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Monday, January 15, 2007
The Republican vice presidential drawl
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s no surprise that Sen. John McCain’s attendance at Monday’s inauguration of second-term Republican Gov. Bob Riley in Alabama has sparked talk that Riley might be a potential running mate if McCain wins the Republican nomination.
Nobody threw Urban Meyer’s hat in the ring when McCain showed up for the coin toss at the BCS championship game. But more so than for a Gator coach, there’s an argument for why the Republican vice presidential nomination next year might gravitate toward a Southern governor.
With former Sen. George Allen by the wayside, no Southerner now looms as a top contender for the presidential nomination of the party which depends most heavily on the South in national elections. The chemistry could change if former Rep. Newt Gingrich or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee jump in, but if this becomes a race between McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the question of regional balance will loom large.
But, which Southern governor? South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is a longtime supporter of McCain from a crucial state, and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former national chairman, got on board with him early in this cycle.
Romney would likely be looking for a Southerner also. We were about to speculate, but why don’t you have the fun?
(Notice also, in the story from Montgomery, that Gen. Wesley Clark swore in Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks.)
Newt ‘n’ Rudy want a CCC for Iraq
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday’s Wall Street Journal featured a joint op-ed by Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani, both potential GOP candidates in ‘08.
They recommended pulling a page out of FDR’s playbook, creating a jobs program that would take young men off the street.
Here’s the most interesting line, toward the bottom:
“The program should be overseen by the U.S. military, not private contractors, to avoid unnecessary delays in deployment or accusations of cronyism in the bidding process.”
Remember that Newt is no fan of the U.S. State Department. Read the rest here.
