Sunday, February 10, 2008

The Republican Nomination is All Down to the Veep

The far right of the Republican party is not on board with the party's de facto nominee, John McCain. They are currently engaging in some pretty heavy duty sabre rattling: Rush Limbaugh and others are saying they will vote Democrat if McCain is the Republican candidate.

But wait... the right wing of the Republican party seems to be waving an olive branch. They may hold their noses and stay on board if only McCain will do one little thing for them: accept one of their own as his vice presidential running mate.

If John McCain wins the presidential election, he will be 72 when he's sworn to office. He has had three operations for melanomas. His six years of torture in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp left him with numerous permanent injuries (he can't raise his arms over his head and walks with a limp). It is much more likely than with most presidents that McCain won't survive a term as president.

So it may be that loony-tunes religious extremist and flat tax promoter Mike Huckabee may find himself commander in chief. It could be worse. The Bush family could climb back into the White House through a back window if Jeb Bush becomes the vice presidential running mate.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is not usually the case that the veep has much impact on voting intentions, but a Bush on the ticket would absolutely guarantee that the Democrats win. The only person more hated in America right now than Hillary Clinton is George W. Bush.

Yappa said...

I think you're probably right, but never say never. It is possible (but not likely) that the far right could coerce McCain into accepting Jeb Bush as VP (his name is being floated as a possibility). It is also possible that a serious security threat could emerge in the last months of the campaign, and in a McCain-Obama contest, that could lead to a McCain victory, no matter who the VP is.