It would, in my view, be political suicide for McCain. A reader spells out why:
McCain’s first salvo out of the box on Biden was to use Biden’s quotes about Obama against them. Heaven knows there is far MORE ammunition for Obama when it comes to McCain and
Romney. McCain called Romney a flip-flopper dozens of times on record, said he costs thousands of jobs as head of Bain and of course questioned his commitment on Iraq. That doesn’t include all the things Romney said about McCain, like attacking McCain on taxes, attacking him for not having a clue on the economy and a host of other issues. Obama’s folks would have a bevy of pre-made ads just using the ads that McCain and Romney ran against each other in the primary.
The other arguments are just as weak. Obama picked Biden to shore up his foreign affairs and national security credentials, so McCain, the argument goes, needs to pick Romney to do the same on the economy. But Romney’s supposed economic chops would be instantly deflated not only by what McCain said about Romney, but rest assured that the DNC has every single job Romney and Bain cost for every target, every offshore deal they did that shipped jobs overseas and every questionable investment they made. Tim Pawlenty has none of that baggage.
Romney can deliver Michigan. Pure nonsense.
Romney winning the GOP primary there is a far cry from delivering the state. Could he be helpful, sure, but not decisive. The question is do the rest of his negatives erase or outweigh whatever help he can provide in Michigan? Many have said that McCain (with his 7 or 8 houses) needs to pick an “every Joe” who can appeal to blue collar workers. That certainly isn’t Romney. Romney may not have as many houses as McCain, but he certainly has more money. Here again, Pawlenty is a far better choice.
As you know many of our conservative Christian friends (as underscored by Huckabee’s constant comments) do not like Romney not only because of his flip-flopping, but also because he is a Mormon. As you know, Pawlenty is one of them.
And lastly, how does Mr. Straight Talk choose a guy who he has repeatedly called a flip-flopper? Doesn’t that undermine McCain’s brand and credibility? It surely would undercut Romney on the campaign trail and in debates.