Posts Tagged → John McCain
Drill here, drill now, pay less
California auto insurance may soon be cheaper than a gallon of gas in California if prices keep rising out of control. OPEC, perhaps a bit worried by John McCain’s commitment to increased drilling in the US under the “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” campaign, has become divided as Saudi Arabia has pledged to increase production by an additional 200,000 barrels a day by July, and up by nearly 3 million barrels per day by the end of 2009.
In spite of these aggressive new commitments, demand continues to outpace supply and refinery capacity, rising at a pace this year of about 1 percent, with production rising by only one-fifth of that pace. Clearly, depending on OPEC is not a winning strategy to guarantee future oil supplies and low prices going forward. Drill here, drill now, pay less.
J.C. Watts backing black news channel
J.C. Watts, the Oklahoma Republican who served at one time as the chairman of the House Republican Conference, has announced plans to start an all-black news network that will be carried initially in several major markets through Comcast, beginning in 2009.
Tentatively called the Black Television News Channel, in an interview with the New York Post, Watts said, “I’m not so sure that you see anything on CNN or Fox News that specifically targets the African-American community. Our community features millions of people with all kinds of backgrounds. There’s a much broader segment of the population than what we see in mainstream news.”
Given Watts’ solid conservative credentials, it will be interesting to see if the network he’s helping to launch with be just another liberal sound chamber, or a truly balanced news network that will reflect a wide diversity of views, not just ethnicity.
Thus far, no financial, executive, or on-air talent details have been announced. Personally, while an alternate-voice news channel’s a fine idea, I’d rather see Watts running for the White House alongside McCain, ready to step into the big chair once McCain leaves politics to hawk senior life insurance.
Unlike Obama, Watts is a man of wide and respectable experience and accomplishments, who is more than ready to sit in the Oval Office. And he’s a darn sight more conservative than John “Bradshaw” McCain will ever be.
McCain VP targets: Charlie Crist
There are two main reasons Florida governor Charlie Crist is being mentioned as one of the first three VP candidates GOP presidential nominee John McCain will consider to run alongside him in November. First, his predecessor Jeb Bush is too toxic in this Bush-weary nation to invite onto the ticket, and second, he’s the popular governor of a key battleground state that is a huge electoral jackpot in November that most analysts agree McCain will need to carry agains Obama to keep the White House in GOP hands.
Yet there are a world of troubles with Crist, and you can’t buy memory enough to forget these negatives.
First, Crist is nearly as liberal as McCain, although he has a shorter track record in public life; that wouldn’t sit well with party conservatives who are already turned off to the McCain ticket and would be likely to skip the presidential portion of the ballot, or vote Bob Barr on the Libertarian ticket, if McCain chooses another liberal as his running mate.
Second, Crist doesn’t have Romney’s fundraising acumen, which is not an inconsiderable factor.
Third, all Crist brings to the table is Florida, which although key, is pretty much his only asset.
In all, since I’d rather see Jindal mature a bit before being thrown to the wolves of the national liberal media elites, and since Crist is not enough of a balance to the ticket, in the end I think Mitt Romney makes the most sense for McCain, of the three candidates mentioned.
Of course, there are always more folks out there who could come into play down the line, if none of these three want it. But a McCain-Romney ticket wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if it lead to a Romeny-Jindal ticket four or eight years from now.
McCain VP targets: Bobby Jindal
If I were a futures broker, I’d wager that first-term Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has a great future in the GOP as a future presidential candidate. He’s young, he’s quite conservative, and he’s well-liked. And as the son of India immigrants, he possesses minority appeal.
Of course, that’s why Bobby Jindal is one of the top three VP targets GOP presidential nominee John McCain is hosting in Arizona over the next few weeks. Although he has little in the way of experience or a fund-raising track record, and does no hail from a state that is a large electoral jackpot, Jindal’s biggest assets are that he would mollify GOP conservatives not enchanted by the liberal McCain, and that he is a bit of an Obama-solution, offering voters another non-white candidate with relative youth and charisma.
However, there are dangers in the Jindal strategy, and they are all at the cost of Jindal, not McCain. First and foremost, as a less-experienced politician, Jindal is untested on the national stage. While that works for Barack Obama, who has the liberal media on his side, that works less well with conservatives like Jindal, who the media would be out to embarrass, leveraging his youth and inexperience to make him look doltish.
If I were Jindal’s advisor, I’d console him to take a pass on running with McCain and concentrate on performing well as Louisiana governor and winning at least one re-election to that seat before moving on. Remember, Bush the Elder once selected a young, promising, very conservative senator as his running mate, and Dan Quayle as never lived it down. I’d hate to see that same vilefying happen to Jindal, whose chances will be much better four, eight or even 12 years down the road.
Finally, we come to my least-favorite name among the first three McCain is considering: Florida governor Charlie Crist.
McCain VP targets: Mitt Romeny
As far as I know, no diamond rings will be involved, but GOP presidential nominee John McCain will be meeting over the weekend with three potential vice-presidential contenders, any of whom he might pair himself with for the November race. Of the three names mentioned, however, I only like two of them.
The one who might make the most sense is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who challenged McCain early in the GOP political process and seemed the presumptive nominee until a poorer-than-expected showing on Super Tuesday forced him from the race. Perceived to be more conservative than the liberal McCain, Romney’s biggest asset could be his fund-raising ability; since becoming the lone frontrunner, McCain’s campaign has shown weakness in its ability to build up a campaign war chest, an area of strength for Romney.
Younger than McCain, Romney would be an attractive choice among party conservatives who want to ensure the next GOP administration has an heir apparent ready to take office. As the man who came closest to McCain to garnering the nomination himself, Romney has all the right credentials.
Next we’ll take a look at the politically most-appealing VP target: Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal.
Condi still not running
Despite the words of Dan Senor, a GOP strategist, over the weekend, as well as a lot of blogosphere energy around the topic, the US State Department today re-confirmed the fact that Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice is not interested in running for political office, nor is she seeking the Veep spot on John McCain’s campaign.
Now, WonderfulPessimist.com has long held that Condi would be one of our top ideal choices for the top of the ticket, but considering she recently was quoted as saying, “It’s time for new blood” in the GOP bid for the White House, I think we have to respect her wishes and accept the fact that she won’t be running. Seems Condi has her mind on returning to Stanford and her Pigeon Forge cabins (if she has any) once her term in the Bush Administration is up.
Who can blame her? She’s been in public life as either Foreign Policy Advisor of Secretary of State for almost eight years now, and what with September 11 and wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq, anyone might be longing for the relative ease of being a tenured professor at one of America’s top academic universities?
As attractive a presidential or vice presidential figure as she might make, it’s time to lay our Condi dreams aside, people, and wish her well. As for who should run with John McCain on the GOP ticket this fall, my favorite choice for balancing the ticket is strong conservative and former Oklahoma congressman, J.C. Watts. Failing Watts, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal is our fallback candidate due also to his conservative credentials.
And it may not sound cool to say this, being from Minnesota and all, but the absolute worst choice to run with McCain is Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Appoint him to the Department of Education, maybe… but don’t make him Veep.
Guiliani could be part of McCain admin
Political mover NYC Rudy Guiliani may have failed miserably in his bid for the GOP nomination, but don’t count the former New York mayor out of a potential McCain administration. While it’s unlikely Guiliani would want to serve as McCain’s running mate, it’s likely that Guiliani could serve a key role in a McCain White House, should the Arizona senator prevail in November.
One likely post for Guiliani is the U.S. attorney general’s office; given his background as a prosecutor, that would make a lot of sense. And other potential posts have been mentioned as well, ranging from Secretary of State to Secretary of Homeland Security. Any of these three positions would be a good fit for a man of Rudy’s resume.
If McCain does win, he’d likely want to clean house and make a break from ties to the Bush Adminsitration, but even if he does, the GOP still has a strong bench of talent upon which McCain could call to fill out his cabinet without relying too heavily on holderovers from the Bush administration.
Rice won’t run… or co-run
One of the best Republicans in the country still steadfastly refuses to consider running for elected office, even as someone else’s running mate. Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice, whose foreign policy expertise and broad appeal could help John McCain win back conservative report while also blunting the effect of a Hillary or Barack-fronted Democratic ticket, confirmed again this weekend she has no plans or higher poltical aspirations than to serve out her term as Secretary of State for George W. Bush and then return to the private sector.
“I have always said that the one thing that I have not seen myself doing is running for elected office,” Rice said at a news conference. “I didn’t even run for high school president. It’s sort of not in my genes.”
McCain, who is so old he needs to wear a medical id bracelet just to cross the street, could have his candidacy significantly bouyed by Rice’s inclusion on the ticket, has not confirmed whether he’s asked Rice or not, but it appears pointless. Of course, it is the fact that better-qualified candidates has sat on the sidelines this presidential year that has led to a weak, liberal Republican like McCain becoming the GOP nominee.
