Veepstakes: 5.22.08

things are in motion, people....

john mccain has not really hidden the fact that he is looking into his potential running mate. however, cnn is reporting this morning that obama has also begun to seek out his running mate (but in secret. shhhhh....).

time to revise the list.

the GOP
mccain is meeting with three individuals this week at his home. not surprising, they're all governors.

first up is charlie crist of florida. crist remains at the top of my prediction list. when you're running for prez, you want to carry florida. a very popular gov from that state will do the trick.

ole johnny boy is also meeting with flip-flop mitt. yes, governor romney has apparently made the short list after their very public distaste of each other highlighted their primary campaigning. but... the conservative base seems to like mitt. i also heard an interesting idea: mitt could carry michigan where his father, an ex-governor, was very popular. taking away michigan, a blue state the dems should win in november, is a nice strategy.

and finally....apparently...rush's voice is still big in the GOP. of course, they're all soulless bastards, so why not?

bobby jindal, the newly elected governor of louisiana, is also meeting with mccain. i understand the thought-process behind this.... he's new and fresh... mccain is old and smells of formaldehyde. but a complete unknown? still... what a ticket.

the dems
there is still a lot of talk of hillary... and it seems it would be the best ticket to bring the party together. apparently, there are indications that she would take it. however, i just don't see how the choice flies with obama's narrative of new politics and turning the page on the past.

governor ted strickland of ohio has jumped to the top of my list. i'm almost embarrassed that i forgot to mention him last time. you want to win ohio as a presidential candidate in november... he could help carry that. he's also a hillary surrogate...and everyone still believes if he doesn't pick hill, pick one of her loyal supporters.

that also keeps gov. ed rendell of pennsylvania in the running and senator evan bayh of indiana.

i still think he could choose a woman to help pick up hillary's supporters. senator claire mccaskell of MO remains on my list. but...again with the logic that he should really pick a governor, kathy sebelius of kansas.

so you want a governor, i'm thinking, but you also want someone that can help you pick up a key state: ohio, pennsylvania, missouri.

let's rank 'em:

republican running-mate:

1. crist
2. romney
3. jindal
4. graham
5. petraeus

democratic running-mate:

1. strickland
2. rendell
3. sebelius
4. mccaskell
5. bayh

*with hillary remaining the ultimate spoiler.

e.