You figure McCain's veep will be --

[saltpoint]

Poll question: You figure McCain's veep will be --

[saltpoint]

1. What kind of poll is this, anyway? You left out Franklin Graham.

[saltpoint]

2. If you want Franklin Graham, choose 'Other."

[saltpoint]

3. Without Franklin Graham, it's a shit poll.

[saltpoint]

4. Is not.

[saltpoint]

5. Is so.

[saltpoint]

6. Nuh-unh.

[saltpoint]

7. Ynuh-huh.

[saltpoint]

8. It's political inquiry.

[saltpoint]

9. It's manipulative drivel.

[saltpoint]

10. Is not.

[saltpoint]

11. Is so.

[saltpoint]

12. Piss Ant!

[saltpoint]

13. Turd Face!

[saltpoint]

14. Rovian!

[saltpoint]

15. Ann Coulter fan!

[psychmommy]

46. old crusoe is all that back and forth

considered mental masturbation? it did look like fun. lol

[saltpoint]

52. Can't help it...the voices...so very loud...It's sunday & the drugstore is

closed...

[BlooInBloo]

50. Whoa.

[Arnold Judas Rimmer]

67. Not to interrupt your fascinating argument with yourself, but.....

With Billy Graham arguably way overdue to be "called home" by Jesus, and Franklin being the heir (unworthy as he might be) to Billy's ministry, you really think he would take himself out of that position to be a lowly vice president?

[saltpoint]

69. I think Franklin Graham would solve a lot of problems for McCain

with the fundies.

I think the likelihood that he'd be asked to be vice president is truly long.

The question is, which is the longest shot -- an heir to a Protestant legend being asked onto a Republican ticket or a cranky old kook defeating nimble Barack Obama?

The safer McCain plays his pick the more entrenched the public perception of his haplessness and mediocrity. Tim Pawlenty is "safe" but he makes Evan Bayh look scintilltaing.

Ridge and Romney would be a boost in a few places for McCan, but both are pro-choice and that's a 3rd-rail issue for the fundies. IMO McCain can't risk either Ridge or Romney.

I don't think Romney wins him Michigan. I don't think Ridge wins him Pennsylvania. I don't think Cantor will be enough to carry Virginia. And I don't really care about Arkansas, so possibly Huckabee is a consideration, unstable and self-serving though he is.

So McCain's pollsters sit the man down and give it to him straight. They tell him he can't win without a significant percentage of independents, which by all counts he has likely already lost to Obama. The corporate Republicans will back him, but with lackluster effort and modest check-writing. They'd prefer Romney, but Romney's Mormon and the fundies do NOT prefer Mormons on their tickets.

That leaves only one identifiable workable base left in the GOP demographic to make McCain halfway competitive -- the nutbag fundies. The prayers-in-schools people. The book burners, the film-banners, and the howlers and shriekers. That's McCain's ticket to be competitive. Without them votingfor him in almost unanimous numbers, he's going to be blown out of the the water in November.

Downthread, YvonneCa has added the name of Sam Brownback. I think this is a very potent insight.

So I look at Huckabee, Cantor, Brownback, and Franklin Graham as his veep saviours.

[YvonneCa]

16. And you left out Sam...

...Brownback...thought I saw him in the audience last night. :)

[saltpoint]

19. Strange to say, I think you've handed us a breakthrough there.

Brownback -- as he is roundly loathed by progressives and properly so -- would be perfectly regressive for McCain.

He doesn't have the cree-and-yuck quotient of a Franklin Graham, but is more "pure" to the nutbags than Huckabee.

Plus, so far as I know, none of the Brownback younguns torture dogs.

And he's Catholic.

I can see Huckabee getting the news that Brownback was named as veep nom. My guess is he wouldn't like it much.

Excellent revelation.

[YvonneCa]

47. And now I have to watch the forum again...

...to see if Sam was there. I'm pretty sure he was sitting in the audience, right near Cindy. :)

[saltpoint]

62. Yvonne, hi to you, and I'm not kidding... it could very well be

Sam Brownback. Your post is revelatory, IMO. Thank you.

There he is from Kansas and you really couldn't get a more conservative fundie-friendly Republican.

[YvonneCa]

70. Thank you, and...

...you are most welcome. :) I watched the McCain portion to see the audience shot again. Brownback was two seats to Cindy's left. Interesting. Any bets? :7

[saltpoint]

74. Sam Brownback. He would be very accommodating to the

McCain crew and of course the fundies would love him.

Thank you for the extra steps.

Sam Brownback.

My god.

[YvonneCa]

71. Look, OC, a picture...

...:) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6654634&mesg_id=6654634

[saltpoint]

75. That's ol' Sam alright. Cindy looks like the Events Coordinator of

the Grand Ol' Opry or something... I think the turqouise thing is a bit much.

Also, who chooses Sam's ties?

[YvonneCa]

77. ...

... :7

[jesus_of_suburbia]

17. Romney is the smart choice for McCain.

He is a great attack dog. Even though he flip-flopped on everything from when he was governor, the conservative base will reluctantly vote for him (as to where they wouldn't for Lieberman). Big business also likes him.

[saltpoint]

20. Agree on your points. A lot of conservatives, having no other real choice,

would settle for Romney.

You're right also on Big Business. He speaks their languge, for sure.

But my god what a creep.

[Cosmocat]

34. I don't buy for ONE second ...

that the fundies won't support McCain or Romney ... If last night proved anything - where a decent, practicing christian was dismissed and a guy who didn't even bother to act like he was a practicing Christian was worshipped, it is that their ONLY fundamental belief is that the guy/gal with a D behind their name is the anti-christ, and they make the rest up as they go along ...

I think he HAS to pick Romney, and I think Romney is going to give him a real boost ...

People here who have been wanting to believe BO was going win in a landslid, this thing is going to be tight ... A LOT tighter than it SHOULD be ...

[saltpoint]

38. It could be closer than some think, but I can see a case for Obama with

a comfortable win in the lower 50s for the popular vote but a significant win in the electoral college -- certainly enough to claim a "momentum mandate" in a very historic time.

He's fighting for Indiana and Virginia and has offices in SW Ohio where both Kerry and Gore had none, so I think he's going into the fall with his Sunday fastball against the hapless McCain and the under-funded GOP.

By no means is anything in the bag. But the trendlines are running blue.

[DCBob]

33. Heard there were some rumblings about Romney suggesting he may be out.

They were talking about today on "This Week with Georgie".

[saltpoint]

39. It would be interesting to know if they were rumblings from reliable

sources near Romney or what.

I could certainly say an America without Willard Romney would be a preferable America.

I think Romney's especially interested in the McCain veep spot because it puts him in a position to build a base for 2012.

I don't believe Willard seriously thinks McCain is competitive.

[DCBob]

41. Sorry I can't rember the details but it was during the round table segment.

Seemed they all agreed it would likley be Pawlenty.

[saltpoint]

43. Well, it might turn out to be Pawlenty.

I'm looking at the electoral map and not seeing exactly what McCain is thinking with that pick, but he's down to a handful of really bad choices, so I guess it might just as well be Pawlenty!

[DCBob]

45. They certainly have their sites set on MN but ...

I just don't see it even with Pawlenty. Pawlenty is a safe choice that does no harm but also does no good. If McCAin wants to have a chance to win he probably should go for the hail mary like a woman or Bobby Jindal or Lieberman -- Yuk!

[NotThisTime]

68. I hope he goes for Romney so all the people from Mass. can say what a freaking lousy governor he was

he left us in a hole, one great big, underfunded mess... Education underfunded, towns underfunded, a required healthplan that had NO funding at all, thanks a freaking lot is all I can say....

[Spazito]

18. Cheney

Hell, why not!

[WillyT]

21. Lieberman

:puke:

[Stop Cornyn]

22. Ridge is the smart pick; McBush will pick Romney because it's the safe pick (and takes pressure off

McCain to raise funds because Romney is a good fund-raiser and McCain sucks at it).

[saltpoint]

23. It's true. Romney brings the fund-raising toy to the sleepover.

[Stop Cornyn]

28. Picking Ridge indiscates McCain thinks he has an outside chance to win; picking Romney says McCain

knows he's going to lose but wants to lose within a respectable margin.

[saltpoint]

35. I think there's a lot to that. Ridge is a more competitive choice, at

least from McCain's twisted perspective.

I agree with some that Ridge might make Penhsylvania a closer race, but I'm thinking Obama still carries it.

The tide is running swift and deep against the GOP up and down the ballot. Which is fine with me!

[Yupster]

49. But doesn't fundraising get much less important after the convention?

Since McCain's accepting matching funds, he'll be limited to spending something like $ 80 million from convention to election.

Obama needs to keep fundraising since he can spend as much as he can since he declined matching funds.

[saltpoint]

54. Good point. Maybe it depends on how much of what is raised is

"McCain money" and how much is "Republican money."

That's why I often think Haley Barbour is still in the mix. I haven't heard his name in weeks, actually, but he seems like a power choice for McCain. Not sure, but I think among living politicians, Haley Barbour may have the fattest Rolodex that ever sat on a politician's desk.

[JNelson6563]

24. Huckabee to help shore up the Fundy vote

:toast:

[Condem]

25. I agree with JNelson, Crusoe

I don't hate Huck. Even though he's OUT there. Way out.

[saltpoint]

30. Agree -- he's not exactly hate-worthy. But agree also that he's way

out there.

Way out past the weed patch.

[saltpoint]

29. Howdy, JNelson.

Yep. Ol' Huck wants the job and he's willing to elbow Willard to get it.

Things could be heatin' up over in Republicanville!

:hi:

[Lucinda]

26. Dunno until he sees Obama's....then I can take a guess.

[Naturyl]

27. Beelzebub. (n/t)

[saltpoint]

31. Beezlebub. Wasn't he one of the Keating 5? No, wait -- that was

McCain.

I get all these Republicans mixed up.

[IndianaGreen]

32. Other: Torquemada

McCain sold his soul to bring about our conversion at the point of the sword.

[seasat]

36. The reanimated corpse of Ronald Reagan or Adam Putnam

I'm thinking that McCain will want to bring in a much younger running mate to address concerns about his age. Florida's Howdy Doody clone is a lock step Repub and would help McCain among the North Florida Repubs.

[saltpoint]

37. Yes, Little Adam. He's likely to be quite a force in GOP politics when he

reaches puberty.

I call him the Howdy Doody of the Swamps.

His extreme youth would reassure some Puke voters that if McCain croaked there'd be someone "Reaganesque" to stand in, but he is SO youthful that he might draw unwanted focus on McCain's doddering old age.

[seasat]

42. It's probably not going to be him but...

if it is, then I look like a genius and will receive the remarkable adulation of the DU crowd for my insight. Uh, right?

[saltpoint]

44. Definitely. Plus the DU bonus sports car.

Not a bad deal, really. : )

[saltpoint]

40. Should I have included any names I didn't include? Sam Brownback,

for instance?

Anyone else?

[MrSlayer]

48. Mittens makes the most sense.

He can help in Michigan and Nevada, might secure them for McCain.

[goodgd_yall]

51. He won't pick someone he despises

So he won't pick Romney. I think he'll pick Pawlenty partly to get the working class vote (Pawlenty has w.c. roots).

[saltpoint]

53. Pawlenty's positive is that he doesn't seem to offend large parts of

the GOP base.

But his negatives are that he's so dull he could put a hyperactive chimpanzee into a coma inside 3 minutes.

Still, you're right -- he's awfully well-positioned to be McCain's choice.

[Impedimentus]

55. Meg Whitman

McCain gave it away last night right after he exited the Cone of Silence, ...he likes rich Republican women $$$ :)

[chapel hill dem]

63. My money is on Meg. n/t

[blue_onyx]

56. I think McCain will select...

Mitt Romney mainly because he will, mistakenly, think that Romney will help him in Michigan (which he won't).

[saltpoint]

58. Romney's running away with a lot of polls among blog posters, but

I personally agree with you -- he might narrow the margin a big in Michigan but I think we own Michigan, with or without Willard.

If Romney were not a wealthy guy I wonder if he'd even be in contenton. Big business folk might feel that he understands their deal and would govern "sympathetically" to their concerns, but how would he help if he doesn't boost McCain in his home state?

His late father is still well thought of in Michigan but Massachusetts is the state that had to endure Mitt, and I don't think he's going to do McCain much good there either.

[blue_onyx]

61. There might be a very small

amount of people who may vote for a McCain/Romney ticket because they have some fond memories of Romney's father. I think it's probably a very small number, most of whom are probably Republicans anyway. Peoples fondness toward former Gov. Romney didn't help his son George Scott Romney (Mitt's older brother) win the Republican nomination for attorney general in 1998. So I just don't see how it would help much now. I guess it could narrow the margin for McCain by maybe 1% or so, like you mentioned. But I think Obama will win Michigan by 7-8%, so in end, Romney will not help McCain.

[saltpoint]

64. Wow, do I love that prediction, and thank you especially for

the point on the AG race with yet another Romney.

That is useful and potent stuff.

Much appreciated.

[snowbear]

57. Who the hell voted Sarah Palin? - They're talking about impeachment & she's getting votes? LOL!

Sure.... she looked good on the recent governor's edition of Vogue...



But the young Alaska governor is in quite a bit of hot water right now.

I disagree with all the media chatter up here saying that the investigation she's involved in could go as far as impeachment, but with all the bad press she's dealing with right now.. she won't be on anyone's short list.

Besides.. rumor has it that she has a crush on Obama.

[greguganus]

59. You left out Lieberman. n/t

[saltpoint]

66. My take on Llieberman is that for some time now, the writing has

been on the wall, and it isn't favorable for Joe.

He thought he would be the Democratic nominee in 2004. He definitely was not.

He thought he would be unchallenged for the Democartic nomination to the Senate in 06. Didn't happen. His state's Democratic voters chose Ned Lamont.

Joe isn't even a Democrat at this point. He's essentially a Fox News personality, IMO.

If McCain wins -- and I don't think he has a great chance to -- Lieberman could arguably serve as veep or in the Cabinet, but the fundies would freak out big time if he were chosen as veep. Lieberman's pro-Choice, and that's a third-rail issue for the nutbags.

If Barack Obama wins in November, we will see less and less and less of Joe Lieberman in public life, including on the media talk shows.

This is his last stop on the choo-choo.

[CK_John]

60. I think Meg Whitman moved to the top of his VP list. n/t

[saltpoint]

65. Ya know, it could be. At this point, I am less sure what McCain

will do.

He's cranky enough and clueless enough to make a spectacularly bad choice. I'm counting on it, in fact, and his line-up of options looks more macabre by the hour.

Romney is straight from central casting from a vampire flick, IMO.

Huckabee should be on 4-point restraints and his veins flooded with every antipsychotic known to modern medicine.

We're at a pont where almost no one on the list of possible veep choices can do McCain very much good WITHOUT also hurting him even more.

[ladywnch]

72. Rommney is the only one not smart enough to realize just how

disasterous this is going to be for him when McSame goes down in flames. Everyone else knows he's radioactive and doesn't want to be associated with him.

[saltpoint]

76. That's got to be right. Portman and Thune don't seem to want a whole

lot to do with McCain. I think they're happy to be out of the loop.

And Romney wants it so badly he'd likely walk over hot coals for it.

[saltpoint]

73. Well into the poll here, I'm surprised there are no votes for Cantor.