McCain Suggests Romney Could Be His Running Mate (UPDATED)
March 13th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
The Republican party’s Presidential nominee to be, Senator John McCain, is now dropping hints that, yes, he would indeed seriously consider his former nomination rival former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as his running mate. And there is an irony in this.
McCain is virtually assured of getting the Republican nomination, and can plot his strategy and raise funds while the Democratic front runners batter each other. There continue to be signs that some conservatives could sit on their hands in November, since McCain was one of conservatives’ least-favorite Senators.
Romney was a favorite of conservatives — but only towards the end of the primary season, when they realized he was the only one of any strength who had a chance of stopping the hated McCain. Bu,t when Romney first appeared, conservatives poked fun at his changing positions and moderate Republican past. He started being called a RINO, became a not-to-be-trusted convert to conservatism and — as actor-Senator Fred Thompson fizzled — ended up as the great conservative hope.
There were recently rumblings about Romney being willing to run for the Veep slot. And Romney did nothing to squelch them.
And now we get this from a Boston Herald story headlined “McCain hints at Mitt”:
GOP presidential contender John McCain would not rule out Mitt Romney as a possible running mate yesterday, noting that the former Bay State governor ran an effective primary campaign and is a rising star in national politics.
“Millions of Republicans voted for him,” McCain said during a swing through New Hampshire. “He’s earned himself a place in the future of the Republican Party.”
McCain said he is just beginning his deliberations on a running mate and that it’s premature to say whether Romney is among the names he’s considering. During a national TV interview Tuesday, Romney said he would be “honored” to be selected by the Arizona senator.
And Romney? He is now talking nice about John McCain, basically saying past squabbles were only business.
“Politics is a rough and tumble sport, and you do what you need to do to win,” Romney said on the Fox News program Hannity and Colmes. “There really are no hard feelings.” Later, Romney added, “There are things I wish he would not have said, but he was successful, and I have to recognize that now is the time for us to come together and support his candidacy.” Romney said his fund-raising team — a group of successful business associates who out-raised many of the other Republican contenders — have been put to work on McCain’s behalf.
But it would make sense. It would be perhaps the first Republican ticket in many years containing two media savvy politicos who know how to talk to the TV camera but also come across well on the TV camera.
Downside: neither have sterling, lifetime conservative credentials. But how could conservatives complain about Romney…since he had been (for a while at least) touted as the great conservative hope? CBS News’ blog thinks Romney could be a tough sell.
UPDATE: For more visit The Huffington Post, The Politico, Crooks and Liars.
Cartoon by Ares, Cagle Cartoons
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 2:33 pm and is filed under John McCain, Elections, Newsweek Blogitics, Mitt Romney, Republicans, 2008 Elections, Conservatives, Politics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
