Because the media has gotta have a horse race. Now that John McCain has locked up the Republican nomination, the focus moves to who he will choose as his running mate. Will he choose someone who offsets his age, his lack of appeal to the Religious Right faction of the party (what, Hagee isn't good enough for you people?), his perceived lesser conservatism (because wanting to be in Iraq for a 100 years doesn't quite cut it, you have to want to fence the US off from Mexico too, apparently) or perhaps a minority or woman to counteract the Democratic ticket? McCain has set up a committee to look into different methodologies of picking that running mate. But Jack Cafferty asks his viewers what they think, and bless their little hearts, it looks like some snarky liberals got in some good zingers:
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Sky says: "Maybe he should look over at Shady Pines. There should be plenty of his contemporaries there. He might even find one who agrees with his brilliant suggestion to keep our GIs in Iraq for 100 years."
Ed in Houston: "McCain ought to let Rush Limbaugh help him pick the vice presidential candidate as soon as possible. It sounds by his comments today regarding a Clinton/Obama dream ticket that he will be re-entering rehab again soon."[..]
Dan in Gulfport, Florida: "Unfortunately, a lot of potential candidates are in jail or soon will be. McCain might be better off if he placed an ad in the jobs available section of The Times. The nice thing is that after Dick Cheney, the bar for vice president is so low that it won't be difficult for anyone to hop over it. My personal recommendation would be Senator Larry Craig. He'd lock up the public restroom vote and there might not be many other places Republicans will be able to find votes this year."
Oh snap!
Transcripts below the fold:
Jack Cafferty is here with The Cafferty File -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Do you know off hand -- how many terms has John McCain been in the Senate?
BLITZER: About 20 years or so.
CAFFERTY: Like three terms, maybe more?
BLITZER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: OK. Now that he's the nominee, the Republican nominee, people are starting to wonder who's going to fill out that number two position on the ticket. "The New York Times" reports McCain and his advisers insist that there is no short list of potential names for vice president. Instead -- and here's the reason I asked, Wolf, that question -- John McCain has directed his campaign to study past methods that nominees have used to pick running mates. This is a 71-year-old guy. He spent half his adult life in Washington, D.C. . He's run for president twice, a three-term U.S. senator and he's going to have his campaign study how to get a vice president.
There's no hope. There is just no hope.
Some suggest McCain's selection of a vice presidential candidate is more important than usual given his age. If he wins, McCain would be 72 when he's sworn in -- the oldest candidate every elected to a first term. Of course, there are already some names floating around out there -- several governors, Florida's Charlie Crist, Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty, whose executive experience could be a plus for the ticket. Former governors, too -- Pennsylvania's Tom Ridge, he of the -- what was it -- clear plastic sheeting and duct tape. He's been mentioned as a possible vice president. There are also former governors Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee who, until recently, were McCain's rivals.
One expert says that McCain basically has three choices when it comes to a vice president -- pick a conservative who could rally the base, pick someone who has crossover appeal to try to attract Independents or make a geographical decision and try to win a specific swing state or region. These are all things that the campaign will be studying, no doubt.
Here's the question -- how should John McCain go about selecting his running mate?
[snip]
BLITZER: Get back to Jack Cafferty. He has got "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How should John McCain, is the question this hour, go about selecting his running mate?
William in San Diego: "McCain's main weakness, the conservative base. Look at the numbers in Texas, 38 percent Huckabee, 51 percent McCain. If he goes into the general election lacking a half a million votes in Texas, he will stand no chance against the Democratic nominee. It's vital he choose either Huckabee or Romney and appeals to all of the conservatives that he has so far failed to impress."
Eileen writes: "John McCain has to pick someone with more than a room temperature IQ who acknowledges the diversity of religious belief in this country."
David writes: "George Bush may punk him into picking Jeb Bush.
Sky says: "Maybe he should look over at Shady Pines. There should be plenty of his contemporaries there. He might even find one who agrees with his brilliant suggestion to keep our GIs in Iraq for 100 years."
Ed in Houston: "McCain ought to let Rush Limbaugh help him pick the vice presidential candidate as soon as possible. It sounds by his comments today regarding a Clinton/Obama dream ticket that he will be re-entering rehab again soon."
Jake in New York: "John McCain ought to choose a somewhat younger running mate with shared ideals and executive experience. I personally hope he picks Charlie Crist."
Dan in Gulfport, Florida: "Unfortunately, a lot of potential candidates are in jail or soon will be. McCain might be better off if he placed an ad in the jobs available section of The Times. The nice thing is that after Dick Cheney, the bar for vice president is so low that it won't be difficult for anyone to hop over it. My personal recommendation would be Senator Larry Craig. He'd lock up the public restroom vote and there might not be many other places Republicans will be able to find votes this year."
And Vinnie in New York writes: "If he wants to win, he had better dig up Ronald Reagan."
That's all I have at this time.
BLITZER: That's enough.
