The bloggers are going crazy over the Veepstakes it seems. A McCain Democrat’s Journal recently posted an article inviting readers to put in their 2 cents about who McCain’s selection might or should be. I started to write a comment then realized, as usual, I was going a bit too long, so I decided instead to post it here:

As a Democrat, my gut tells me that Hillary Clinton will not be Obama’s choice as many voters hope or fear. Hillary has already started setting the stage for 2012 by writing to her top contributors. Although this move is supposedly intended to finance her re-election for the Senate, most of us have read between the lines: It’s not.
 
Anyone Obama chooses should be of no concern to Republicans. Barack Obama is in a serious pickle when it comes to his VP selection. He needs to pick "experience" to offset his own single-sheet resume, so the only option is an old party troll like Sam Nunn or Joe Biden.                                    
 
Of course, Obama/Edwards would look better on the cover of Rolling Stone the way Clinton/Gore did in 1992, but since Edwards was dead in the water four years ago with John Kerry, there is no reason to believe he would be anything other than that now. And of course, any female other than Hillary Clinton would only draw unwanted flashbacks of Hillary herself, so they are out as well. So Obama/Bore it will be… 
 
McCain is certainly the candidate in a position to make an extremely bold choice. The bolder, the better, I think. His degree of boldness will not only highlight the Obama/Bore ticket as being upside down the way Kennedy/Johnson was (or Bush/Cheney for that matter) but will also help serve as a lightning rod against the pundits’ rumbles concerning his age. McCain’s VP should emulate Obama the way Obama’s will emulate McCain: The politics of neutralization. Here are my two bold picks:
 
 
 
#2 — Bobby Jindal: This guy is the Republican’s best antidote to Barack Obama. He is young, intelligent, ambitious, and best of all, a man of color. (I know, it sounds shallow, but there’s a lot of that going around these days) He makes the conservatives happy, and his youth might just help change the Republican brand from being a country club for old white men to a party of diversity. Of course his age is noted as being his biggest weekness, but any criticism by the Obama campaign is certain to highlight Obama’s own relative youth and inexperience. Newt Gingrich can’t seem to brag about Jindal enough. As a VP, Jindal will be seen as a fledgling under the protective wings of the Republican Party to be seasoned and vetted, not a roll of the dice like the Democrats are offering up for the most powerful job on Earth.

 

#1 — Hillary Clinton: Talk about bold. The problem would no longer be about winning, but what to do after he won. She would bring a quarter of the Democratic Party with her. In fact, she would make the current fracture in the Democratic Party permanent. Sure, the Conservatives would scream bloody murder, but no other VP choice can almost guarantee a McCain victory. There is no doubt in my mind Hillary could. The benefits are plentiful:

 
  • Stop Obama. Both the Republicans and the Clintons would like nothing more than to put Barack Obama out of commission for the next 4-8 years. Maybe permanently. The hallucinagenic qualities of his candidacy will undoubtedly be gone after this year, and losing is a great way to begin deflating his magic. In the so-called "year of the Democrats", Hillary may be the only one who can put McCain over the top.
  • Fractured Parties. The Republican Party is just as fractured as the Democrats. Reagan Conservatives already believe the party has been hijacked by the moderate McCain/Lieberman wing. Rush Limbaugh believes McCain is the presumptive nominee only because Independents tainted the waters, so right-wing enthusiasm is lukewarm right now, at best. Most believe the best option is to vote for McCain only as an anti-Obama measure to buy some time before a true Reagan Conservative like Bobby Jindal can take back the party. McCain/Clinton is better than Obama/Bore. 
  • Hillary’s Ticking Clock. Hillary Clinton knows she has 50% of the Democrat voters behind her, but the radical Obama/Pelosi/Dean wing is currently set to grab power away from the Clintons once and for all. Make no mistake, Hillary knows exactly who her friends are now, and the numbers get smaller by the day. Politics is about power, and the Clintons are fast becoming yesterday’s news. She knows this. Also, at 60, she has only about two (maybe three) more elections in her. In 2012 she will be 64, but if Obama wins this year he will be the party favorite. That leaves 2016. Does Hillary have that much patience? Not likely.
  • McCain’s Ticking Clock. This is John McCain’s last chance to be President, and he is following George W. Bush and running against The Messiah. Rotten luck. With Hillary’s help he will win, then she will win. After all, what are friends for?

Of course critics seem to be knocking McCain/Clinton for the same reason they knock Obama/Hagel, but with both parties in chaos and a campaign template set for non-partisan politics, change, and reaching across the aisle… anything is possible. In politics, power is the ultimate God, party loyalty is a distant second, and patriotism runs dead last.

I realize there is a snowball’s chance in hell of this happening, but I believe that conservatives already don’t like John McCain all that much, but still prefer him to Obama. This election year seems to be Obama or Not Obama. John McCain is already considered a maverick, his close friend Joe Lieberman is one as well. Hillary has actually gained some respect from Republicans who used to fear her, and the Democratic Party has all but abandoned her along with the mainstream media. Psychologically, she is already an Independent to her loyal followers and compared with Obama, she’s looking a lot more moderate.

We’ll just have to wait and see…