Bucks
Vice President Picks Obama McCaine
Dear Friends,
Good morning. With the Democratic and Republican nominations finally over, I thought it would be fun to speculate whom John McCain and Barrack Obama would choose for running mates. As you might remember last September, I predicted that Governor Rendell would be the dark horse candidate for the Presidency. I reasoned that the Democratic Party could be locked in a stalemate at convention time. The Dems would settle on someone who could unite the Democratic Party and that unifier would be Ed Rendell.
Well, I was close.
Obama just edged over the magic number for a majority of the delegates. Ms. Clinton came agonizingly close to winning the majority of all the Democratic votes cast in the primaries. A few delegates here, a hundred thousand votes there, the nomination process could have stalled. Alas, it didn’t.
Drat!
Now, who could accurately predict the vice presidential picks for the Democratic and Republican Parties? None other than Mighty Betsy, of course.
Being a lifelong Republican (some of the time), I turned first to John McCain. He appeals to hawks, plus he enjoys strength as a political maverick. Remember the McCain-Feingold Act, the so-called campaign finance reform act five years ago? Senators McCain and Russell Feingold (D-Wisconsin) led the successful bi partisan effort. If McCain selected Feingold as his running mate, wouldn’t McCain demonstrate how he reaches across the political aisle?
That’s precisely what Abraham Lincoln did in 1864. He chose Andrew Johnson, states rights southerner and the Democratic Senator from Tennessee.
I recently had lunch with John Moyer, a community activist and a lifetime friend. He dazzled me with his logic. John thought that the strongest Republican ticket would be McCain and Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State and an African American. If Powell wouldn’t run, John offered Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge as possibilities.
John thinks that the strongest Democratic ticket and the most likely to succeed would be Obama and Hillary Clinton.
So, what did Mighty Betsy say? “Which ever candidate chooses Michael Bloomberg will win handily,” she began. “Neither McCain nor Obama have the business know-how to run the country. Next to the presidency, the second biggest governing job is the Mayor of New York City. Bloomberg was a Democrat; switched to the GOP to rule New York City as a Republican; and is now an Independent. Bloomberg would be perfect.”
And should Bloomberg say “no?”
“McCain should take Condoleezza Rice [the African American Secretary of State],” the mighty one continued. “She’s female, black, and bright. It would be a presidential race of black and white versus white and black.”
Two black and whites sounded like a Scotch whiskey label to me.
“Obama should take Hillary for two reasons,” MB said. “First, she has tremendous appeal to women. And the millions of angry women who supported Hillary won’t be tempted to stay home on election day or vote for McCain.”
What about the Republican side of this fight, I asked?
“I’m so upset with what George W.’s done to the Republican Party that I’ve not paid much attention to them,” she answered. “But if McCain chose Bloomberg, I’d think twice about it. And how about [Arnold] Schwarzenager for VP,” MB wondered.
The California governor has broad appeal among Democrats and Republicans but he’s foreign born. The constitution would prohibit the Austrian from serving…alas.
I was astounded by MB’s reaction to the possibility of McCain choosing Florida Governor, Republican Charlie Crist. “He’s just a pretty boy,” she quipped, “You know where I’d shove him!”
Good grief, Mighty Betsy!
I couldn’t get her to budge from her opposition to McCain. What about Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, I whispered timidly? He used to be a Democrat…now, he’s an independent…he’s Jewish. Think of the constituencies he’d appeal to.
“Nonsense,” she barked.
Friends, have you considered the people who think they’d make a perfect president? How about 585 candidates…100 senators, 435 congressmen and women, plus 50 state governors who are positive they’d be just as good as McCain or Obama…maybe better. And when you add thousands of talking heads on radio and TV, plus hundreds of opinionated city editors across America, you wonder whether any candidate has a chance of governing this unhappy, worried population.
I am certain of one thing. The primaries and caucuses demonstrated that while Americans were enthralled with the notion of change during the primaries…we might be too fearful of the unknown to accept change in November.
“I have to be careful when I’m around you,” Mighty Betsy concluded. “You’re libel to publish my thoughts.
Gotcha, MB!
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith