McCain veep

Former PA Senator Rick Santorum outlined for the Philadelphia Inquirer his idea of a successful John McCain vice presidential pick

Here is a quick screen his team should apply: Does the potential running mate have a connection to President Bush? Is he or she not ready for prime time, because that's the GOP's main charge against Obama?

Does the man or woman have meaningful government experience - long-serving governor or member of Congress, because the public understands that running a company and knowing how to govern are not the same thing? Is the potential running mate a lightning-rod conservative or, conversely, a selection that threatens to turn off the GOP's conservative base?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/veep_watch/2008/08/santorum_says.html

Now one caveat should be made here. This comes from a purple state incumbent who just lost a re-election by 20 points. Much as folks here shoot the messenger, the base alone is just not enough.

But let's run through this screen. Santorum's former Governor Tom Ridge has two dings---he's going to irritate conservatives and he worked for Bush.  Lieberman clearly is even more problematic on those grounds than Ridge.

Mitt Romney probably passes this screen, on the other hand Mike Huckabee might be the sort of "lightning rod" Santorum (perhaps in belated self-assessment) fears would cost votes.

Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal may not be "long serving governors" as neither has completed term one.

Tim Pawlenty seems to fill all these boxes, as would someone who's running off the radar screen in recent weeks , South Carolina's Mark Sanford (I don;t think a southern male VP is very strategic in this environment, but he passes this test).  

I do need to remind folks of one dark horse who passes the Santorum test with ease.

RI's Don Carcieri

http://thenextright.com/ironman/the-case-for-carcieri

A Quiet holiday weekend in the Land of Steady Habits, but a few items worth reporting:

a)CT to Joe. Don't Go 

Remember all the buzz that Joe Lieberman on the McCain ticket might flip CT. Well, one poll isn;t finding it.

The Quinnipiac Poll came out and it was pretty much a horror show, McCain losing CT to Obama by 21 (as bad as Bush lost to Gore), and depressed approval ratings for all incumbents.http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1296.xml?ReleaseID=1190

(one caveat: it appears that in all jurisdictions Quinnipiac is making Obama look good; check the RCP averages)

Lieberman's move to McCain's side has not helped his standing.http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1296.xml?ReleaseID=1189. He's down to 45% approval , due to the fact Democrats are now 62% disapprove. 

As far as Lieberman running on a ticket with McCain, well it is 14% more likely to vote McCain; 32% less likely. Democrats and blacks are the predominant "less likely" so one like wonder how likely they'd ever be to vote for McCain, but there is no offsetting groundswell from independent voters akin to the surge that elected him in the three way 2006 race.

B) Hate the people, policies are , well , maybe

GW Bush is as popular in CT right now as dandruff. He is running at 19% approval, 78% disapproval. Even Republicans are split down the middle.

But quitting Iraq is not as popular as one might think.  47% of voters in this dark Blue state favro immediate withdrawal; 48% favor staying in Iraq until it is stable. 

C) Fault lines

While McCain is getting crushed with under 35 year olds and has virtually no measurable support from black voters; he is tied with Catholics and staying within hailing distance with over 35 year olds and voters outside the Hartford area.

D) Can I call you sweetheart?

CT voters stopped saying this about Dodd. He is stuck at 51% job approval and his disapproval rating is rapidly rising, up to 34%. This is significant sicen the last poll was done at what was deemed a nadir of Dodd popularity in the wake of his failed Presidential bid.

His re-elect is down to 51% and his "hard" re-elect is only 14%. On the other hand, 19% of the voters are now certain NOT to vote for Dodd.

This is particularly troubling for the Dodd camp when you consider his approval and re-elect numbers are now 5 points worse than the Barack Obama ballot test; which means he is bleeding liberal and Democrat support to some measure.

A 51%-39% re-elect number is quite similar to some now former senators in the last cycle had two years out. With 59% of the voters wanting a broader investigation of Dodd's friendly mortgage deal, there is not liable to be too many laughs in the Dodd camp, that is, unless  he finds the Sunday comic in the Courant amusing (it's not on line yet, I'll post it when it's up)

Last night the CT Republicans did their annual big fundraising dinner, the Prescott Bush dinner (named after the President's grandad) down in Stamford

I attended last year's dinner featuring Fred Thompson but family obligations kept me at home last night.  This year's speaker was MN Governor Tim Pawlenty. I've attached accounts of his performance.

"Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty last night encouraged the Republican Party to make itself accessible to working people, once known as Reagan Democrats, and highlighted the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama.

"We have great choice before us as country," Pawlenty said at the annual Prescott Bush Awards Dinner at the Sheraton Hotel on Summer Street. "We are going to pick someone who is the commander of the Free World, if you just looked at the resumes of these two individuals it is not even close."

While perusing the suggestions over at Ironman's blog post on outside-the-box VP choices, one name jumped out at me -- Christopher Ilitch.  I don't know a whole lot about Mr. Ilitch outside of what his bio has to say.  I seem to recall that his family is very much pro-military, and from what I gather, he was a big supporter of Rudy Giuliani in the primaries.

A lot of business experience, young, family-oriented, pro-military, from a battleground state where his family is immensely popular.

He certainly seems worthy of consideration to this particular blogger.

Comments?  Can anyone tell us more about him?