1. Former Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania–McCain loves the guy, I’m told, and Ridge might bring Pa. into the Republican fold…but he’s pro-choice. Fuggedaboutit.
2. Former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida–Ahhh, Florida. But, oy, that last name.
3. Senator Mel Martinez of Florida—Ahh, Florida….and brings Latinos, too! But born in Cuba, so ineligible for the office.
Why not throw Zombie Reagan in there, since he’s roughly as likely as any of these three (well, the last two at least) to have ever been considered for the ticket? Jeb is almost literally the last guy in the Republican Party Maverick would want as VP when the Dems are already painting him as Dubya’s third term, and Martinez … do I really need to explain to the Hot Air readership how an all-amnesty ticket would be received by the base?
By “top three,” I assume what Joe Klein means is that these are the guys McCain personally prefers, all political considerations aside, but that’s obviously not true either given his fondness for Lindsey Graham and, as Klein himself notes in his update, Joe Lieberman. A wishlist of cronies surely starts with those two, not Jeb Bush. So what’s the point of this, unless its simply dirt being circulated by one of McCain’s enemies in the party to alarm conservatives (as if they needed any more alarming) that Maverick’s political instincts are not to be trusted?
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