My Veep Selection Process, Part 1: Former Rivals

In the footsteps of the Dan McGloughlin Redstate Blog piece, here's my own take on the most mentioned veep names.

My rules are pretty much the same as anyone's...

1. Veep choice must not hurt the ticket

2. Must be seen as "ready" to take over on day one.

3. Must not be TOO connected with Bush or congress.

4. MUST unequivocally be pro-life and socially conservative.

Category 1: Former Rivals:

Let's get Mike Huckabee out of the way first. McCain's campaign has already said Huckabee WILL NOT be a Veep consideration. And I suspect that McCain's people know the rift created by Mike Huckabee with Mormon voters.

While Huckabee has his band of supporters who would no doubt be enthusiastic, he brings as many negatives as he does positives. That defeats the purpose of picking him.

Fred Thompson had some fans as well, and I think picking him might actually be workable. However, the biggest downer is that Fred has been seen as lazy, and when people see two bald-ish guys side-by-side on stage....

Rudy Giuliani has to be ruled out right now. Pro-Choice, and a very weak candidate for president. He consistenly got 4th, 5th and 3rd place. I realize there are a lot of famous Rudy supporters (Hollywood actors like Adam Sandler, Jon Voight). But the fact is that he never got anywhere much.

Mitt Romney....He has a lot of positives, and a few negatives. Of course I fully support Mitt as VP. Let's talk about his negatives. It can't be ignored that a lot of voters, mainly Huckabee supporters, are anti-Mitt. Moreover, it seems Romney did himself no favors in New Hampshire where a new poll has a McCain/Mitt ticket being touted at 41% to a negative 48%. The negative percentage says 48 percent of likely McCain voters are "less likely" to vote for McCain if Mitt is on the ticket. Lastly, there is Mitt's HealthCare legacy in Massachussetts. Now every Mitt supporter knows that current Democrat Governor Deval Patrick is at fault for the failure of the system. But with Michael Medved on his show blaming it on Mitt, that may not be how it is seen.

Now for the positives. 1) Minnesota. A lot of people have been counting on Pawlenty to deliver MN for McCain. However, the Gov's popularity is not exactly through the roof even among MN Republicans. Romney however, solidly won the state. My guess is that while Mitt may not deliver NH, MA for McCain, he might deliver MN. 2) Money, Vetted, Seen As Presidential. McCain needs deniro ahora. Romney has that. Romney and McCain also vetted eachother with their rivalry. Mitt had the largest rockets launmched at him during the primary process, from questions about his religion, doubt about his conservative credentials, and looking at his legacy in Massachussetts. But Mitt came through (for the most part), and had a very solid second place on Super Tuesday. It took Huckabee weeks to catch up with Romney's delegate and popular vote count. And unlike Huckabee, Romney was popular not only with Mormons, but he often halved evangelicals with Huckabee, and seemed to get a large chunk of Catholics as well.