Who Will McCain pick for VP and What Message Will it Send?

"In sum, with an ill conceived pick McCain can pour salt in the wounds of the conservative base. With a solid one he can signal a willingness to build a bridge to the GOP base, enhance his domestic policy credentials and electoral prospects and select a plausible #2 in a time when all presidents must be concerned about a successor.

Conservatives will be watching carefully -- and making their preferences clear -- as the presumptive nominee makes his first major decision."

--from How Will McCain Choose his Running Mate by Jennifer Rubin

I did a bunch of research for the radio show this week on who McCain may pick for VP and for what reasons. There are several theories and many names.

Of course, as I have mentioned, J.C. Watts is my top choice and I also named a couple others who would make good choices.

Here are some of the names that are circulating. I've split them up into 4 different categories--Great, Don't Work for Me (most of these are people who are just too old or who wouldn't add anything to the ticket), Too Moderate, Horrible.

Great Picks:
--J.C. Watts
--Senator John Thune (SD)
--Congressman Mike Pence (IN)
--Senator Jim DeMint (SC)
--Governor Haley Barbour
--Frank Keating
--Michael Steele
--Governor Mark Sanford (SC)(I've heard mixed things about him so not totally sure he belongs in the great picks)

Don't Work for Me Picks:
--Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson
--Phil Gramm
--Steve Forbes

Moderate Picks:
--Governor Charlie Crist (FL)
--Governor Tim Pawlenty
--Governor Rick Perry

Horrible Picks:
--Mike Huckabee
--Colin Powell
--Senator Olympia Snow
--Senator Susan Collins
--Senator Joe Lieberman

"On the one hand, he badly needs to fire up an apathetic conservative base that even now has not warmed up to his candidacy. For a long time, he’d been assuming that Hillary Clinton—perhaps the most reviled figure among the conservative grass roots—would win the Democratic nomination and accomplish this for him.

But if the vastly less polarizing Obama is his opponent, McCain may find his VP choice to be his best remaining means of mobilizing the G.O.P.’s base."

--from The VP Stakes: If It's Obama Vs. McCain, Who Runs With Them? by Steve Kornacki

As I was doing the research something became crystal clear to me. McCain's VP pick is important for many reasons (much more so than it normally is) but the biggest one is it will send a huge message on how he is planning on leading.

If he picks a stellar conservative he will be sending a message to conservatives that he respects us and realizes that we play an important part of the Republican party. If he picks a moderate/liberal candidate then he will basically be giving conservatives the finger and saying he doesn't care what we think and he could care less if we support him.

I will lobby for a conservative pick but I'm not holding my breath. If McCain sticks to his maverick ways he will give us the finger and pick someone just as objectionable as he is. If he chooses to go that route I will wish him luck on winning the presidency without any help from the conservative base. And as if we didn't already have enough doubts, check out McCain's own criteria (below)for picking a VP and tell me if that sounds like someone who is planning on reaching out to conservatives???

“The process will begin and the fundamental principle behind any selection of a running mate would be whether that person is fully prepared to take over and share your values, your principles, your philosophy, and your priorities. I think that's the first and only real criteria for the selection of a running mate.”--John McCain

Drew Peterson and Injustice!

What we know about Drew Peterson:

--2nd wife abused

--3rd wife murdered--(The police were called 18 times on domestic disturbance calls during their marriage)

--4th wife, Stacy Peterson missing

--Drew's former fiancee speaks out

--Pastor: Stacy Peterson Told Me Drew Killed 3rd Wife

--A relative helped Drew move a large blue container that was warm to the touch around the time Stacy disappeared

I was watching the latest on this case while working out the other night and I had renewed outrage. Most likely this man played a part in the death of 2 women and there may never be any justice for either one of them. He used to be a cop and it appears that he's been very controlling and manipulative and knows how not to leave incriminating evidence behind.

I know many will not agree with me but it is cases like this and the OJ Simpson case that make me sympathetic towards people like Mary Winkler. I don't ever condone vigilante justice but domestic violence is often a crime that people don't walk away from. I think it is possible that people like Winkler put up with the abuse for too long and then they snap.

I pray and hope there is justice for Stacy and Kathleen Savio's families. I also hope this is a wake up call for any woman who is in an abusive relationship to get help and get out, today.

My Book List So Far...

I mentioned at the beginning of this year that I had joined a group where we committed to read 50 books this year. I was excited about it but had no idea I would be doing as well as I am this early in the game. Most of the credit goes to how easy and fun the Stephanie Plum series is but I have read and listened to a couple of other good books as well.

Right now I am listening to Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom on CD. It is phenomenal!! It is an inspirational true story and I am enjoying it immensely. I am also in the middle of reading the 12th book in the Stephanie Plum series, entitled, Twelve Sharp.

Here are the books that I have read so far:

1) The Faith of the American Soldier--Stephen Mansfield
2) My Grandfather's Son--Clarence Thomas
3) A Patriot's Handbook (CD)--Caroline Kennedy
4) 1776 (CD)--David McCullough
5) One for the Money--Janet Evanovich
6) Two for the Dough--Janet Evanovich
7) Three to get Deadly--Janet Evanovich
8) Four to Score--Janet Evanovich
9) High Five--Janet Evanovich
10) Hot Six--Janet Evanovich
11) Seven Up--Janet Evanovich
12) Hard Eight--Janet Evanovich
13) To the Nines--Janet Evanovich
14) Ten Big Ones--Janet Evanovich
15) Eleven On Top--Janet Evanovich
16) Visions of Sugar Plums--Janet Evanovich

Also, this is a perfect post to wish my friend a Happy Birthday because she is a huge book reader and puts me to shame in her book reading.

A Review of 1776 by David McCullough

I've been listening to 1776 (unabridged) on CD. The most striking thing to me in listening to it is how little of the specifics I know or remember of the Revolutionary War.

Also, its fascinating how much history puts current events into context. 1776 was a rough year for the Americans and if there had been polls done back then George Washington and the troops would've had very little support. Yet, Washington and the soldiers did not give up despite the odds and some of the losses that they suffered. Washington had a lot of critics during the war who thought he wasn't fit to be Commander in Chief.

Today, very few are aware of this because of how things turned out and Washington is considered one of our greatest presidents and leaders. Once again I think history will view George W. Bush much more favorably just like history has judged George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Reagan much more favorably the more time went by and the fruit of their leadership was revealed.

David McCullough is by far one of my favorite History authors. When I first started on my journey of researching the Presidents I listened to McCullough's book on Truman. I learned so much and it was very exciting since Truman is from the KC area.

I learned a lot by listening to 1776 on CD, but there is so much rich history in it that I think I'm also going to take the time to read the actual hard copy of the book.

Book Rating--9 out of 10 stars

The Fox 4 Interview

I'm in the process of seeing if I can get the video put onto You Tube to be able to post directly on my blog, but until then I have the links to the actual video of the interview and a synopsis of it.

--Here is the link to the video of the interview that aired Friday night.

--Here is a description of the show which was entitled, Blogging Kansas City.

--The other 2 blogs featured in the story were Tony's KC (my favorite KC liberal) and The Kansas City Post

I Did My Part!

I found this map via Gateway Pundit. It shows what counties went to which candidates. As you can see all the rural counties fell for Huckabee's rhetoric.

But, my county went for Romney and that gives me a little bit of satisfaction. I definitely did my part on influencing people and encouraging people to vote for Romney. A small ray of hope in an otherwise dismal day.

Super Tuesday Sucked!!

Well, once again it was a rough night for Conservatives. I don't have anything cheerful or optimistic to say. I need a day or two to regroup.

The Huckabee fans were not happy when Sean Hannity, I and others kept on insisting that a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain. Yet, I think we were proven right beyond a shadow of a doubt when you see the back room deal that McCain and Huckabee brokered in West Virginia. There is no doubt that they are working together to take out Romney and they may be successful.

It looks like we will have a rerun of 1976 (Gerald Ford) and 1996 (Bob Dole). Those didn't turn out so well but we got Reagan after Ford and W after Dole so we will rise again.

Jordin Sparks at the Superbowl

A little diversion from politics is always nice. I am not a sports fan at all so I didn't even watch the Super Bowl yesterday but I did tune in to hear Jordin Sparks sing the national anthem. I got teary eyed listening to it because I love the national anthem and she did such a wonderful job.

I Adore President George W. Bush!

"Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm, and I am pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders."

"We must do the difficult work today, so that years from now people will look back and say that this generation rose to the moment, prevailed in a tough fight, and left behind a more hopeful region and a safer America."--President George W. Bush, January 28, 2008

Bush came out shining and strong last night with his last State of the Union Address! I was so proud of him. I have to say that I have never felt so strongly about what a wonderful president he has been. IMHO, no matter who wins the Republican nomination or who wins the presidency this fall, it will be a lesser man that takes office next year.

When you just look at how he words things. He talks about how we "trust Americans with their own money". I still remember Bill Clinton saying that the American people couldn't be trusted to spend their own money wisely, yikes!!

Not only is he great economically, coming up with tax cuts to help stimulate the economy and give people back their own money, but look at Iraq. It was pretty ironic to see the camera pan to some of the people who a year ago were screaming for us to cut and run in Iraq and now look how well the surge has gone. If it weren't for Bush refusing to give into the naysayers we might not be having some of the successes we are having today.

Here is the wonderful way that he concluded his address:

"The strength -- the secret of our strength, the miracle of America, is that our greatness lies not in our government, but in the spirit and determination of our people. (Applause.) When the Federal Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787, our nation was bound by the Articles of Confederation, which began with the words, "We the undersigned delegates." When Governor Morris was asked to draft a preamble to our new Constitution, he offered an important revision and opened with words that changed the course of our nation and the history of the world: "We the people."

By trusting the people, our Founders wagered that a great and noble nation could be built on the liberty that resides in the hearts of all men and women. By trusting the people, succeeding generations transformed our fragile young democracy into the most powerful nation on Earth and a beacon of hope for millions. And so long as we continue to trust the people, our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the state of our Union will remain strong. (Applause.)

So tonight, with confidence in freedom's power, and trust in the people, let us set forth to do their business. God bless America."

Thursday's Thoughts

--I loved the above cartoon about McCain. It says it all for me!!

--Patrick had a ton of good posts yesterday. I am going to link to several of them. The first is his shocking find that explains A LOT about the nature of Fred Thompson's campaign. It also makes the critics of Fox News for not giving Fred enough coverage look pretty silly.

--Duncan Hunter endorses the Huckster. Unfortunately, I was warned this might be coming down the pike. The Hunter campaign guy that I had on the radio show told me that the only candidate he had favorable things to say about were Huckabee. I think this was a huge mistake. First, Huckabee probably won't get the nomination so he just shot himself in the foot for being on the short list for VP. Second, Hunter stood for core conservative principles. To endorse Huckabee violates everything he stood for and ran on. It is a huge disappointment for me.

Also, Hunter's reasons for not supporting Romney and Rudy were pretty ridiculous. When the campaign guy said he had some bad news about both of them I braced myself for some really negative news only to be left scratching my head.

--Many think Huckabee is done, I'm afraid to get my hopes up just yet. Patrick found 2 very enlightening articles on him that were very good. One quote that I found very striking was this one:

"He's very good at what he does, but beyond the surface glitter of his rhetoric, there's no there there. This is not a man who can (or would want to) discuss the finer details of Kirkean conservatism; even though he is a seminary-trained preacher, he has little patience for, nor interest in, the complexities of theology that underlie Christian social thought."

This is the exact impression I get of him. Even on religious issues he doesn't seem to have any depth. Many pro-Huckabee people site his views on creationism. I applaud him for those but what was astonishing is when he was grilled on his views he started to back down and waver. It was almost as if he didn't know for sure exactly what he believed, this coming from a preacher who should be an expert in the field. Yikes!!

Also, when you see that he sided with the liberal wing of the Southern Baptists you can see that there isn't any there there.

--The group accusing Bush of Iraq lies is a Soros funded group, shocker!! Gateway Pundit has an excellent post and round-up of it all.

--I'm done with Laura Ingraham. I left this comment at Wordsmith's blog:

I've gotten to the point where I can't listen to Laura Ingraham anymore. I stopped listening to her for awhile because of her incessant Bush bashing. I decided to give her another chance the other day, I kid you not, I was listening for less than 5 minutes and she started trashing Bush. Nope, I'm done with Ingraham for a very long time, probably for good. Its not even that she's bashing people I really like such as Bush and Rudy but she is just so negative.

The reason Rush and Sean Hannity are so popular is because they are so optimistic and positive. Who wants to listen to someone who constantly trashes good people on their own side? I now put her a distant second after Michael Savage as a negative talk show host that I have no desire to listen too.

Also, you hit the nail on the head when you said that she doesn't speak for me. Exactly!! I was actually shocked when Rush promoted her book about what the people want. To me it is a book written by a whiner who has no positive solutions.

She came here to KC a couple of months ago and someone tried to give me free tickets. I let them know I had no desire to go see her.