McCain to meet with possible VP's

Posted By: kms

McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 02:23 AM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24762893

McCain to meet possible running mates
Presidential hopeful will host two southern governors to his Arizona home

Jeff Chiu / AP
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., waves after arriving in Burbank, Calif., Wednesday, May 21, 2008.

Possible V.P. for McCain?
May 21: A Hardball panel talks about the three men who are scheduled to meet with Sen. John McCain to discuss the V.P. slot.
Hardball



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Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, and Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, have both accepted invitations to meet with Mr. McCain at his home in Arizona, according to Republican familiars with the decision. One Republican said that Mitt Romney, a former rival of Mr. McCain for the presidential nomination — is also expected to visit him this weekend. Mr. Romney’s advisers declined to comment.

Mr. McCain, after a week of campaigning, is heading home on Friday for three days without a public schedule. His campaign declined to comment on the meetings.



“We don’t talk about the V.P. selection process,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser.

Still, the names of Mr. McCain’s visitors and the timing — coming three weeks after the Arizona senator told reporters that he has a list of 20 potential running-mates — strongly suggests that he is moving into an intensified phase in his search for a vice presidential candidate.

Mr. McCain previously said that no decision on the timing of announcing his running mate had been made, and his aides have made clear they intended to keep the process as closely held as possible.

Another governor who has been prominently mentioned as a strong contender to run with Mr. McCain, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, is not going to Arizona; his associates said he had a wedding on Saturday.

Mr. Crist, a popular first-term governor, has been included on various lists of potential running mates for Mr. McCain, whom he endorsed shortly before Florida’s January primary that effectively helped Mr. McCain claim the nomination. He said Wednesday that he and Mr. McCain had not discussed the prospect, including at a fundraiser in Miami that the two attended Tuesday night.

The McCain campaign, he said, has not solicited the kind of personal information typically requested to vet possible running mates.

As governor of Florida, Mr. Crist, 51, would bring a number of obvious assets to the Republican ticket, beginning with his popularity in a state that is almost always an electoral battleground and where Senator Barack Obama, the leading Democratic nominee appears to be struggling. His relative youth could also be an asset for Mr. McCain who, at 71, has made clear that age will be a consideration in his search for a running mate.

In Florida, Mr. Crist has long been known for his affability and a campaign skills. Instantly recognizable because of his perpetual tan and striking white hair, Mr. Crist, who served as Florida’s Attorney General before being elected governor in 2006, has also acquired a reputation as something of a hardliner on law and order issues.

He supports the death penalty, and largely opposes restrictions on the rights of gun owners. Early on, he earned the nickname “Chain Gang Charlie” because he favored allowing convicts to be used in road work, and has described himself as a “pro-life and pro-family” candidate.




McCain to meet possible VP candidates?
May 21: John McCain will meet with Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., and former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., this weekend. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.
MSNBC


Of all the names being mentioned as Mr. McCain’s potential running mate, Piyush “Bobby” Jindal, the 36-year-old first-term governor of Louisiana, is not only the youngest and least experienced, but also the only one who is not white. Yet in a year in which Democratic voters have raised few objections to such traditional “obstacles,” Mr. Jindal may be especially attractive as Republicans seek a way to offset the “post-racial” and youthful appeal of Senator Barack Obama.

Mr. Jindal, who was born in Baton Rouge to a family that had just arrived there from the Punjab area of India, took office in January after serving three years in the House of Representatives. In a race with four candidates, Mr. Jindal, who was born a Hindu but converted to Roman Catholicism as a teenager, won 54 percent of the vote after campaigning as a social conservative, opposing human embryonic stem cell research and abortion in any form and favoring teaching “intelligent design” in schools as an alternative to evolution.





But Mr. Jindal also has a reputation as a policy wonk, like the Clintons, with a specialty in health care issues. After graduating in 1991 from Brown University, where he majored in biology and public policy, and attending Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, he worked for the management consulting firm McKinsey and Company and was executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. He later served as Secretary of the Louisiana state Department of Health and Hospitals and in the Bush Administration as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for planning and evaluation.



Long article, I am hoping he does not pick Pawlenty. Being this close to the MN border I have not heard a great of good stuff. I think if he stick with Mitt, he will do just fine. and FT as attorney general....
Posted By: Princess Leia

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 12:51 PM

Originally Posted By: kms
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24762893

Long article, I am hoping he does not pick Pawlenty. Being this close to the MN border I have not heard a great of good stuff. I think if he stick with Mitt, he will do just fine. and FT as attorney general....


What have you heard/don't like? I'm from MN and am curious.
Posted By: kms

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 12:54 PM

For some reason our news always protrays him negatively, not doing enough etc. But you have to remember this is a state that put Chet Culver in office. And for us there is always that mn/ia rivalry or ia/wi. I am right up on the boder on mn and wi.
Posted By: kms

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 12:55 PM

Truly it is because I want McCain elected, that I want him to take MitT Romney. I thinkhe is going to be the best bet
Posted By: Princess Leia

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 12:59 PM

I agree with the Mitt ticket. I happen to like Pawlenty for the most part, but know he can be an extremely tough negotiator. Although the session just ended and both sides seem happy. His problem now is that the Lt. Gov is the former head of MNDoT (she served both roles) who was axed after the 35W bridge collapsed.

He didn't make any friends when he slashed spending to pretty much everyone when first elected. Amazingly he was re-elected after that - even more amazing being a republican in a historically democratic state.

The Mpls Strib predicts that even if Pawlenty gets the nod, there's no way that the state will vote republican this election. It's downright scary in the outstate (I can say that ... I'm from there )

edited to add: I'd be surprised if he'd accept because he's very family oriented and his kids are young. Another reason why I don't think he'll get the nod.
Posted By: kms

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 01:05 PM

I used tolive in MN, and I just couldn't get over their welfare program(1992-94)People were leaving other states just to get on mn program
Posted By: Princess Leia

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 01:21 PM

Oh, that's still rampant. For many people, it's better to quit your job and go on welfare because housing is so high. Plus the mayor of St. Paul invited tons of refugees in a year or 2 ago.
Posted By: B_F

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 01:28 PM

I like the idea of Crist of Romney getting the nod.

I take it Fred is dead, or at least isn't interested in being VP?
Posted By: kms

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 01:47 PM

He is not interested in it, and probably wouldnt be good due to his age, I am thinking Fred for Attorney General. Fred has been on the campaign trail with McCain though some of the time, to lend his backing or support
Posted By: kms

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 01:47 PM

and I hurt people for the fred is dead comment!!!!
Posted By: #Just Jay

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 01:55 PM

Fred is dead, babe.






































Posted By: TheManofSteel

Re: McCain to meet with possible VP's - 05/22/08 02:15 PM

Fred is back with a monthly or weekly column on Townhall Magazine. There are other ways for a solid citizen like fred to contribute.