Bush, Thompson, And Lieberman Speak At RNC

Due to scheduling changes forced by Hurricane Gustav, President Bush, Sen. Fred Thompson, and Sen. Joe Lieberman were the only primetime speakers featured Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.  Tuesday’s theme was changed from “Reform”, to “Who Is John McCain?”, and all three of the major speakers took different approaches in introducing Sen. McCain as the official GOP Nominee.

I’m pretty sure that it wouldn’t have been very good anyway, however, it would have been close to impossible for President Bush to deliver a good speech via satellite.  Although it would have been favorable if President Bush hadn’t spoken at all, I’m sure that both the RNC and the McCain campaign realized that it would have been somewhat inappropriate to deny a sitting president the chance to address the delegates at his own party’s national convention.  However, thinking about how bad it could have turned out, President Bush actually carefully treaded through.  I’m not sure whether he thought his speech would help McCain or not, but President Bush made it very clear who he thought should be his sucessor.  I’m pretty sure that President Bush thinks that his legacy might find redemption under a McCain presidency.  Whether this was the case or not, George Bush’s speech Tuesday night didn’t help or hurt McCain’s chances.

Those who are familiar with my views know that I greatly admire Fred Thompson for his abilities as a conservative thinker and communicator.  That being said, I would have been very disapointed had he bombed during his convention speech.  Fortunately, however, he did not.  In fact, not only was Sen. Thompson’s speech the highlight of the night, it was also the best speech that I had ever heard him deliver.  Using a mixture of biographical references, personal stories, and attacks on the democratic ticket, Sen. Thompson made a very convincing case for why the American people should elect John McCain as their president this November.  It is clear to me that if Sen. Thompson had been this impassioned at this time a year ago, then we would certainly have a different candidate as our party’s nominee.

The final speaker of the night was Sen. McCain’s close friend, and the independent democratic Senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman.  Although no one would consider Sen. Lieberman as an amazing orator, he did a very good job highlighting Sen. McCain’s bipartisan and reformational credentials as a senator.  Sen. Lieberman also communicated very effectively that John McCain will govern according to the loyalty that he holds to his own convictions and country.  Although I appreciated Sen. Lieberman’s speech, I couldn’t help but think about how the Democratic Party would never be caught dead allowing a Republican to address delegates at their national convention.

Oh well, I guess that is just another example of how Republicans are more open minded, and more willing to reach across party lines to accomplish great things for the American people.

Now Accepting Applications….

Vice Presidential nominees have next to no importance in electoral politics. This is simply due to the fact that voters tend to vote for the personality on the top of the ticket in contrast to the one on the bottom. So, whoever John McCain chooses as his running mate, they probably won’t be much of a factor in the mind of the average voter.

Nevertheless, I don’t think that John McCain should let the news media dictate to him who he should choose as his running mate. In my opinion, he also shouldn’t be overly worried about ”balancing” the ticket either. Sen. McCain shouldn’t have to cater to any conservative group, not Romney supporters nor Huckabee supporters. In fact, if either Romney or Huckabee end up on the ticket, than I’m not sure I’ll even vote for McCain. What’s John McCain worth without his “I did it my way” persona? The answer is absolutely nothing.

Anyway, I’ve heard about 30 names mentioned as possible running mates for John McCain, and I’ve narrowed my favorite candidates down to three. Here they are.

The first candidate that interests me is actually Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. I know that most of you reading will disagree with me, but I think that Sen. Lieberman would be an excellent vice president. With a McCain/Lieberman ticket, voters would be offered the kind of real bipartisanship that Nancy Pelosi can only dream about. For once in our lives, we would have a ticket that 90 percent of voters can actually accept. America is a centrist nation, and while my ideology doesn’t agree with a moderate ticket, I would be more than willing to give it a try. Yes, Lieberman is a Democrat, but I can’t help but like the guy. He possesses a rare breed of statesmanship that is going extinct in Washington. He would make a great running mate, and a great Vice President.

About a month ago, I read a column by Bill Kristol that suggested Gen. David Petraeus as a possible, albeit unorthodox running mate for John McCain. This possibility was very appealing to me. Gen. Petraeus would certainly build on McCain’s strengths, but he is still somewhat of an unknown to the American public. Nevertheless, Gen. Petraeus is still one of the few personalities that conservatives can rally around these days, and in an election, democrats would be very hesitant to attack him. From what I’ve seen, he could have a future in politics, and I think he should be seriously considered.

The third VP candidate that interests me is Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. She is obviously a woman, but her attraction as a candidate isn’t limited to that. Gov. Palin came into office after overtaking Frank Murkowski, an unpopular Republican incumbent. Gov. Palin has governed well from what I can see, and is very popular with Alaskans in general. She appeals to conservatives because she is very strong on social issues, and is very sensible on fiscal matters as well. I’m not completely sold on her, but I’m hoping that if she is on the ticket, she might bring some much needed freshness to the McCain campaign.

All three of these candidates would make excellent running mates. In the age of Cheney, I guess it’s important to choose an affable VP. Hopefully Sen. McCain will be wise in who he chooses.

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