And the Wall Street Journal is absolutely right.
"As a young, rookie candidate running on 'change,' Barack Obama can help himself by choosing a safe, seasoned politician like Evan Bayh or Joe Biden," observes the Journal.
"As the trailing candidate from an unpopular party, John McCain has the harder decision because there really is no obvious candidate."
The Journal proceeds to list all the names that get mentioned frequently in this conversation — and includes the reasons why those candidates would be a drag on the Republican ticket:
- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — "[W]rong last name."
- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist — "[T]oo-frequent political opportunism that would disappoint much of the party."
- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — Ditto.
- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romeny — "[He] failed to catch fire in the primaries ... and ... his Mormonism seems to be an issue with many evangelicals." The Journal, for its part, finds fault with Romney because he "continues to defend his state health-care reform."
- Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman — "[H]e'd probably alienate too many social conservatives."
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty — A conservative who is "as confused as Mr. McCain on global warming, but he seems to have more principles than Mr. Crist."
- Former Management and Budget director Rob Portman — "Some McCain advisers will say his Bush experience rules him out, but he has depth as a policy wonk."
- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — Has "potential and appeal" but lacks "stature" and would "give up Mr. McCain's clear experience edge over Mr. Obama."
- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — Ditto.
- Meg Whitman of eBay — "[The] magnitude of press scrutiny that any nominee must endure today is a lot to ask of someone who's never sought elective office."
- Fred Smith of FedEx — Ditto.
- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford — He "did stumble recently during a CNN interview ... . Still, it was a minor misstep, and Mr. McCain could do worse."
When all is said and done, the Journal concedes, "If there were a miracle choice for Mr. McCain, that person would be obvious by now. There isn't, and an attempt to find one can easily backfire."
Fred Smith has too many problems in his past, like a felony indictment and a fatal hit-and-run accident.
ReplyDeleteMcCain has one big advantage - he'll pick his running mate after Obama picks his.