McCain's Choice Of Running Mate: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty?
There are nearly two years until Election Day 2008, but it's never too early to start speculating on the Presidential hopefuls' choices of running mates. And today's New York Sun has some interesting speculation on this score, reporting that John McCain appears to be considering as his Veep candidate GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.
To bolster its case, the Sun recounts a convincing anecdote that to our knowledge wasn't widely reported, if at all, when it happened:
In the final week of the November election, Mr. McCain made several appearances with Mr. Pawlenty and his words of praise would suggest the Arizona senator sees in the governor a potential future vice president. "I know of no one who will make a greater contribution to the future of America than this great leader," Mr. McCain said at one stop. "This is the kind of leadership that I'd like to pass the torch to."
Well, since Pawlenty isn't going to be running for the Senate from Arizona any time soon, McCain's desire to "pass the torch" to Pawlenty can only mean one thing, right?
The Sun also notes that Pawlenty is an attractive choice because he survived reelection in a cycle where the GOP suffered severe losses in Minnesota. The paper concludes: "In the meantime, the Republicans committed to holding their 2008 convention in St. Paul. The early contours of the GOP's 2008 strategy suggest that it wants to win over the remaining blue parts of the Upper Midwest — Minnesota, Wisconsin, and maybe Michigan — the way it grabbed Iowa and expanded its hold on Missouri in 2004." Like we said, it's never to early to speculate.
Pawlenty barely survived here in Minnesota. He was in a 3-way race and the dem challenger got skewered over a gaffe late in the election. Nevertheless, it was very close.
I do agree that the republicans have had hope of turning Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, but after the last election, this strategy looks overly ambitious. The Minnesota legislature and all other statewide offices, for example, went overwhelmingly dem.
In truth, the 1994 elections did give the republicans a bump in the liberal northland - but that bump has turned out to be more of a blip and has been more or less wiped out.
December 13, 2006 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
What was the gaffe?
December 13, 2006 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course the GOP WANTS to expand the field to their advantage, but the question is whether they can do so. Carville noted possible states that Hillary could win in exactly the same way. There are only so many states in play, where the election comes down to a single digit spread, and both sides know them well. The question is always who wins them.
The GOP may be better off keeping the states they had in 2004 in their fold, given that they won. The Dems HAVE to expand their #s to win, while the GOP wins if it just holds the Bush states (esp. FL and OH, obviously).
December 13, 2006 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
This kind of statement, along with the GOP convention being in MN...give me pause...and make me wonder if the GOP plans for MN to be what FL and OH were in 2000 and 2004. After all, the first pre-requisite is that the state have a GOP governor. Pawlenty even said he would vote with Bush if his ratings were 2 percent, so he is just like Barney and Laura.
December 13, 2006 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink