While everybody is playing up a potential dream ticket of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton we will look at who is in the running to be the VP candidate for John McCain. This week some reports have put former presidential hopeful Mike Hucakbee as the early clubhouse leader. He brings charisma and southern charm to the ticket as well as social conservatism that some say McCain lacks himself.
Huckabee though will not play very well to fiscal conservatives with the tax hikes he put through while Governor of Arkansas. Another problem is his lack of enforcement of Illegal Aliens in the state of Arkansas. Since McCain is also weak in those areas it will be a tough decison for him to select Huckabee as well as one that can easily backfire on him.
Mitt Romney another of his vanquished Republican challengers for the nomination is also highly regarded as a potential running mate. He brings executive skills as the former Governor of Massachusetts and financial skills from his venture capital days.
However in today's environment of people distrusting Wall Street types and the observation of some that he is elitist does not help McCain, especially if McCain is going to attack Obama as an elitist.
There are some who say that McCain should pick someone who could help carry a swing state. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Rob Portman of Ohio both fit that bill. They are not as well known as the above candidates but that would change if they are the Vice Presidential running mates. Rob Portman odds of getting the nod will go up greatly if Obama does pick Governor Ted Strckland of Ohio as his running mate. As everyone always points out a Republican has never won the Presidency without carrying Ohio. Bobby Jindal has also been mentioned as a potential running mate but his relative lack of experience and the fact that Louisiana will probably go Republican in the fall work against him.
If a woman is chosen to balance out the ticket. Kay Bailey Hutchinson would be the early favorite due to her long standing reputation as a stalwart Republican Senator from Texas. Even though Condolleeza Rice hs been prominently mentioned she does not want the job and picking someone from the Bush Administration would probably be political suicide for McCain. Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska has also been mentioned but would be a longshot due to her relative inexperience as was the case with Bobby Jindal since that will be one of the main issues that McCain will be attacking Obama on in the fall.
