John McCain's Double Bind

If he picks the Mittster or anyone of color, he pisses off the Evangelicals.

If he picks the Huckster, he pisses off the independents he's been courting.

This is fun. ;D

 

As the country swirls down the toilet. Laffs for everyone.

 

I don't think Mitt will hurt as much as you think with the freaks on the far right. I think they'll be happy with anyone who seems like a true conservative next to McCain.

 

You could be right about that. I think the Evangelicals would prefer Mitt to Jindal.

 

Jindal hurts more than Huck or Mitt.
If fear of a brown man is the reason to vote for McCain, so what does Piyush Jindal do for McCain?

 

Lordy, how do them Republicrats hide their horns an' tails to walk among the common folk? It's a puzzle, I tell you.

Consider, then, B.O.'s triple bind:

If he picks her, then he undercuts everything he's every said by way of his persistent criticism of Clintonism and his rejection of "business as usual." He'll be Just Another Politician (gasp! horrors!)

If he picks another woman, it's tokenism, a sop to the female voters who don't trust him, another reason to stay pissed.

If he picks someone with more ... gravitas, he runs the risk of pulling a Dukakis and leading a ticket where everybody thinks to themselves that the No. 2 guy seems more presidential.

I was going to opine about what would happen if he picked someone with less experience than himself in national politics, but that doesn't seem possible.

Bubba broke the mold by choosing a veep very much like himself, a New Democrat from the Sunbelt with the vision thing.

So ... a biracial American who's been a tremendous success in the public sphere, a great communicator and visionary thinker?

Got it:



Obama-Nelson 2008

 

Henry... ;D great post.

You're right, Obama's got problems on this front, too. I guess I just relished the thought of McCain having some issues with this decision as well.

 

OBAMA- 2008



Works for me and would make a damn fine bumper sticker.
And Obama's bind is hardly a Gordian knot.
Pick Strickland, who looks like every white person's grandpa and it solves all problems.
And, yes, I am banging the Strickland drum pretty hard, but he isn't Hillary or a woman and he looks the part, but won't overshadow Obama.

 

Strickland said today that there's no way he'd accept it even if asked. He also said he wouldn't serve even if the convention votes him in. I'm thinking he's off the short list.

 

I think if Hillary asks him to be Obama's running mate, as she reportedly asked about him being her veep, then I think he'll do it.
AP had a story earlier about retired military types getting a hard look and it included Wesley Clark, who would also be a fine choice.
Ed Rendell will also get a hard look, or at least I think he will.

 

I think the Hillary camp (old white ladies!) could be a problem and agree that he can't pick Hillary and he can't pick another woman. Obama has to get Hillary out campaigning visibly for him to shore up the women vote. And the Obama campaign has already been working on getting that done.

Unlike McCain, however, Obama has a ton of Dem governors in swing states to pick from who could make a difference and who wouldn't offend the base ... now that Strickland has pulled his name, I would love to see Kaine on the ticket.

As for the national experience thing, does that really matter? (Dubya, Clinton, Reagan and Carter all come to mind).

And gravitas? Are we using that word again? That was the big word in 2000 wasn't it? Bush didn't have the gravitas Gore did? Of course, history proved that to be true ... but seriously, I mean the Dems could throw Robert Byrd out there and say he's got more gravitas than McCain because Byrd's been in the Senate longer than anyone, including grandpa McCain

Saw an opinion piece over the weekend talking about how the pundits love to speculate about VP candidates, but how they rarely make any difference in an election. The story pointed out that JFK picking LBJ to help him win Texas in 1960 was the last time that strategy worked. Strickland was the only person this writer mentioned as possibly being comparable ... like I said, I think Kaine could put Obama over the top in Virginia as well.

It's also interesting to note, as Teddy K. did when he endorsed Obama, that JFK was also seen as too young and inexperienced back in 1960 and Truman was backing whoever (I was still 12 years from making my appearance on earth!) ran against JFK in the primary. We all know how that turned out. I think this one goes the same ... American's are overwhelmingly unhappy with the direction the country's headed under Bush and the Republicans in general, Obama is an outstanding candidate who offers change while McCain offers more of the same.

 

Now that's a ticket.

Blacks and KKK members coming out for the same ticket. Wow, you are a funny one.