McCain VP

Pat Toomey (head of the Club for Growth) suggested five conservatives: South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford; South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint; Indiana Representative Mike Pence; former Senator Phil Gramm; and Forbes CEO Steve Forbes as potential VP candidates for McCain.

blogged You can get more details on each one of Pat Toomey's recomendations here.

Sister Toldjah blogged Of the above, the one I would support the most would be Gov. Sanford, who has won the respect of many in the South with his commitment to fiscal conservatism, small government, and family values. I like Senator DeMint, too, but we desperately need his strength in the Senate.

Alex blogged Of course, Pat Toomey himself wouldn’t be a bad name to add to that list either.

Bryan blogged I doubt McCain goes with any of these picks. Charlie Crist is likely as the popular governor of Florida and probably the man who won the nomination for McCain. Several picks including Christie Todd Whitman would be mistakes. Joe Lieberman might shake things up a lot, but he’s so far to the left on social issues that he’s more useful as a speculative pick than a real one. For a really out of the box pick, try former mayor and spaghetti western gunslinger Clint Eastwood. There is the little matter of Eastwood’s skepticism on the Iraq war, which McCain has pledged his all to win. It’s a very unlikely pick, but I’d love to see him debate pretty much any Democrat on national security. “I know what you’re thinking. Did Iran really halt nuke development in 2003, or 2005? Or did they stop at all? Do you feel lucky, Barack? Well. Do you?” The squint alone would roast the donks.

So who’s McCain going to pick? Beats me. A pick to the left would probably hurt him more than a pick to the right would potentially help him, though a pick to his right is the way to go to shore up the base. But whoever he picks, at the end of the day John McCain will still be John McCain. That’s his blessing and his curse.

Stephen F. Hayes blogs The final two are probably better suited to be Secretary of the Treasury. (And McCain floating Forbes for that slot early could help him in his efforts to convince McCain doubters that he takes seriously his pledge today to draw heavily on the advice of his "fellow conservatives.") Each of the other three -- Sanford, DeMint and Pence -- would bring conservative credentials and seriousness about policy that would surely help McCain among the Republican base. There are two others who are almost certain to get a long look: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Ohio Representative (and OMB Director and U.S. Trade Representative) Rob Portman. McCain and his staff have strong personal regard for Pawlenty and the governor endorsed McCain early. The two men were to have traveled to Munich, Germany, together this weekend for a national security conference, but McCain pulled out to remain on the campaign trail..... This list will grow like kudzu.

I agree the list will grow. Considering that the Dems will nominate either a woman or a black (and if they nominate Hillary she will have had to pull so many dirty tricks that it will really have the blacks ticked off, I suggest he go with JC Watts , former Lt. Governor Michael S. Steele, Thomas Sowell, Michelle Malkin, La Shawn Barber, or Walter E. Williams. That should make the conservatives happy, and help peel off black and or women (or both) votes from the Dems.