McCain to host Romney, Crist and Jindal this weekend

[Puppycow]

McCain Looks to Fill Ticket, and 3 Hopefuls Step Up (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/us/politics/22veep.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)

Mitt Romney, Charlie Crist and Bobby Jindal are visiting McCain at his ranch this weekend. Presumably these men are potential VP picks.

Anyone who followed the Republican nomination campaign already knows about Romney. Crist is governor of Florida, Jindal is governor of Louisiana.

As governor of Florida, Mr. Crist, 51, would bring obvious assets to the Republican ticket, beginning with his popularity in a state that is almost always an electoral battleground — and where Mr. Obama appears to be struggling. Mr. Crist’s relative youth could also be an asset for Mr. McCain, who has made clear that age will be a consideration in his search for a running mate.

In Florida, Mr. Crist has long been known for his affability and a campaign skills. Instantly recognizable because of his perpetual tan and striking white hair, Mr. Crist, who was Florida’s attorney general before being elected governor in 2006, has also acquired a reputation as something of a hard-liner on law and order issues.

He supports the death penalty, largely opposes restrictions on the rights of gun owners, early on earned the nickname “Chain Gang Charlie” because he favored allowing convicts to be used in road work, and has described himself as a “pro-life and pro-family” candidate.
. . .
Mr. Jindal, who was born in Baton Rouge, La., to a family that had just arrived there from the Punjab area of India, took office in January after serving three years in the House of Representatives. In a race with four candidates, Mr. Jindal, who was born a Hindu but converted to Roman Catholicism as a teenager, won 54 percent of the vote after campaigning as a social conservative, opposing human embryonic stem cell research and abortion in any form, and favoring teaching “intelligent design” in schools as an alternative to evolution.

Oh Lordy. An ID proponent. :covereyes

[BPSCG]

Jindal might be a good candidate in the future, but after only three years in the House and four months as governor, his selection would make it difficult for the GOP to say Obama is too inexperienced. Let's see him again in 2012.

[BigAl]

The best shot they've got is Bobby Piyush Jindal who's parents are Punjabi nationals and he hasn't been fully forthcoming about his religious upbringing, at least to my satisfaction. Punjab is predominantly Islamic.

(In other words, I haven't spent so much as a minute to actually finding anything out about his religious background but I'll bring it up every chance I get, anyway, and I really don't care.)

:) :) :) :) :)

Actually, as an Obama supporter, I'm impressed by what I know of Jindal and his nomination for VP certainly would make a race with Obama interesting, to say the least.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jindal

[David Wong]

If I'm looking a the map right, McCain HAS to win Florida. And he should, it's been edging further to the right since 2000. But still he's only polling up by 5 points in the last poll I saw, and Obama hasn't even campaigned there yet.


So if Crist can help bring Florida home, that may make it worth it all by itself.

[ZenFountain]

Romney could be an asset to McCain. I didn't agree with Romney on many issues and found him quite shallow through the campaign, but he has a keen understanding of the marketplace and McCain is looking very weak in that department.

[headscratcher4]

Many years ago, there was a black-humor novel called "the Twenty Seventh City", I recall, about Asian Indians taking over St. Louis. A very strange idea, even funny idea at the time. Now, with Jindahl insinuating himself and his secret hindu ways into the core of the GOP, maybe not.

Also, love the idea of Bobby J, 'cause it will make that first McCain ad, the one where McCain is referred to as "An American Preisident...", seem even funnier than it already is.

Seriously, Jindhal is an interesting guy. Too young, probabaly -- a bit of a Dan Quale kind of choice, but he's no dummy. He got rave reviews, I think, for running the Louisiana Department of Health in his 20s, and ran for governor on an anti-corruptionj platform. I don't happen to agree with him plitically or his policy solutions but young and smart woudl be an interesting choice for old and confused McCain.

[Brainster]

I still say Portman (who's also mentioned in the article, but is not going to Sedona this weekend) makes the most sense. He could help McCain win Ohio, potentially giving the Arizonan a shot at winning all three of OH, PA and FL. I don't see any way Obama can win without at least one of those states, and so far, nobody's ever won without two of them. McCain seems safe in FL, so I don't see Crist. Ditto with Romney, who's unlikely to turn Massachusetts red, and if McCain needs Mitt to win Utah, he's thoroughly hosed. Romney could help in Michigan, where he grew up and his dad was a popular governor and the head of General Motors. That's another state that Obama almost has to carry to have any chance of winning. Jindal seems like a comer but too inexperienced, and his state should be safe red.

Electoral college considerations aside, Crist seems like one of the better choices. If McCain still thinks he needs to nail down the right flank, he could pick Romney.

[joobie]

The best shot they've got is Bobby Piyush Jindal who's parents are Punjabi nationals and he hasn't been fully forthcoming about his religious upbringing, at least to my satisfaction. Punjab is predominantly Islamic.

he's a stealth hindu.

;)

[headscratcher4]

That's "hindoo" to you, bubba. ;)

[timhau]

The quote in the OP got me thinking... How common is creationism among Catholics? I've always thought of it as a more-or-less exclusively Protestant ailment.

[headscratcher4]

My understanding is that the Vatican has historically stated that Darwin and Darwinian biology doesn't conflict with its theology...though I've been under the impression that the current Pope would like to walk that broad acceptance of modern biology back a bit. Does that track with what others have heard?

In any event, it seems certain that the Catholic Churchs ability to live with modern biological theory just proves Hagee's point.

[Cleon]

The best shot they've got is Bobby Piyush Jindal who's parents are Punjabi nationals and he hasn't been fully forthcoming about his religious upbringing, at least to my satisfaction. Punjab is predominantly Islamic.

Er, what?

Punjab is predominantly Sikh, not Muslim. Islam's a minority religion in the region, even in Pakistani Punjab.

[corplinx]

Mitt Romney, Charlie Crist and Bobby Jindal are visiting McCain at his ranch this weekend. Presumably these men are potential VP picks.



Not at all. They just heard McCain has a 4 stall bathroom and that Larry Craig would be there too.

[Puppycow]

My understanding is that the Vatican has historically stated that Darwin and Darwinian biology doesn't conflict with its theology...though I've been under the impression that the current Pope would like to walk that broad acceptance of modern biology back a bit. Does that track with what others have heard?

The previous pope apologized for the church's treatment of Galileo. I hear tell the current pope wants to take back that apology. ;)

Seriously, though, he does seem to be a step backward from John Paul II. He seems to favor ID over evolution. Even his fashion choices (http://blog.beliefnet.com/benedictions/2008/04/the-popes-fashion-statement.html) go back to earlier eras.

Vestments of greater import, including the news that the pope has commissioned a set of 30 new vestments modeled on those worn by the notorious Medici pope, Leo X, a corpulent, corrupt fellow who at his election famously declared, "Let us enjoy the papacy since God has given it to us."

[timhau]

Seriously, though, he does seem to be a step backward from John Paul II. He seems to favor ID over evolution. Even his fashion choices (http://blog.beliefnet.com/benedictions/2008/04/the-popes-fashion-statement.html) go back to earlier eras.

FWIW, I thought JP II didn't wear funny hats often enough.

[shemp]

Er, what?

Punjab is predominantly Sikh, not Muslim. Islam's a minority religion in the region, even in Pakistani Punjab.

Hindoo, Mooslim, Sickh, it's all the same!!! They're all goddamn FURRINERS!!! I didn't spend 15 years in the trenches fighting the Kaiser just so some goddamn FURRINER could take over my country!!!

[kallsop]

I don't especially like any of those 3 VP possibilities. Sad thing is, who else is there? The republicans at this time don't have a charismatic empty suit to equal Obamamania.

[corplinx]

It he picked Mitt Romney, which Romney would he pick? The plastic ultra white bred Crest commercial or the much more appealing pragmatic technocrat who isn't afraid to get in your face?

Watch him shift between the 2 Romneys during this radio interview where during commericals he takes off the Ward Cleaver mask:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-G9hydflwEQ

I prefer the real Romney over the image. Not that I would vote for the guy.

[headscratcher4]

I thought that the rumor on Crist is that he was fundumentally single. Anyone else heard this roumor or is it disinformation that I'm happilly passing along?

[Tsukasa Buddha]

I thought that the rumor on Crist is that he was a gay, homosexual, butt pirate. Anyone else heard this roumor or is it disinformation that I'm happilly passing along?

Fixed :) !

[Policenaut]

I think everyone is overlooking the obvious answer: Alan Keyes. :D

[Tsukasa Buddha]

I think everyone is overlooking the obvious answer: Alan Keyes. :D

I'm still holding out on him winning the Republican nomination :) .

[Damien Evans]

The quote in the OP got me thinking... How common is creationism among Catholics? I've always thought of it as a more-or-less exclusively Protestant ailment.

The Catholic Church fully accepts evolution, though benny the rat is making small steps to backpeddle on that.

[Dr Adequate]

I don't especially like any of those 3 VP possibilities. Sad thing is, who else is there? The republicans at this time don't have a charismatic empty suit to equal Obamamania. There are plenty of threads for halfwitted whining about Obama, but I'm pretty sure this isn't one of them.

[Dr Adequate]

I thought that the rumor on Crist is that he was fundumentally single. Anyone else heard this roumor or is it disinformation that I'm happilly passing along? Well, just so long as he doesn't want to marry anyone ...