This Is One of the Funniest Things I've Watched in a Long Time

I Think I Like Me Some Sarah Palin

John and Sarah

Your crotchety grandfather and your cool aunt.
They make the party more interesting.
But do you really want them running the family?




And yet, I am cautiously optimistic about Sarah Palin. She's a gamble, but McCain strikes me as a high risk / high reward kind of guy. Time will tell if she has the gravitas to be VP or if she's a lightweight in the Dan Quayle mold. Either way, I am suddenly looking forward to the Vice Presidential debate with her and Biden.

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Am I the Only One?

Am I the only one who sees a lot of similarities between these two Vice Presidential picks?

He Needs Gravitas

In 2000, GWB helped himself immensely by choosing Dick Cheney as his running mate. Seen as being a lightweight, Bush needed "gravitas" as the mainstream media parroted for days.

On the brink of announcing his veep pick, I think Obama is in the same boat. He needs someone with some weight, some heft, some inside Washington know-how. For all of his talk of changing Washington, Obama has simply not been an agent of change while in Senate. He needs a Vernon Jordan-esque person to help him wade the political waters around the Potomic.

With that in mind, the best choices for Obama, in my estimation, are

Former Senator Sam Nunn
Senator Joseph Biden

or ...

Former Secretary of State and Retired General Colin Powell.

Though it would assure his victory, the Powell pick is too sexy for Obama. Sam Nunn has been out of politics a while, not unlike Dick Cheney, but I don't think Obama wants to draw any comparisons to Cheney. Therefore, I think he's going to pick Joe Biden.

The only other choice that makes sense to me is New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. But I think Obama is counting on the Hispanic vote without him.

Historically, I'm not so good at predictions, so I wouldn't be surprised if he goes with the utterly unimaginative choices of Indiana Senator Evan Byah (yawn) or Governor Tim Kaine (who?) or even Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius (girl power). About the only thing that would surprise me is if he chose a certain blonde Senator from New York.

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Hey, Tim LaHaye and Rob McCoy ...

You don't speak for me.

From the article:

"McCain and Romney would be like oil and water," said evangelical novelist Tim LaHaye, who supported Mr. Huckabee. "We aren't against Mormonism, but Romney is not a thoroughgoing evangelical and his flip-flopping on issues is understandable in a liberal state like Massachusetts, but our people won't understand that."

Really? His policy changes are understandable, but "our people won't understand that"???? How stupid are your people, Tim?

The Rev. Rob McCoy, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, Calif., who speaks at evangelical events across the country, told The Washington Times, "I will vote for McCain unless he does one thing. You know what that is? If he puts Romney on the ticket as veep. "It will alienate the entire evangelical community - 62 million self-professing evangelicals in this country, half of them registered to vote, are going to be deeply saddened," Mr. McCoy added.

Really? You know what 62 million people are thinking, Rob?

Ridiculous.

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Landslides: the Veepstakes

Let's talk Vice Presidents. Here are some of my thoughts on how the veepstakes could produce a landslide win for the candidates.

If Barack Obama wants to win in a landslide, there is one man he could choose as his running mate. Ready?

Ret. General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Seriously.

Here's what Powell would bring to the ticket:
- Much needed gravitas.
- Washington experience.
- Foreign policy experience.
- Military experience.
- Bipartisanship that goes beyond rhetoric.

But ... but ... but ... isn't Powell a Republican? Yes. That's kind of the point.

Would America vote for two black men? The people who wouldn't vote for two black men wouldn't vote for one black man.

Isn't Powell too aligned with the Bush administration? It was one of the worst kept secrets of Bush's first term that Powell was a bad fit with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Bolton. Pairing with Obama would allow him to reestablish himself as the independent that most Americans think he is.

In the last 20 years, Colin Powell could have been President any time he wanted to be. Few others are as nationally liked as he is.

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If John McCain wants to win in a landslide, he could choose Ronald Reagan as his ... oh wait. Nevermind.

Go Dem, Old Man

Hey, I'm back. And in the next few weeks, I'll be blogging a bit about McCain's VP selection. To get started, here is Jonah Goldberg's interesting and compelling argument that Senator McCain ought to pick a Democrat like Joe Lieberman or Sam Nunn as his running mate. Enjoy.