Who Gets the VP Rose?

Huckabee wanted to be there but couldn't nor could Pawlteny. Maybe this was his club of "aint gunna get its"

Also in addition to his moderate credentials (vs his Conservative Reputation) Charlie Crist has a gay problem. He is likely gay. Gay Staffers have said they had sex with him and he's been a fixture before moving up the gop hierachy in florida in local tampa gay bars. I think a national media exposure of that would wound McCain

Romney will help appease the disgruntled conservative

Really? When did conservatives embrace socialized medicine, higher taxes, "gun control", higher spending, taxpayer funded abortion on demand, No Child Left Behind, and amnesty for illegal aliens? Mitter wasn't part of "Rudy McRomney" just because conservatives were bored, he was there because he's a liberal like Rudy Giuliani and John McLame.

He has been remarkably successful putting Louisiana in ethical check in just more than four months as governor

No, he hasn't.  In fact, at the last minute the wording "clear and convincing" was added to the legislation, effectively gutting it.  And Jindal has not objected.  Nor has the body responsible for enforcing all this been funded.  We have great-SOUNDING, but largely unenforceable, ethics laws. 

Although I've been a Jindal voter and supporter for years, and was *thrilled* with the job he did in the House, I'm very disappointed in him as governor.  Toothless ethics reform, a state hiring "freeze" that is decidedly warm, huge proposed expansions in entitlement spending without any proposed cuts, trying desperately to exempt himself and his top staffers from sunshine laws, and first saying no outright to tax relief, and then allowing it, but delaying it until 2009.  Unless he turns this around and gets back to being the conservative we elected, it's just the same old Louisiana politics.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!! 

I know a lot of people aren't going to be fans of this idea, but I support Joe Lieberman for VP.  I do this for several reasons.

1.  It would piss off the right people.  A lot of Dems were already angered by Joe's refusal to accept his party's decision and his subsequent run as an indie.  Could you imagine the rage from the moonbats if he ran on the ticket with the enemy?

2.  Appeal.  While some conservatives would be aghast at the idea.  Lieberman, like McCain, is someone who appeals to the center.  A McCain-Lieberman ticket would appeal to undecided voters and Democrats who have grown tired of their party being run by the kooks at Daily Kos and MoveOn.org.

3.  Jewish vote.   With Obama the likely Dem candidate, Lieberman as VP could accomplish two things.  Although Jewish voters have usually supported Dems, Lieberman could help attract those who are already disturbed by the Obama campaign's increasingly anti-Israel, anti-Semitic views.  Further, Lieberman could help the drive the point home that while Obama may not be a Muslim, he certainly has Muslim sympathies and that to elect a guy who is sympathetic to those who wish to destroy this country is idiocy of the highest order.

In conclusion, while I am a strong conservative and would have rather seen Duncan Hunter in McCain's spot, McCain is the man and I strongly feel that Lieberman is the right man for the job.  His experience, unwavering devotion to our nation's security, and rogue status make him the perfect running mate.

As a long-time Minnesota Republican activist, and former elected official, I am reasonably acquainted with Governor Tim Pawlenty. Let me give you the pros and cons.

Pawlenty is a very impressive individual. Alarmingly smart and witty, he is outstanding speaker. He is self-effacing, friendly and impossible not to like. He is reasonably conservative on the fiscal side - rock solid on the social issues. He has led Minnesota during a period of budget deficits and has fended off tax hikes until this year when the Legislature managed to over ride one of his many vetos (gas tax and sales tax hikes to fund transit and roads). He has been, by far, the best governor Minnesota has had in my lifetime.

On the other side of the coin, he has bought the environmental nonsense hook, line and sinker. He is green and it is just not a political calculation - he believes in wind power, ethanol, bio-diesel and global warming. This is my biggest problem with him. Others, who have known him well and served with him in the legislature also complain, at times bitterly, about his lack of loyalty. It was the House Republican Caucus that secured his endorsement during the 2002 state Republican convention  where he was up against a very conservative opponent - it went 14 ballots.  After his election in November, the complaint was that he had forgotten where he came from and who his friends were. It is a feeling that many conservative office holders have to this day.

McCain could do a whole lot worse than Pawlenty. Tim deserves to be on any short list, if for no other reason that he remained on the stump for McCain when he was all but dead and buried. The problem, as I see it, is that Pawlenty has poor name recognition among the national conservative base. Romney would be better in that regard.

What ever happens, I'm not going to worry about Tim Pawlenty. He is a young man that is going places. Very impressive - very impressive indeed.

Voters think politicians have failed them, not just Bush.

Thnking tactically,  if we stay among the political class wouldn't  Tom Ridge make sense? He clearly has the gravitas.  His biography (blue collar "Nam vet) is a virtual clone of disgruntled Hillary voters. If Obama loses PA, he needs to run the table on the other swing states to win.

Is Ridge's record on abortion that bad? I thought he opposed PBA and favored parental notification.  That's not in Joe Lieberman/Christie Whitman country on this issue.