Running Mates for McCain by Bruce Walker

Running Mates for McCain

By Bruce Walker

February 22, 2008

There has been a lot of speculation about who McCain will, and should, choose as a running mate. Condi Rice has been mentioned. So has Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. Romney has been suggested, as has Mike Huckabee. Mark Sanford of South Carolina has been brought up, as has Senator DeMint of the same state.

Frank Keating is articulate, likeable and conservative. Unlike McCain, however, Keating is a conservative with no real question marks by his conservatism. He has, however, proven independent. When he headed the investigation of the Catholic sex abuse scandals, Keating, a devout Catholic, did not hesitate at all to take on the Church. This sort of independence would appeal to McCain. The fact that Keating supported McCain early will not hurt his chances either. The sympathetic coverage Keating has gotten from the national media since the Murrah Bombing will only add to his appeal.

How about Mel Martinez? (I can almost hear my conservative friends groaning.) If the only issue on the table was immigration, then I might have serious reservations about Martinez. But his rating by the American Conservative Union in 2005 (the last reported year at its website) was 100 percent and his lifetime rating is 96 percent. Only five other members of the Senate have lifetime ratings that conservative. Martinez would deliver Florida and, along with McCain's popularity among Hispanics, would prove a powerful pull for the Hispanic vote.

Michael Steele is a very attractive candidate, a black conservative who might help carry states like Pennsylvania and Delaware, as well as hold states like West Virginia. His commitment to conservative principles and the Republican Party is unquestioned, particularly considering that he is from Maryland, one of the most liberal states in the union.

Rick Santorum would be another genuine conservative who could help in the Northeast, particularly Pennsylvania. Although Santorum has been a critic of Senator McCain, that very opposition may reassure conservatives if he is placed on the ticket. Santorum is attractive, articulate and a good campaigner.

Duncan Hunter is probably the Republican that conservatives would put in the White House if they could. A Vietnam War veteran whose son is a Marine in Afghanistan, Hunter's positions on social issues has been as clearly conservative as his position on national security issues. Having two distinguished Vietnam vets on the same ticket would make it extremely difficult for Democrats to try to run against a quagmire in Iraq (especially considering that Hunter's son is on the front lines of combat.)