My Final Opinion On The Veepstakes

A couple of months ago I mistakenly said that vice presidential nominees are unimportant in presidential politics.  How wrong I was.  On the contrary, who John McCain chooses as his running mate will be of the utmost importance when it comes to whether or not I will vote for him.

I believe that whoever John McCain chooses as his running mate will be a key indicator whether or not the Republican Party is willing to accept the change that it so desperately needs.  I have said for months now that a conventional ticket will not cut it for the GOP in 2008.  The Republican ticket needs to contain excitement, energy, and change.  If we want to win, and if we want to change America, then we can accept nothing less.

I have three nominees who I will wholeheartedly accept on the GOP ticket. 

My first option continues to be Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.  Gov. Palin is the kind of conservative reformer that we need in Washington.  Gov. Palin will bring many former Hillary Clinton supporters who want to see a woman in a place of power in the Executive Branch.  Gov. Palin will also solidify the support of many social and domestic conservatives who aren’t currently too sure about voting for Sen. McCain in November.  Most importantly, however, having Sarah Palin on the ticket will bring some much needed excitement to the campaign of a 72 year old man.  To learn more about Gov. Palin, click here.

My next choice would definitely be Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.  Although I don’t necessarily want Gov. Jindal to be Vice President, I will definitely support any ticket that he is on.  I like Gov. Jindal for many of the same reasons that I like Gov. Palin.  Like Gov. Palin, Bobby Jindal is a young conservative minded reformer who clearly represents the future of the Republican Party.  Gov. Jindal is doing the sort of things in Baton Rouge that many people are wanting to get done in Washington.  Bobby Jindal is on his path to being a political star, especiallyif he delivers the keynote address at this year’s GOP National Convention in St. Paul.  Many have concluded that Gov. Jindal is going to be in America’s future.  The only question is whether this future begins in 2008, or later.

Another choice that I have recently thought about is Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.  I may not be thinking clearly, but I’m pretty sure that Sen. Thune is one of the three U.S Senators currently serving, that I actually like.  (The other two are Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, and Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.)  Sen. Thune is one of the few good things about Washington today.  As I’ve observed his performance in the Senate, I’ve seen that Sen. Thune does not compromise on his convictions.  He is also a great debater, which was evident in 2004 when he defeated Tom Daschle for re-election.  I have often compared him to a young, articulate Fred Thompson, without the influence of lobbyists.  I don’t think that Sen. Thune would necessarily be the perfect VP pick, but he would be a very good one.

Just as there are nominees that would guarantee my voting for McCain, there are also those nominees that would guarantee me not voting for McCain.  The first of these is obviously Mitt Romney.  As is the case with nearly everyone who doesn’t like Gov. Romney, the main reason that I wouldn’t vote for him is his flip-flopping on issues such as abortion and same sex marriage.  On top of that, Gov. Romney has all of the attributes that I don’t look for in a politician.  I could name all of these attributes, but it is much more effective to watch him speak on television for five minutes.

Another person who I couldn’t vote for is former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.  My main hang up with him is his positions on abortion, but besides that, I don’t think that anyone could come across as more establishment than Tom Ridge.

So what will I do if McCain’s choice of running mate forces me from voting Republican in November?  Well, I’ve narrowed it down to two options; firstly, I could vote for Bob “The Rat” Barr, or I will proudly write in the name of Michael Dale Huckabee on my ballot.  Hey, following your convictions isn’t always easy.

VP Madness

A couple of events throughout this week have generated even more discussion about who will be John McCains running mate. Firstly, this weekend, John McCain is hosting three potential running mates at his house in Arizona; Mitt Romney, Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

I have made a promise to myself that I would never vote for Mitt Romney in any way. I simply believe that the man has no personal conviction, and that he is personally governed by what other people think of him, instead of what he believes is right. On top of that, Romney would be a terrible running mate. In a race against a diversified democratic coalition, Mitt Romney is the epitome of a wealthy white man. A McCain / Romney ticket would not be appealing to voters at all. John McCain is white enough for any ticket.

I don’t know much about Charlie Crist, but I do know that he’s not a terribly great social conservative. Like Romney, Gov. Crist has changed his mind on the right for unborn babies to live several times. I also know that he is extremely popular in Florida, but politicians who are too popular scare me sometimes. Popularity usually boils down to the fact that you don’t have enough courage to do something that might not be popular.

Like I’ve said before, Gov. Bobby Jindal is a very impressive and talented guy, but I think a vice presidency under John McCain would waste his talents. Honestly I’m kind of afraid that if he accepts the VP nomination, then he might turn out like Dan Quayle. I like Gov. Jindal too much for me to sit idlely by as McCain ruins his political future.

The second little peice that has generated VP discussion is the VP tourney at CQ politics, which Mike Huckabee won yesterday. The finals were between Mike Huckabee and Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Even though Gov. Huckabee “won” the tournament, I really don’t want him to be McCain’s running mate. I voted for Mike Huckabee to become president, not vice president. If I had known that Gov. Huckabee would be willing to settle for the number two spot, than I’m not sure if I would have supported him at all. As of right now, my loyalty in 2012 lies with Mike Huckabee. If he became vice president, then by the time he would run to succeed McCain, we would be coming off of 12 years of Republican rule, and he would surely lose to almost anybody. If Mike Huckabee becomes vice president, then his political future would be over.

The only smart choice as a running mate for McCain is Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. She represents a new wave of Republicans. We need someone to change the GOP’s much outdated national image, and Gov. Palin would do that. She is a strong conservative reformer, and we need her in Washington.

Mitt Romney Drops Out.

I didn’t see this coming at all. Mitt Romney decided to drop out of the race for the GOP nomination yesterday at CPAC. Talk Radio and the GOP establishment are, needless to say, probably going to descend into a state of panic, and quite frankly, I have no idea what National Review is going to write about now.

Apparently, Gov. Romney personally conceded that he no longer had a chance of winning the nominaton. Although he probably could have stayed in a bit longer, I think that he made the right decision. Being that if he had stayed in until the convention, it would have possibly led in a brokered convention, and that would have probably divided the party greatly.

In light of Gov. Romney’s decision, I would like to say two things. Firstly, I have no animosity for Gov. Romney, however, I really regret the way that he ran his campaign. He tried to be all things to all conservatives, and that was difficult to do considering that he had the record of a moderate, both socially and fiscally. He would have had a much better shot with my support if he was honest about his political ideology. He also made the primary season very unpleasant to watch. It really was a headache, in the midst of the GOP’s identity crisis, to watch one of our potentially strongest candidates to sling so much negativity around.

Secondly, If a former Romney supporter happens to be reading this, I would like to extend an invitation to them to give Gov. Mike Huckabee another chance. Like Mitt Romney, Huckabee was a very successful governor of a prominently democratic state. Like Mitt Romney, Huckabee is a strong family man, and will protect traditional marriage and the rights of the unborn. With the help of some Romney supporters, we could turn around this McCain “inevitability” and give a great man a chance to become president.

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Michigan: The Splitting Point

It’s funny how things change in politics. A week ago, I wouldn’t have wanted Mitt Romney to win any state. However, his win in Michigan on Tuesday actually could spell out as a good thing for Mike Huckabee’s chances in South Carolina and beyond.

If Mitt Romney should have won anything, it should have been Michigan. That being said, Michigan is essentially to McCain what New Hampshire was to Romney, being which, both of those states slowed their respective campaigns down.

Romney’s win is sort of like a third ball in a juggling act by Huckabee. The last two weeks have brought both ups and downs for the Romney and McCain ’s respective campaigns. The method to the madness, however, really seems to be setting Huckabee up for a southern takeover. Gov. Huckabee is polling really well in both South Carolina and Florida, and there is no reason why he shouldn’t win both of those states. He really can’t afford not to.

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Romney On The Attack

Mitt Romney has officially lost any high ground that Republicans might have had with voters by not running negative campaigns. Suddenly, with his lead gone in Iowa, and close to being gone in New Hampshire, Romney feels the need to release the same sort of attacks that he has himself been a victim of.

Gov. Romney has been attacking Mike Huckabee for several weeks now, releasing ads that, among other things, suggest that Gov. Huckabee is soft on crime and immigration. Gov. Huckabee, being a class act as usual, refuses to join in with negative retaliation.

The same can’t be said for John McCain however, who has found himself the target of a new ad airing in New Hampshire. The ad attacks McCain’s support of the Kennedy-Bush immigration bill, and attacks McCain’s opposition to the Bush tax cuts of 2001. Romney’s ads are not supplying any enlightenment to me, I am familiar with both Gov. Huckabee and Sen. McCain’s stances, and I think most concerned voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are as well.

The real issue is the morals behind Gov. Romney’s attacks. This for me is yet another example that this man will say anything to get elected. Romney doesn’t stand strong on most things, but he is steady on one thing, he ALWAYS obeys the laws of political convenience.

For more on Romney’s desperate attacks….
Click Here

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