« Previous | Main | Next »

Waiting Word

August 28, 2008 9:48 PM

Having decided on his running mate, John McCain will soon begin making calls to the people who were on his short list for vice president to inform them of his choice. McCain will introduce his running mate to the nation tomorrow at a big rally in Dayton, Ohio, kicking off three days of rallies through key swing states--all leading up to next week's Republican Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

But the timing of the calls is tricky. Out of respect for Barack Obama, who is delivering his acceptance speech tonight at the Democratic Convention, the McCain campaign does not want the announcement to leak out and step on Obama's event. There's a danger the news will leak once contenders are notified they are not the pick, which happened last week when Obama told Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh they had not been selected.

At the same time, the pick needs some lead time to fly to Ohio by tomorrow with a speech ready to deliver--and be in place for the noon event. As of Thursday night, contenders were scattered from coast to coast, still waiting for word.

The focus tonight is centered in Minneapolis, on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He would bring a working-class background and Ronald Reagan conservatism to the ticket--both of which could appeal to independents and moderates who may decide the election. The 47-year-old Pawlenty, who says the Republican Party must appeal to "Sam's Club" voters and not just the country club crowd, is in his second term as governor of a Democratic-leaning state. Since his election in 2002, he has balanced the budget and pushed through conservative programs and legislation, including waiting periods for abortion.

Pawlenty, a long-time McCain loyalist, grew up in modest ranch house in blue-collar South St. Paul, the youngest of five children in a family of union, Democrats. He talks of how his conservative views evolved after his father, a truck driver, lost his job shortly after Pawlenty's mother died of cancer when he was 16. Struggling to make ends meet, Pawlenty worked his way through high school and college, where he embraced Ronald Reagan's vision of limited government and personal responsibility. Pawlenty went on to law school and a career in public service, first as a prosecutor, then serving 10 years as a state legislator, before he was elected governor.

McCain also has considered a nominee who is Pawlenty's opposite: his former bitter rival Mitt Romney. The multimillionaire businessman would bring economic experience to the ticket. But Romney was harshly criticized by the Arizona senator and social conservatives alike during the primaries. Romney was seen as flip-flopping on key social issues, including abortion, in a perceived effort to pander to the base. Moreover, Democrats already are painting Romney, with his $30 million in residential real estate and off-shore tax havens, as elitist and out of touch with everyday Americans.

The two contenders who support abortion rights--former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman--would be an enormous fight for McCain and would alienate a segment of his conservative base. McCain advisers this past week have been meeting with social conservatives to gauge opposition to those picks, and they've been warned of a brewing revolt that could include a walkout at the Republican National Convention next week and a huge battle on the floor--especially if the pick is the Independent Democrat Lieberman.

The timing of the pick seems to work against those two. If McCain were tapping Ridge, President Bush's former head of the Department of Homeland Security, he likely would introduce him on Saturday, at his rally in Pennsylvania. Ridge is an icon in his home state--and the first rally to introduce his VP there could help further galvanize those voters. If Lieberman were the pick, it's unlikely McCain would tap him this far in advance--since that would give the ardent opposition a long weekend to organize the expected revolt at the convention.

August 28, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (1)

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/433071/32875414

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Waiting Word:

User Comments

Posted by: rock-and-hardplace | Aug 28, 2008 11:18:24 PM

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: