 |
         
|
CBS anchor Katie Couric set us up for the next major step in John McCain's candidacy: "The biggest decision the Presidential nominees will make is choosing a running mate," Couric asserted. She covered the mechanisms for selection with Ken Duberstein, onetime White House Chief of Staff for Ronald Reagan, before getting on to the fun part, "Washington's favorite parlor game" of handicapping the likely Veep picks.
A lame Duberstein tried to liven up his soundbites by dubbing the person in charge of vetting candidates a "sherpa"--as in a local expert who guides Himalayan mountaineers--conjuring up the unlikely image of Dick Cheney tending yaks in Nepal. Then Duberstein coined a "four C's" rule of thumb about a candidate's attributes: "competence, chemistry, credibility, compatibility." This sounds much like "three C's" since the fine difference between chemistry and compatibility was not delineated. Note that neither "charisma" nor "character" was included. So McCain can pick a rogue, apparently, as long as it is not a charming one. Come to think of it "charm" does not get on the list either, which explains the aforesaid Cheney.
Anyway, back to the fun part. Couric offered McCain a shortlist of eight: one former rival Mitt Romney (Mike Huckabee's efforts appear to have come to nought); two George Bush officials, former Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and former Budget Director Rob Portman of Ohio; two current governors, Charlie Crist of Florida and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota; two Republican Senate colleagues, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; and one independent, a former Vice Presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.
Couric asked former senator George Mitchell whether he might end up as a Democrat's running mate: as much chance as there is "of you being chosen by Sen John McCain" he replied to the anchor. "No calls from John McCain," Couric announced, "at least not yet."
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
