The latest McCain VP rumor

[Meeker]

Marc Ambinder:

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[Mr. Morden]

more on this

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[Kaine for Senate '18]

I suppose Pawlenty wouldn't be a terrible choice, but I just don't see what he brings.  Any chance of swinging Minnesota is long gone, so why bother picking him?

[Flying Dog]

I suppose Pawlenty wouldn't be a terrible choice, but I just don't see what he brings.  Any chance of swinging Minnesota is long gone, so why bother picking him?

He's non-controversial.

[Keystone Phil]

I suppose Pawlenty wouldn't be a terrible choice, but I just don't see what he brings.  Any chance of swinging Minnesota is long gone, so why bother picking him?

He's non-controversial.

And young and conservative (satisfies the base).

[Alcon]

I hope that McCain won't choose Pawlenty because that indicates a boring campaign strategy.  I hope he won't pick Romney because I don't like Romney.  Most of his other choices are clowns for various reasons.

Sucks!

[Sarnstrom]

I think Pawlenty would be a better choice than Romney for McCain.

[auburntiger]

At least Obama won't be able to write it off as a safe state.

[ChrisFromNJ]

At least Obama won't be able to write it off as a safe state.

Yes he will.

[Lunar]

I hope that McCain won't choose Pawlenty because that indicates a boring campaign strategy.  I hope he won't pick Romney because I don't like Romney.  Most of his other choices are clowns for various reasons.

Sucks!

I actually think McCain has far better  VP choices than Obama.  He has a wide range of VP's, from those that are ideologically similar to him (Crist) to more 'base' candidates like Thune.

If McCain chooses Pawlenty I will predict his loss instantly, because it will be indicative of him not being a risk-taker.

[auburntiger]

At least Obama won't be able to write it off as a safe state.

Yes he will.

I'm not saying McCain is going to win Minnesota, just saying Pawlenty will help make it more competitive than the polls are showing it to be right now. Minnesota is not a solidly Democratic state anymore.

[Verily]

Pawlenty is, I think, too safe of a choice. I feel as if McCain needs to take some risk, try some daring strategy. I don't really know what, or who, that is, but his current tactics are obviously not working. Pawlenty doesn't change anything strategically, and that's bad for McCain.

I kind of get the impression McCain is hoping to stumble upon a victory the way he did in the primaries. It won't happen that way; he won't be facing a divided opposition this time, nor will he have Giuliani's vote to fall into his lap. He could still win, but it will be all about Obama. And, much as 2004 was all about Bush, a campaign being "all about" a candidate makes it pretty difficult to defeat that candidate.

At least Obama won't be able to write it off as a safe state.

Yes he will.

I'm not saying McCain is going to win Minnesota, just saying Pawlenty will help make it more competitive than the polls are showing it to be right now. Minnesota is not a solidly Democratic state anymore.

Pawlenty won reelection with an anemic 46.7% of the vote. That says it all about his home state pull, really. Pawlenty as VP is not--at all--about winning Minnesota.

[Flying Dog]

At least Obama won't be able to write it off as a safe state.

Yes he will.

I'm not saying McCain is going to win Minnesota, just saying Pawlenty will help make it more competitive than the polls are showing it to be right now. Minnesota is not a solidly Democratic state anymore.

It is this cycle. The polls, for the most part, have had Obama up consistently. Pawlenty isn't a huge mega-popular Governor, either. He only narrowly beat Hatch in 06.

[ChrisFromNJ]

At least Obama won't be able to write it off as a safe state.

Yes he will.

I'm not saying McCain is going to win Minnesota, just saying Pawlenty will help make it more competitive than the polls are showing it to be right now. Minnesota is not a solidly Democratic state anymore.

Let me rephrase it. Minnesota is not a safe state in the same vein as Massachusetts. It is not a state that Obama will win by 20 like he will in Massachusetts.

I suppose it would be considered a "swing state". But I highly doubt it will be contested all that much and Obama should win it by 5 or so points.

[auburntiger]

At least Obama won't be able to write it off as a safe state.

Yes he will.

I'm not saying McCain is going to win Minnesota, just saying Pawlenty will help make it more competitive than the polls are showing it to be right now. Minnesota is not a solidly Democratic state anymore.

Let me rephrase it. Minnesota is not a safe state in the same vein as Massachusetts. It is not a state that Obama will win by 20 like he will in Massachusetts.

I suppose it would be considered a "swing state". But I highly doubt it will be contested all that much and Obama should win it by 5 or so points.

Fair enough.
McCain doesn't need it anyway.

He just needs to win the dogfights in CO and NV, shore up the base in OH and VA, and run up the score in LA, AR, TN, KY, WV, TX, OK, GA, FL, SC, (in terms of popular vote)

[Lunar]

And, much as 2004 was all about Bush, a campaign being "all about" a candidate makes it pretty difficult to defeat that candidate.

...assuming that candidate doesn't make mistakes.  Obama's campaign is pretty much the least gaffe-prone (per capita of media coverage) campaign I think in the history of memory.  The 'bitter' comments occurred in an off-the-record setting.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

At least Obama won't be able to write it off as a safe state.

Yes he will.

I'm not saying McCain is going to win Minnesota, just saying Pawlenty will help make it more competitive than the polls are showing it to be right now. Minnesota is not a solidly Democratic state anymore.

OK, so Obama leads by 11 points in the poll averages now. Let's assume it has to be within five points to be competitive. Is Pawlenty worth a 6 point boost? No.

[Mr. Morden]

More:

http://blogs.twincities.com/politics/2008/07/rumor_rumor_speculation.html

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[Keystone Phil]

I better not be getting my hopes up for nothing.

[Flying Dog]

Knowing McCain's erratic campaign "strategy". He would announce tomorrow.

[Mr. Morden]

I better not be getting my hopes up for nothing.

Well, there's an excellent chance that this just means Pawlenty is going off to meet with McCain to interview for the job.  I think that's more likely than the possibility that McCain is actually about to make the announcement.

[Keystone Phil]

Knowing McCain's erratic campaign "strategy". He would announce tomorrow.

It makes sense. I used to want him to wait until just before the convention but that's too late. I don't want Obama going into the convention with a high single digit-low double digit lead in the polls. This will make sure that that doesn't happen.

If McCain waits until after the Dems meet, we could be looking at him digging out of a fifteen point hole.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Now that Obama has opened up a 9 point lead, now seems like the time to announce his running mate. SOMETHING needs to get McCain back in the front news.

[YRABNNRM]

John McCain is running for President? Of the United States?

[Meeker]

Interesting... I wouldn't be surprised if McCain goes ahead with it tomorrow. I also wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't.

If McCain picks Pawlenty, will Mitt cry?