat. That seems so counter-intuitive considering the negativity against all things Bush, but amazingly that feels very true too. To me at least.

[fishwax]

16. that's not going to happen, though it would be cool if it did

If McCain wins the nomination, he'll have to pick a running mate who will appease the religious right. He's been trying to befriend them for a while now (changing his tune on Roe v. Wade, etc.), but picking a pro-choice, pro-gay rights running mate would destroy any confidence they had in him, I think.

If it did happen, though, it would be great. If they were to somehow win the white house (a prospect I find highly unlikely), it would be a seismic shift in the landscape. For one thing, they would be the most socially moderate republican administration for a long, long time; for another, it would make the religious right thoroughly irrelevant, proving that the GOP could be successful without them. Don't get me wrong, I'd hate to see a McCain presidency, but the marginalization of the social conservative wing could have positive consequences in the long term.

If the democrats were to win, on the other hand (which I think would happen) it would leave the republican party in turmoil, sustaining the rift (b/w the economic wing and the religious wing) that is currently tearing the party asunder.

[TwilightGardener]

17. Dumb. Why would he have switched to Indie then? McCain is weak enough with the base.

edit to add: will never happen.

[Jane Austin]

18. The short-stuff ticket?

No offense to any of us who are height-challenged, but they'll spend the whole campaign craning their necks up to talk to reporters.

[Jane Austin]

19. It's Ellen Radner,

isn't it?

That's how I've always heard it.

[robbedvoter]

20. But, but - Bloomberg is our friend! he's a "life time dem" Can't be!

:sarcasm: