Rush blasts Ridge; Suggests Santorum

[12th Doctor]

Rush was a major political force back a decade ago, and I credit him for his part in having revived the Republican Party... he is just a shell of that now, though.  He has become almost totally irrelevant.

[12th Doctor]

Yes, Santorum was a McCain critic. So was Romney.

Yes, but Romney never so graciously repaid McCain for his help.

[12th Doctor]

I mean, if Santorum was planning on spitting on McCain in front of the whole country, he should have done it two years ago while McCain was campaigning to save his ass here in PA.

[12th Doctor]

Yes, Santorum was a McCain critic. So was Romney.

Yes, but Romney never so graciously repaid McCain for his help.

Oh, ok, we get it. I think Romney hurt McCain a lot more (and sometimes personally) than Rick did with his few comments.

I mean, if Santorum was planning on spitting on McCain in front of the whole country, he should have done it two years ago while McCain was campaigning to save his ass here in PA.

Get over it. Seriously. If the guy was seriously selected, do you really think it would be his goal to trash McCain?

What exactly does Rick Santorum bring to the ticket?  Even if he hadn't been running against Bob Casey in 06 it would have been a tough fight, and now, after losing by almost 20 points, I think its safe to say that Santorum is damaged goods.

[12th Doctor]

Why are you even bothering to bring up Romney?  Everyone is missing the real story here which is that Rush feels compelled to urge McCain not to pick Ridge... which means that McCain is probably planning on picking Ridge.

[12th Doctor]

What exactly does Rick Santorum bring to the ticket?  Even if he hadn't been running against Bob Casey in 06 it would have been a tough fight, and now, after losing by almost 20 points, I think its safe to say that Santorum is damaged goods.

Appeals to the base like no other possible running mate and he's a young guy.

I'm not suggesting that Santorum is a good pick. In fact, he goes against what I believe: McCain should play it safe and pick someone without controversy. We even discussed that that's Santorum's belief, too!

However, I won't deny that the guy has appeal.

I would say that his appeal to people who want to rip us apart is alot stronger than his appeal to the base.  It will be wall-to-wall attack ads.

[12th Doctor]

What exactly does Rick Santorum bring to the ticket?  Even if he hadn't been running against Bob Casey in 06 it would have been a tough fight, and now, after losing by almost 20 points, I think its safe to say that Santorum is damaged goods.

Appeals to the base like no other possible running mate and he's a young guy.

I'm not suggesting that Santorum is a good pick. In fact, he goes against what I believe: McCain should play it safe and pick someone without controversy. We even discussed that that's Santorum's belief, too!

However, I won't deny that the guy has appeal.

I would say that his appeal to people who want to rip us apart is alot stronger than his appeal to the base.  It will be wall-to-wall attack ads.

Fair enough but I'd rather a running mate that satisfies the base over someone that pisses off the base. Swing voters really aren't deciding based on the running mates so these attack ads wouldn't be too hurtful.

Phil, you know I like Rick, but Brittain is right, Rick is radioactive.

He violates the two general principles of a running-mate:

1) Do no harm.

2) Carry your home state.

[12th Doctor]

Phil, you know I like Rick, but Brittain is right, Rick is radioactive.

He violates the two general principles of a running-mate:

1) Do no harm.

2) Carry your home state.

Carry your home state really isn't the best benchmark for a running mate especially this year. I can agree with "do no harm" but there is no such thing as a perfect running mate.

No, but there are grades of imperfection, I would say that Santorum sits to low on the chart to be worth the risk.

[12th Doctor]

If I thought that there was an positive to picking Santorum that out-shined the negatives then I would be all for it.

As it stands, I think Ridge would be a solid pick.

[12th Doctor]

However, I won't deny that the guy has appeal.

You have to admit that you can't be anywhere near objective on the subject of Santorum's appeal.

Even among the base, there seem to be loads of people who resent him for saving Specter's ass.

That alone made it hard for people to get energized about supporting him in 06.  Just fixing that problem probably cost us a month... then I almost got him killed when I was driving him to the airport.

[12th Doctor]

Just fixing that problem probably cost us a month... then I almost got him killed when I was driving him to the airport.

If that's really that much of a problem with some people then we aren't winning them back anyway. The thing is that those people aren't numerous enough to cause a problem.

I was just about to ad, I think that the Saddleback forum is going to be remembered as a major turning point in this campaign.  If McCain didn't quell the evangelicals there, it won't happen.  His performance was brilliant.

[12th Doctor]

phil i dont understand you.

i know you love santorum.  that is fine.  but you have to know somewhere deep inside of you that santorum would be an absolutely horrible choice.

It would probably get mostly negative coverage but it ultimately wouldn't make that much of a difference.

     I agree with this. As long as McCain doesn't pick Cheney or Rumsfeld, the VP simply won't matter that much. Santorum might actually be good to drive GOTV among reactionaries in places like CO, FL, ND, VA, etc.

Awesome word.

[12th Doctor]

Everyone is missing the real story here which is that Rush feels compelled to urge McCain not to pick Ridge... which means that McCain is probably planning on picking Ridge.

Because of course McCain is vetting his possible running mates with the Dittomeister. 

I keep worrying that it will be Sanford.  I hope I'm reading way too much in the naming of SC Attorney General (and former State party chair) Henry McMaster as the convention's Chief Sergeant at Arms.  It's a ceremonial post that would be well suited to play a role in the formal nomination of Sanford for VP, if Sanford is the running mate.

One thing about Rush is that he almost always acts on good info.  If he brought up Ridge, specifically, it leads me to believe that he heard something.