Veepstakes: Interesting Developments

i find the race for the second spot on the ticket offering up some interesting nuggets lately.

the cryptkeeper is in texas today delivering several speeches on his energy policy. his policy includes a new caveat... mccain now endorses offshore drilling in states like california and florida. bush supports this idea but even when baby brother jeb was governor of florida - he did not.

my understanding is it's practically political suicide to support offshore drilling in these states. and yet...in another reversal...governor charlie crist of florida has now endorsed ole johnny boy's plan to drill off florida!

is someone positioning himself for the vice presidency by becoming a nodding "yes" man?

meanwhile.... barack obama has hired patti solis doyle, previously of the hillary clinton campaign. for those of you who may not remember....patti was hillary's campaign manager before hill axed her.

well, obama has hired patti to act as chief of staff to his yet-to-be-named veep.

does anyone else think that patti may steer obama away from making hillary her boss once again? is this a subtle sign from the obama camp that hillary will not be holding up in the number two spot?

mull this over while i once again offer my current rankings for the vice presidential choice of the two campaigns.

republican running-mate:

1. crist
2. romney
3. pawlenty *
4. sanford *
5. petraeus

* new editions to the veepstakes: tim pawlenty is the governor of minnesota (first elected in 2002) and won reelection in 2006 when most elections across the country went to democrats (including a minnesota senate seat). mark sanford is the governor of south carolina... and wouldn't losing south carolina put a wrench in obama's electoral map?

democratic running-mate:

1. strickland
2. rendell
3. the virginians *
4. sebelius
5. mccaskell

* new to the veepstakes: after clinching the nomination, obama's first stop was virginia. i could easily see him pick either the current governor (tim kaine) or ex-governor (mark warner). senator jim webb is still mentioned in almost every conversation but i really believe obama needs a governor and i'm afraid of losing a democratic senate seat in virginia.

** i still say hillary could be the ultimate spoiler...but it looks more and more doubtful - and i'm not sure it's the best choice for the ticket.

and i keep waiting for input from people, but so far: nothing. what do you think, my lovelies?

e.