mccain counting chickens
by Alan Moore
Published: February 22, 2008
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
Words that ring especially true given Arizona Senator and presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign over the last several days. For those who don’t know, he’s already vetting vice-presidential candidates. That’s right - he doesn’t even have the Republican nod yet, and he wants to pick a running mate. Little early, don’t you think? I do. McCain’s likely throwing out an old fashioned “test balloon” to see which possible contenders for the job would benefit him most.
Give Senator McCain’s staff some credit, though. They’re awfully confident in how he’s doing nationwide, perhaps a little overconfident. McCain campaign manager, Rick Davis, sent out an email to supporters last week, saying “In addition, it is now mathematically impossible for Mike Huckabee to win enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination; there simply aren’t enough delegates left at stake for him to win.” Their natural reaction, after that, would be to move on towards tapping a V.P.
As we would expect, candidates who have already dropped out are in the running. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed McCain the day after he withdrew from the race, and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt “The Hair” Romney is asking the delegates he has earned to vote for Sen. McCain. Giuliani’s flop in all early primaries seems to be the reason that Camp McCain hasn’t breathed a word to or about him in recent weeks.
Keeping the fire going, Associated Press political reporter Shannon McCaffrey had a story hit the wires on Friday that reeks of Arizona desert influence. Apparently, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is now mentioned as a possible vice-presidential pick.
McCaffrey wrote: “Now that Sen. John McCain has all but locked up the Republican presidential nomination, speculation is already turning to whom he’ll select as a running mate. One name that’s begun to surface on various media lists making the rounds is Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue. He’s received at least two mentions in the Washington Post and several plugs from the army of pundits that populate the cable news channels.”
If you don’t smell the rat just yet, take a look at this part of the story: “His national star rose among Republicans when he coasted to re-election and solidified the GOP hold on Georgia in 2006, a year dominated by Democratic victories elsewhere. Perdue’s also got a friend who has McCain’s ear. Former Georgia Republican Party Chairman Alec Poitevint is Southern co-chairman of McCain’s campaign. “Do I think Sonny Perdue is capable of being vice president of the United States? Absolutely yes,” Poitevint said Friday.
Poitevint said he’s known both the McCains and the Perdues for years and that they “have a lot in common.”
“Both of them have a special love of children, especially children who need help and who need special attention,” he said. The McCains adopted a child from Bangladesh. Perdue and his wife, Mary, were foster parents for several newborns awaiting adoption. University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock told Georgia media last week that Perdue could very well be a contender if McCain needs more support in the “Bible Belt” that is the southern United States.
All in all, it’s really a funny situation that names for President of the Senate are being thrown around in mid-February for an election in November. The fact is that we don’t even know (officially, at least) who the party nominees will be; the republicans have a “presumptive” nominee, meanwhile the Democrats are still engaged in the middle rounds of a political cock fight. Calling your vice-presidential shot this early in the game could prove disastrous. So to the McCain team I advise patience. Don’t fill out the roster of the Republican Dynamic-Duo until you see who is going to play the part of The Joker.
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