Sunday, July 27, 2008
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The Conservative Guide to VP Picks
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
11:37 AM
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We're getting close to having a "veep" pick, so it occurs to me that it might be good to officially let the McCain folks know how conservatives will likely receive certain picks.
Note: While I don't pretend to speak for all conservatives, my guess is this list will represent the opinions of most movement conservatives.
Note: While I could write about the political arguments for these picks, I have instead chosen to put together a list based on political philosophy. For example, Tom Ridge may make sense politically (he's from PA) -- but not from a conservative philosophical perspective (he's pro-choice) ...
-Gov. Bobby Jindal - He would excite conservatives.
-Gov. Sarah Palin - She would excite conservatives.
-Gov. Mark Sanford - Conservatives would appreciate this pick.
- Former Gov. Mitt Romney - Most conservatives would appreciate this pick.
-Sen. John Thune - Many conservatives would be excited by this pick. He would certainly not be offensive to conservatives.
-Gov. Tim Pawlenty - Acceptable, but not exciting.
-Gov. Charlie Crist - Barely acceptable. Certainly not exciting to conservatives.
-Former Gov. Tom Ridge -- Unacceptable. Deal-breaker.
Because of McCain's advanced age -- and the fact that Bush left us without a successor -- my guess is that a GOP VP pick will be perceived as even more important than ever.
Note: This list includes candidates whom I believe have a realistic chance of being selected. But there are certainly more names that have been mentioned. I did not include Mike Huckabee, which will surely anger some. This is because I honestly do not believe he is seriously being considered. He would obviously be very acceptable to social conservatives, but unacceptable to most fiscal conservatives.
So what did I miss? Agree or disagree with this??
Update: What about Bloomberg? My take is that this is an unacceptable pick, as it makes him the successor. Philosophically, Bloomberg is a bad conservative pick. But is he a great political pick???
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