I agree that it’s too early to anounce a running mate. The dems have their convention first. McCain will wait until he sees who their nominee picks, and then he’ll find someone that stacks up well. I supported Mitt Romney, and so I think he should be added to the list. I know those two didn’t get along very well during the campaign, but Reagan and Bush didn’t either, but they bridged the gap between different types of Republicans, i.e. moderates and conservatives. I think that Mike Huckabee is too polarizing. Either you like him or you extremely dislike him. Because of how he ran his race there is no middle ground with him. Rudy Guiliani is too short tempered. That doesn’t add anything to a nominee that is already considered a hothead. McCain needs to shore up his conservative base, so he can’t go left and pick Lieberman.

At the end of the day, I think that he should pick a conservative governor that doesn’t carry too much baggage. Due to McCain’s age, he’ll need to pick someone that could be President right now. He needs someone that is intelligent, articulate, and Presidential. I think that he should pick Mitt Romney.

Here is the most complete list I have been able to compile:

John Kasich
Tim Pawlenty
Richard Burr
Mark Sanford
Tom Coburn
Haley Barbour
Condi Rice
Colin Powell
Kay Bailey Hutchinson
Sarah Palin
Charlie Crist
Sonny Perdue
Bob Ehrlich
Michael Steele
Jim DeMint
John Thune
Phil Gramm
Mike Pence
Steve Forbes
Tom Ridge
Lindsey Graham
Rob Portman
Paul Ryan
John Huntsman

I would highlight Kasich as a serious contender.

If McCain were to choose Joe Lieberman or Colin Powell, that would mess with a lot of peoples head on the LEFT and the RIGHT.

Pick a VP that the majority of republicans wanted for president! (Mitt)

Actually, in Powell’s case he would throw a typical Democrat attack out the window. The Republicans are racist attacks, I’m sure everyone is familiar with it.

Lieberman would make the ticket bipartisan.

You have left off the most obvious choice–MITT ROMNEY!!! He came in second in delegate count and would shore up McCain’s deficits in such areas as economics, moral behavior (unlike McCain with his alley cat sexual morals) and actually managing something. Also, McCain will need someone to help him with conservatives in the South and West. Between he and Romney they were reliably pulling about 2/3 of the evangelical vote plus no Republican will win this campaign without wholehearted support from the Western states–states where the close Red/Blue balance hangs on the Mormon vote (pretty much every western state). Romney has it nailed there. He was polling so far ahead of Huck and McCain in Washington State that if he hadn’t pulled out right before elections the results for Huck and Mac would have been utterly embarrassing.

Romney had more support than anyone on your list and is very well supported by talk radio–something McCain has LOST!!!

He has an organization to bring in money like no one else ever has in the Republican party–raised more money (aside from his own) than any other Republican candidate ever has and John McCain will need that ability.

Want to know why Huckabee on the ticket will be the kiss of death? Go to http://www.stopbigots.com to learn why no Bigoted Mormon hater anywhere near the ticket will not keep the western states from falling in masse to the D ticket or to a no vote of confidence for the R’s by leaving the Pres. blank.

http://www.stopbigots.com You’ll be amazed!!!

Might think seriously about who the conservtives trusted - namely Mitt Romney.

He would really complement McCain with his economic knowhow. They would make a great team.

McCain / Romney ‘08 !!

I would seriously consider voting for McCain if Romney runs with him

Ooops! Sorry for the double negative.

It should have read, “Bigoted Mormon hater Huckster Huckabee anywhere near the ticket (such as in the place of VP) will sink any chance of McCain winning in the West.”

http://www.stopbigots.com to learn why that is the case.

rbw82

Outside of Sunny Purdue who has an impressive record of fiscal responsibility similar to Mitt Romney, I think you list is whistling in the dark. Come to think of it, why Sunny Purdue who has an impressive record of fiscal responsibility similar to Mitt Romney–Just get Mitt Romney as VP and cut to the chase!

McCain would pull an enormous amount of votes if he picked up Romney as his VP

Judging from this site, Mitt Romney has more commitment and more support than any other possible contender. Personally that is the only way I can hold my nose and vote for McCain is if Romney is riding shotgun!

Romney may be a good VP candidate because of his Religion would throw him into a minority category.

Really McCain has no shortage of options, it would be best if he had a VP that was from a minority because then it would throw the typical democrat attack out the window.

There is one person who would both help Senator McCain in the fall, and is qualified to be President: Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine. Check out her record. Check out her qualifications. Check out her approval rating. She has what it takes.

Actually I think we should avoid having another senator, we need to keep all the seats that people are retiring, otherwise the Dems will push through things that would force a retreat and defeat. If Snowe is that popular, she should stay where she is.

A governor or former governor that is extremely popular would be a lot better.

Robert,

Olympia Snowe of Maine is a dumb idea. She couldn’t even deliver her own state for McCain try as she might they wanted Romney and that is how they voted in spite of literal snow, hail wind and ice.

I do agree that a former governor is the best option and that would be Mitt Romney.

People may say that McCain and Romney hate each other so the idea of a joint ticket isn’t going to fly. I’m sure they don’t hate each other more than the successful Kennedy Johnson ticket.

Mitt Romney and John McCain have too much Bad Blood between them.

McCain owes his success to his leaning to the Left. Choosing Mitt Romney would be a step backwards. It is evident that the Republican base is leaning to the Left.

Face it, the Republican base has already spoken and have already rejected Romney.

Romney is the poster boy of the extreme right and will constantly be under pressure to sabotage McCain.

IT DOESNT MATTER IM A REPUBLICAN AND HE CANT WIN====OBAMA WILL KLL EVERYONE

marie writes..

People may say that McCain and Romney hate each other so the idea of a joint ticket isn’t going to fly. I’m sure they don’t hate each other more than the successful Kennedy Johnson ticket.<<<

I’m not sure that’s the point. I doubt very seriously if Romney would accept such an invitation. If he does and McCain wins he is essentially committed to run as his VP for re-election in 2012 and that’s not what he wants. He’s betting that McCain will lose and he will be free to challenge Obama or Hillary in 2012. I would say that if Hillary wins the nomination the odds of Romney being McCain’s running mate increases but if it’s Obama it’s virtually zero.

Condie rice
Newt
Gen. Patraus
Ollie North
Karl Rove

Ha! Ha! Ha!, everyone wants Romney for VP. Then they will vote for McCain and hope he dies! Ha! Ha! Ha!

The only group of people that a Huckabee VP nomination would polarize would be the disgruntled mormon/hate-Huckabee voters. This conservative candidate could be the one to soften McCain’s moderate stance and unite the republican masses (excluding the Romney clan, of course) in November. But as Mcain said it is too early yet. Huckabee is still not out of it yet. We’ll see what happens in Texas.

Go Huckabee.

McCain should pick Fred Thompson. Thompson would be the best pick for many reasons including to reign in the conservative base. Thompson is also a southerner, but he isn’t too divisive like Huckabee or Romney. Thompson is the most conservative of those 3, and he is tough on defense, and he is a friend of Mccain. A McCain/Thomspon ticket will be hard to beat.

Well, I guess the news media has already decided who the Republican candidate will be.
CNN canceled the upcoming Feb. 28th Republican Debate. Apparently they feel the republicans vote in the next few primaries are not needed.
Many feel the debate needs to be aired & we are signing a petition. Remember any of the delegates that does not belong to McCain are free to vote the way they want at the convention. McCain can still be beat.

You’ll find the petition @
http://www.petitiononline.com/jkb1961/petition.html

The current election dynamic illustrates the influence exerted by the media to control our nation. I am disgusted by the media’s corronaton of candidates. Why has McCain been selected as the only conservative choice? I don’t care whether the corporate news networks tell me Huckabee cannot win. How many will join me to vote for the best man, giving no consideration for this media circus? I hope enough of you agree with me to make the difference.

I for one say Mike Huckabee is the best .
1) He has the south state support we need to win in nov.
2) He can bring in those on the religues right that will not support McCain with out him. Like Dr. James Dobson He has A whole lot of Power with those people.
3) we all know Mike Has shown he would not be one of those unseen unheard from VP. It would make those of us with Family value’s feel much better sopporting McCain.
4) Alot of Huckabee’s supporters feel robbed By LA’s chooce of Delegate divide. And WA questionable primary. Many want Huckabee to run 3rd party. (if he does REPUBLICAN’S Can not win becouse It will Split the voter’s that we need.)

Look how Close MO LA WA and other primary’s where. VA was not that close but Huckabee got a lot more than what was expected to have.WE need McCain to pull in the MOD’s And Independent’s And Mike Huckabee to Pull those McCain has offened In the Past back to the Party for support.
I hope EVEN those WHO may not like Huckabee THINK what’s best for the Party…

I wish that John McCain would ask Duncan Hunter to be his Vice Presidential running mate.

Hunter was grossly overlooked partly due to lack of money, and partly because he is not a glory seeker. He has spent his time in Congress taking care of the people’s business,not feathering his nest as most have done.

It is too soon because McCain is still going to lose to the best man left, Mike Huckabee. At a brokered convention McCain will finally reveal his true colors, cussing and swearing as he has for the past 25 years ( over which has accrued 38 ethics complaints for abusive language and threatening behavior) and he will remind us how completely and thoroughly inept he is at speaking.

By then, Barack will be the Dem nominee and we will wholly realize the absolute idiocy of sending one of the most economically ignorant and verbally inferior candidates to ever run for president up against him.
Wisely, we will turn to the most charismatic and articulate candidate in the race, Mike Huckabee.

We will choose him and like all of the four other previous brokered Republican conventions in history, we will win.

Go Mike Huckabee!

Huckaphony will not be the VP:

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Novak_McCain_huckabee/2008/02/17/73421.html?s=al&promo_code=4568-1

Sunday, February 17, 2008 8:05 PM

By: Phil Brennan, Newsmax.com Article Font Size

Forget Mike Huckabee as a running mate for John McCain, his closest supporters say — there’s no chance he’ll be on the GOP presidential ticket.

So writes veteran political columnist Robert Novak, who reports that political insiders close to McCain’s presidential campaign “have put out the word that there is absolutely no chance that his last remaining major opponent for the GOP presidential nomination, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, will become McCain’s running mate.”

Every endorsement further enrages my feeling that “they” (The Establishment) are trying to make my mind up for me…

Support DEMOCRACY…

http://www.petitiononline.com/jkb1961/petition.html

Whether you support McCain or not there should still be a debate if nothing else for the sake of reconciliation. North Carolina has not even held their primary yet and they are telling us it’s over? We have no voice? TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS GROUNDS FOR REVOLT AS I RECALL…

This whole process has been hijacked from the start.

IT’S NOT OVER IF IT’s BROKERED !!!

JC WATTS — Republicans win in a landslide

This fall, I will be voting for, as I hope most American’s will also do, John McCain. Like it or not, we are in a war. I have talke with several soldiers, mainly friends of my son and son in law from Iraq, and they tell a far different story than what you are seeing on the nightly news. There are millions of Iraqies who want and need this war to end successfully for them.

It takes TIME to build a strong functioning government. Look at West Germany after the close of World War II. Sure we signed the peace treaty in 1945, but anybody can easily verify that the West German government did not get full autonomy until 1955. That is 10 years after the “Mission Accomplished” festivities following the so-called VE day. Check out the “Wolf Hound” units on Google. You will find that people who worked with the allies to build the government did so at risk of their lives, especially in the 1940’s.

Give the people of Iraq some credit for being intelligent enough to understand that the United States is not their true enemy. Do you really believe that the parents in a village where they are now getting purified water for the first time in their history want to wipe out those who helped them build the system? Do you think those parents who are seeing their children getting a good education in a functioning school are growing ever more hatred for the United States?

Obama and ClinTOON are both on record for an immediate pullout from Iraq commencing within 90 days of being elected. Billary said that she would start on January 20, 2009. What do you think that will do to the Iraqies who are working with our people today? I’ll give you a hint. Look at the pictures from the shamefull withdrawl from Saigon in 1975. There were thousands of Vietnamese who were crowding the gates of the Embassy fearing for their lives. Many of these became the hapless “Boat” people found dead in their makeshift boats after days at sea.

Rest assured that some advertisements showing Obama and Billary’s promises to cut and run on 1/2 of the TV screen, while the Embassy and Boat People debacles are shown on the other side of the screen. I truly believe it will be the equivalent of the famous 10, 9, 8 advertisement from the 1964 campaign.

I trulyhope the DemoRATS run Billary. Lots of people focus on the positive poll numbers. What they do not recognize is that many many voters do not vote for a candidate. Rather, they vote against a candidate. Billary’s problem in that she has the highest negatives of anybody in the race. She has a devoted following that really turn out and vote for her. However, because of her negatives, she cannot expand this base. That is why in state after state that Obama is constantly getting the lion’s share of late deciders. They too are voting against Hillary.

Finally, I agree with many of the above writers that the old Huckster would cause a rupture in the partry by driving the heavy Mormon population in the Intermountain States into the Democratic fold. It could be that Mitt would have the same problem with teh evangelicals. Therefore, while I am a pledged delegate for Mitt Romney, I understand that he might have the same problem with the evangelicals. There has got to be somebody who can fit into both cammps. Perhaps Fred Thompson.

Hillary — Bill did not want her — why should we?

The dems are far out doing republicans in fundraising. Maybe he should look to someone with a couple billion dollars handy. Spending $100 million would hardly dent their wallet, and they would be able to far outspend the dems.

Get Forbes or Bloomberg to sign on.

Better yet, Bill Gates. Everybody loves him.

http://www.acsa.net/cain.2004.org/Dine-Navajo-PressRelease.htm

It talks about how McCain was instrumental in making legislation to force the peaceful Navajo people off their land to make it accessible for mining by a company called Peabody Mining, so they could steal their coal. Then, he and others in the deal paid to have it suppressed by the media. After I read the first article, I wanted to check it out, so I did a search and came up with Multitudes of reports about this event, and the hardships that it forced on these agrarian people

McCain has it right - it is too early. He does not have the nomination yet - he is short votes. Elections are still in process, although many would like to ignore them. Huckabee could still win the nomination at the convention. If he does not, I will vote for McCain, but only if he does NOT choose Romney, Rice, or Perry as his running mate. I absolutely cannot vote for those pandering, put the “special intersts first” individuals. What attracts me most to Huckabee is his efforts to put the people first in this country. Romney, Rice, and Perry do the exact opposite, and I cannot vote for a ticket with those individuals on it.

To Pete: Not a nice comment about McCain. I myself am still a Mitt Romney supporter. Since Gov Romney gave his endorsement to McCain, I will reluctantly vote for McCain in the Texas primary. I have very mixed feelings about a McCain/Romney ticket. If it were to actually happen…I just don’t know if it would work. Romney is, in opinion very presidential and so qualified. If the Republican party manages to win the White House again , then a McCain/Romney ticket would be EXCELLENT. Otherwise, I would hate to see Mitt Romney on a “losing” ticket and have to wait until 2012. He’s better than that. Thank you.

For all of those who think Huckabee would make a good VP : He will be an easy target for the Dems this fall. Anyone who publicly states that we should revise the constitution so that it’s more in line with God’s law does not understand the separation of church and state, and that alone will undermine a lot of support from everyone outside of the religious right.

Huckabee should let go of his ego and get out. Having said that, Charlie Crist would be a fine running mate. He has a great deal of loyalty in Florida, a key state (unlike Maine - give me a break). Regardless, the Dems have a leg up on us this year.

As a South Carolinian, I would love to see Mark Sanford get the nod.
He is fiscally responsible, personable, and willing to listen to the people. He has actually done a remarkable job for SC.

Google his name and read his Bio. He would make a great VP and President down the road.

Yes, a Mitt Romney VP ticket would challenge the evangelical vote. However, Mitt Romney also did quite well in Southern states behind. The only reason Huckabee has made a connection with them was because he served as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention (akin to the Pope of the Catholic Church). Yet, there was also quite a following of evangelicals turned off by Huckabee’s portrayal of foreign policy and his attachment of religion to his campaign.

There is a group at http://blogromneyforvp.unitethegop.com/ who are putting together a political action committee (PAC) to get Governor Romney as the Vice President candidate on the McCain ticket. We are also going to support a Mitt Romney presidency in 2012. We invite all people everywhere to join us in having a voice. Together we can making our voices heard.

What about Romney? he is clearly #2, and wowed conservatives at CPAC. I will not vote for McCain unless Romney is on the ticket. He is the most intelligent in terms of the economy, and that is the #2 issue facing all Americans.