It looked like it was going to be an exciting race on the Republican side in 2007-2008, with a crowded field and plenty of candidates with money (Romney), media adoration (Giuliani), dark horse potential (Huckabee) and wingnuttiness (Tancredo) piling on against the guy who had been waiting his turn (McCain). But then, suddenly, the race was over when it had barely gotten started, and one candidate was Inevitable. In a lot of ways it resembled the Democratic affair in 2004.
Now about the only excitement left on the Republican side is going to come from McCain's Vice Presidential pick. Is there anyone he could pick that would really help his chances, that would make you really worry?
If McCain wanted to go down the same road John Kerry did, he could pick Mike Huckabee as his VP. That would be recognizing the guy who was competitive with him the longest, and possibly picking up a big percentage of the evangelical voters who might otherwise stay home this year. But it would require the national media to not give in to the temptation to point out how kooky Huckabee is. Much as Big Media will try to help McCain's election prospects, they may not be able to resist going for the kind of stories Huck would create every other week.
There seemed to be enough bad blood between Mitt Romney and the other Republicans that Romney's chances of getting on the ticket are probably pretty poor. But what about the Hero of 9/11, Rudi Giuliani? He and McCain have shared many of the same neo-con advisers. Could a presumptive Democratic snub of Hillary Clinton in favor of Barack Obama, combined with adding Giuliani to the ticket, give McCain a shot at New York's electoral votes? Could the the media build Giuliani back up again after his credibility with voters was shown to be so weak earlier in the campaign?
The pundits have already anointed Bobby Jindal as the people's choice to be McCain's VP, and they've always know more about what the people want than the people themselves. But would Jindal (or, even moreso, Charlie Crist of Florida, who has also been mentioned by some) be too independent? Let's face it, it's not improbable that McCain would die while in office. The party elders are going to want somebody they can rely on to buckle under on the Republicans' most important goals (basically, funneling more wealth to the already super-rich and destroying the Democrats as a viable opposition party).
Better picks from the states might be Mark Sanford of South Carolina, reputedly a very conservative Republican from a very conservative state, or Tim Pawlenty, a favorite son from the state that will be hosting the party's convention. And aside from the minor detail of where he was born (which Congress could still grant an exemption of some kind for) there's always Arnold Schwarzenegger.
A previous Presidential candidate who could be called upon would be Lamarr Alexander, who could help bring in votes in that "border states"-Appalachia region where Obama is reputedly so weak. Alexander also has a history of fooling the pundits into thinking he's a great moderate when he's anything but. Another alleged moderate and Bush accomplice who might also be able to keep the Broder bund entranced would be Tom Ridge.
Going completely across country and somewhat to other side of the ideological spectrum (as much as one exists within the Republican Party), McCain could call upon Susan Collins of Maine, another faux maverick who usually falls in line on the votes really important to the party. And if he wanted to balance the ticket on both gender and racial terms, there's always Bush understudy Condoleezza Rice. I think the only incentive for him to consider this necessary would be if Clinton somehow managed to sneak the nomination out of Obama's grasp, which is looking less likely by the day.
To maximize his War On Terror cred, McCain could go for the double eagle solution and choose the politically ambitious general, David Petraeus. But would the current administration give up Petraeus when they're seemingly counting on him to cook up a war with Iran before November?
Last but not least is McCain's good friend, Joseph Lieberman, of the Connecticut For Lieberman party. Would McCain cross party boundaries and make Lieberman the first man to run for Vice President for two different parties in two different elections? Would anyone outside the pundit class be impressed if he did?