McCain's VP Pick
The veepstakes is stirring a lot of speculation. On Sunday's "Late Edition," CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Florida Gov. Charlie Crist about the possibility of being Sen. John McCain's running mate. Here's an important part of the chat:
Blitzer: "Have they started a formal vetting process with you? In other words, are they asking for documents, IRS returns, stuff like that?"
Crist: "I can't discuss the process, Wolf. I hope you appreciate that."
Blitzer: "I'll take that as a yes."
Crist: "You take it however you want. I can't discuss the process."
How do you take it?
Blitzer also asked Crist why he changed his views and now supports oil drilling off the Florida coast.
"The facts have changed, Wolf," Crist said. "When you're facing $4 a gallon at the pump, you have to be sensitive to what the people of Florida, and in Senator McCain's case, the people of America are dealing with. It's an energy crisis, there's no question about it. And from a Florida perspective, so long as it's far enough, clean enough and safe enough, we're in favor of looking into it in order to alleviate the problem at the pump."
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According to a top McCain fundraiser, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is at the top of Senator McCain's VP list.
The fundraiser is less than thrilled with the idea of Huckabee as the vice presidential nominee, and many economic conservatives—turned off by the populist tone of Huckabee's campaign and his tax record as governor—are likely to share that marked lack of enthusiasm. But here is the logic of picking Huckabee:
1) He is a great campaigner and communicator who could both shore up support in the South among social conservatives (Huckabee is a former Baptist minister) and appeal to working-class voters in the critical "Big 10" states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
2) As any pollster knows, voters search for candidates who "care about people like me," and Huckabee would probably score a lot higher on that quality than millionaire investor Mitt Romney. Plus, given all the turmoil on Wall Street, 2008 would seem to be a bad year to pick a former investment banker for veep.
3) Economic conservatives and supply-siders may balk, but the threat of four years of Obamanomics and higher investment, income, and corporate taxes might be enough to keep them on board.
Let me add that a top Republican political strategist told me about a month ago that he also believed Huckabee to be the leading veep contender.
UPDATE: Reaction from around the blogosphere. Here, here, here and here. Ouch...
