First, a disclaimer. Put me in the camp of those who believe
that John McCain already has chosen Tim Pawlenty as his running
mate. As I have written before, I have soured seriously on
Pawlenty, in large part because of his statement two years ago that
"the era of small government is over" and that government should be
more "proactive" and "aggressive." (Yeah, Governor: and if you
believe that, please go play in the sand with Barbara Boxer.) That
said, I note several things. First, I continue to believe that
Chris Cox, if planning were right, would be the best choice for the
long term. And I know that the McCain camp considered him. But he
isn't "out there" making the case for himself. Second (and sorry
for the delayed lede, but this IS a blog entry, not a column), the
main point of all this is to say that in terms of the "outside
game," i.e. not necessarily within the McCain inner circle but in
terms of "buzz," the person who is making the biggest news right
now is John Kasich -- who was always in my top five, and who more
than a month ago moved up to my co-top choice with Cox, and who
several weeks ago I installed as my choice #1 (with Cox stepping
not back but to the side as #1A). So... What's the buzz? (Tell me
what's a-happenin'? -- that's a line from JC Superstar, by the
way.) Well, a couple of days ago, none other than Newt Gingrich
listed him as one of his top two choices (Gingrich had been a Bobby
Jindal booster earlier); yesterday the Wall Street Journal did its
own internal survey of what it considered good possibilities (it
included Fred Thompson, by the way, and made a decent case for him)
-- and the survey ended with it, well, not endorsing Kasich, but
making a very strong case for him while also saying good things
about some others. But the editorial was constructed in sort of an
ascending order, giving the impression that the last name mentioned
was the one the editorial board felt best about -- and that last
one was indeed Kasich. I note also -- and this is disturbing --
that a good source tells me Kasich apparently hasn't even been
contacted by the McCain people. If that is true, then the McCain
folks just aren't doing their homework. I hope it's not true.
Anyway, in addition to the discussions here taht have mentioned
Kasich, and some continuing buzz are NRO's The Corner about him
(boosted by our friend the great Michael Novak), the fact is that
if you Google Kasich's name you all of a sudden see a lot more Veep
references in connection with him. Frankly, I see no real downside.
He thrills most economic conservatives; he satisfies Evangelicals
(he's pro-life and attends an Evangelical church); he's acceptable
on defense; he has a decently high profile; he was the guy who
balanced the budget while cutting taxes (or so the tale from 12
years ago can be simplified); he has a blue collar persona; he is
from the Ohio/Pennsylvania heartland; and my wife, who isn't
tremendously political, watched him on TV the other night and said
"I like that guy." So there. Kasich for Veep. Sen. McCain, are you
listening?
topics:
Taxes, John McCain
