There wasn't enough room to type Pro-Abortion Rights. But it makes no sense - at a time when McCain desperately needs the religious, Christian right portion of the GOP base that Bush got to come out in droves, why would he do this? I'm not that bright, so maybe someone can explain the political calculus to me if this is true? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/us/politics/20veep.html Talk of McCainâs No. 2 Concerns Conservatives By ELISABETH BUMILLER Published: August 19, 2008 LAS CRUCES, N.M. â Senator John McCain is facing increasing scrutiny about his selection of a running mate as some social conservatives expressed alarm on Tuesday that Mr. McCain might ask a candidate who favors abortion rights to join him on the ticket. But other conservatives said that Mr. McCain, who has long been in step with the Republican Party platform in opposing abortion, was unlikely to be the first Republican presidential nominee in decades to select such a candidate. They said that Mr. McCainâs recent public flirtation with Tom Ridge, a former Pennsylvania governor who supports abortion rights, was as much to give the appearance that Mr. McCain had an open mind on the issue as it was an embrace of Mr. Ridge. âI think thereâs such sufficient understanding at the most senior levels of this campaign of the importance of the pro-family constituency that Iâm very comfortable with how the selection process is proceeding,â one Republican strategist close to the campaign said. âI think social conservatives will be fine.â Republicans said Mr. McCain would name his choice after the Democratic convention ended next Thursday. Mr. McCainâs aides said that no day had been set, but that one strong possibility was Friday, when Mr. McCain has a rally scheduled in Ohio. The campaign has refused to comment on who is under consideration, but current conjecture has settled largely on three possibilities: Mr. Ridge, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut and a McCain ally, is also said to be under consideration. On the Democratic side, Senator Barack Obama will in all likelihood appear with his newly named running mate on Saturday in Springfield, Ill., where he formally began his quest for the presidency in February 2007. They will then begin a tour of battleground states leading up to their arrival at the convention in Denver next Wednesday. Mr. Obama, whose campaign is seeking to maximize the attention drawn to his vice-presidential selection, plans to announce his choice in a text message to supporters, which some aides said could be sent Friday or even sooner. Mr. Obama will accept his partyâs nomination on Thursday night before a large audience at Invesco Field, where he will follow an appearance by former Vice President Al Gore. Mr. Ridge, meanwhile, was the focus of intense speculation on the Internet on Tuesday as associates of Mr. McCain said campaign aides had been calling party and conservative leaders across the country to gauge their reaction to various candidates, as well as to the idea of Mr. McCain nominating a supporter of abortion rights â presumably Mr. Ridge. Nonetheless, four Republican Party chairmen in important states said Tuesday that they had not been contacted about their views on a running mate. âNobody has called me regarding the vice presidency from the McCain campaign,â said Robert T. Bennett, the chairman of the Republican Party of Ohio, a crucial swing state, echoing comments from the chairmen of the Michigan, New Hampshire and Virginia Republican parties. Still, Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is a close friend and traveling companion of Mr. McCain, raised the idea of a running mate who supports abortion rights last week when Mr. McCain met with social conservatives in Birmingham, Mich. Mr. Graham asked if the group would rather have a running mate who opposed abortion but caused the Republicans to lose or a running mate who supported abortion rights and caused the party to win, recalled James Muffett, a social conservative who attended the meeting. Quite a few people, said Mr. Muffett, said they preferred to lose. Some Republicans said that Mr. McCain could still choose Mr. Ridge and get around the problem with social conservatives by assuring them that the vice-presidential candidate would support the position of the presidential candidate and the party, no matter his personal views. Such a formulation would be unlikely to satisfy Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show host and longtime McCain nemesis, who on Tuesday sounded a siren for his listeners. âIf he picks a pro-choice running mate, itâs not going to be pretty,â Mr. Limbaugh warned, adding that Mr. McCain would have âeffectively destroyed the Republican Party and pushed the conservative movement into the bleachers.â Republicans said Mr. Romney remained a contender, although the two were bitter rivals in the primary campaign and do not have strong chemistry. In addition, Mr. Romney, a Mormon, could be a difficult sell to Christian conservatives. A person associated with Mr. Romney said Tuesday that he had detected no strong interest from the McCain campaign in recent weeks. Republicans said Mr. Pawlenty, an evangelical Christian, was also a strong possibility. His main drawback is that he has little name recognition outside of Minnesota. Reporting was contributed by John M. Broder in Orlando, Fla.; Michael Cooper and Michael Luo in New York; and Jeff Zeleny in Washington.
He's a wacky semi-Republican with much in common with the Democrats. He's a wacky semi-Democrat with much in common with the Republicans. Can these two odd balls move in together in the Whitehouse? Just as conservatives were starting to feel like pulling the lever for McCain, along comes the Odd Couple Ticket, McCain/Lieberman. Join us for all the hilarity starting next week. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080820/ap_on_el_pr/lieberman_gop_convention This election cycle's gonna be hell on my liver.
Lieberman.....ewwwww. I am not that articulate today, but 'ewwww' pretty succinctly and accurately sums up my feelings there. I think that ticket would fare badly.