The conventional wisdom holds that John McCain should lean to his right in making his choice for a vice presidential candidate. This wisdom is completely wrong. Most of the names being bandied about would make terrible choices for McCain. I don't claim to be a political expert in the manner of Dick Morris, but I think the best choice for McCain would be Colin Powell.
Yes, Colin Powell. And here are the reasons why. First, Powell has an independent mind. He is not a captive of the right, and consequently he reinforces the public perception that McCain is not a pawn of Bush. True, Powell served in the Bush administration, but his disagreements with Bush are well known. Obama is trying to portray McCain as a Bush clone. Powell will help McCain convince independent voters--the ones he needs most--that his administration would not constitute a third Bush term.
Second, Powell has experience. The man has served honorably and responsibly in more high positions than Obama and all the other Democratic candidates combined. Moreover, Powell has gravitas while Obama merely has the gift of the gab. So Powell helps to highlight how green and goofy Obama really is. The point is not to contrast one African American with another, or to show how Powell like Obama has immigrant roots. Rather, it is to dissolve the race issue by showing that capability and experience, not race and skin color, are the real issues here.
Finally, who apart from the Obamorons can doubt that Powell would make a capable president? This is especially important given the fact that McCain is over seventy. A Powell choice would also reinforce the big question about the man at the top of the Democratic ticket: Is he ready? I am not going to say that Obama can never be a good president, but I seriously doubt that he is mature enough to climb into the saddle. Who would you trust--Powell or Obama--to better handle a national emergency?
Now all of this could be idle speculation, because Powell may not want to be vice president. I keep hearing about how his wife is so completely against the idea. But this could be one of McCain's first tasks: to persuade Powell to do it. This wouldn't be the first time that this soldier has been asked to put personal considerations second and to take on a great challenge for the future of his country.
Reader Comments ( Page 5 of 13)
61. Alan Keyes comes off as vibrant and intelligent in a debate until you start paying attention to what he’s saying and realize that he’s a stark raving lunatic.
His adoption as McCain’s running mate will just remind people that Obama whipped his carpet bagging ass to become a US Senator.
PS. I threw the carpet bagging comment in to remind all you neocon fuckers of how you criticized Hillary for seeking to become the Senator of New York while looking the other way as this hyperactive troll did the same.
As for hubby Bill Clinton, someone already made the point that he is still being pilloried over his BJ to this day. I sure hope it was a ball drainer, they type after which you have to pull the sheets out of your asshole for all the abuse he’s gotten over it.
But then again, may if he’d snorted some coke and invaded Iraq while getting his hummer you guys might actually admire him.
PS. Keyes only ran for the US senate because the republicans chose him as a black alternative to Obama after Jack Ryan dropped out of the race because of a sex scandal.
rabidmccain at 4:26PM on Jun 16th 2008
62. hehe rabidmccain you rock, but you're gonna piss off a lot of people writing that...
D. at 4:29PM on Jun 16th 2008
63. I love the way Clinton apologists like rabid & brough paint poor slick willie as a helpless victim. He was impeached for purjury and obstruction of justice. That he couldn't resist anything in a thong is his most public weakness, but he had ample opportunity to fess up. So, we're left with the question:If he lied about something as trivial (as we're always reminded) as sex, how many other more dangerous lies is he covering up?
fanman at 4:31PM on Jun 16th 2008
64. man, I can't even spell perjury!
fanman at 4:35PM on Jun 16th 2008
65. Whoa there fella,
Let’s not talk about Alberto Gonzalez’ oops, I mean Clinton’s perjury, until the next Democrat president un-classifies the unheard of amount of documents classified under monkey boy.
Which are greater in number than documents classified during the entire cold War and WWII combined!
Gee I wonder what they’re trying to hide?
Who knows? They keep coming up with bullshit excuses to avoid subpoenas such as the vice presidency not being part of any branch of the government.
And yet Monkey Boy is an honorable man.
rabidmccain at 4:39PM on Jun 16th 2008
66. Oooh Fanman i forgot it is much better to lie about WMD's and trying to find bin laden while our troops get killed, right?
D. at 4:40PM on Jun 16th 2008
67. where have you seen me defending Bush?
fanman at 4:42PM on Jun 16th 2008
68. ALAN KEYES? Man, the republitards are really getting desperate.
randy at 4:47PM on Jun 16th 2008
69. Fan-girly-man.
Who are you a fan of???
I was pissed off that Clinton didn’t have the guts to just say “mind your own fucking business and tend to your own fornicators and men’s rest room stalkers since you're all so fond talking about what pious family men you all are.”
And you could talk about perjury all you want, the bottom line is he lied about a fucking blowjob. Not exactly an earth shattering lie.
Off topic:
Someone mentioned abortion and I have my own thoughts on that subject.
I think abortions should be mandatory on first time pregnancies.
What better way of showing that you mean business by getting pregnant soon after.
rabidmccain at 4:52PM on Jun 16th 2008
70. rabid; I know it's off-topic and DD likely gets upset, but I was rereading your last post and thinking; maybe Sandy Berger is looking for a job and he could just roll up and spirit away all those nasty documents before they ever get de-classified. When you're as sleazy as Berger, I doubt it matters which team you're playing for.
fanman at 4:57PM on Jun 16th 2008
71. I mentioned abortion. I find it worse to give birth and kill your child than have an abortion. I'm sick and tired of republicans just thinking about morals rather than the effect of the laws they want to pass. If they make abortion illegal just think about all of the babies left for dead in a dumpster, thrown off a roof, starved to death, etc. We have too much of that now and abortion is legal.
D. at 4:58PM on Jun 16th 2008
72. I don’t know what Sandy Berger was thinking and I wrote him and his lame excuse off when he did what he did.
I may be a democrat but I aint no koolaid drinking democrat.
That said. It will be interesting to see the true depths of the criminality of this administration once the shit eating grinning retard leaves office.
rabidmccain at 5:07PM on Jun 16th 2008
73. I think for quite a few of us there is no problem choosing between the 'race' issue and what's best for the country - if you think that an Obama presidency is what's best for the country then the race issue becomes irrelevant.
Steve at 5:14PM on Jun 16th 2008
74. D
Poll after poll shows that republican “citizens” are not nearly as anti abortion as we are led to beleive, it’s the politicians and their pandering to the fundamentalist that are the problem.
Interestingly these republicans are more likely to refer to themselves as libertarian than conservative in the same way that some liberals refer to themselves as progressive.
This is all a result of the neocon plan to demonize the word liberal itself, followed by the effects of the disastrous results of a neocon presidency.
rabidmccain at 5:17PM on Jun 16th 2008
75. DD: YOU NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU SAY SO AS NOT TO BE VIEWED AS ONE OF THEM FLIP-FLOPPERS.
DD: PRAY TO YOUR GOD FOR GUIDANCE.
Daniel Mullane at 5:27PM on Jun 16th 2008