I keep hearing that picking Joe Biden has invariably weakened Tom Ridge's VP prospects. I think the opposite is true. In fact, I think that Ridge has got to be a VP frontrunner at this point.
Here's why: everything I've read suggests that McCain is looking for a governor. Someone with executive experience. The GOP has a few bright young governors to choose from: Jindal, Palin, Pawlenty, Romney. Of these four, Romney has the biggest booster club within the GOP and he's the one who, supposedly, is best-equipped to speak about economic issues. So I believe the rumors that he was McCain's VP choice.
But I don't suppose he is anymore. In fact, I think that Biden might very well have buggered McCain's whole process. That's why the Biden pick was smart: Biden's good at foreign affairs plus he's good at speaking to economic concerns. He's tough. Is Bobby Jindal? I can see any of those young guvs being eviscerated by Biden in a debate. Maybe not Romney, but he's going to be at a deficit w.r.t. foreign policy experience. And this is another reason why Joe Lieberman would be a bad call for McCain's VP--he's one of the worst debaters out there. Just watch his debate with Cheney in 2000 if there is any doubt.
So, now the VP choice has got to stack up to Biden on foreign affairs/national security and have executive experience. At this point, though, I suspect the former is most critical. Plus, being able to talk about economics is helpful at this juncture. So, it's a different profile that McCain needs his VP to meet now, and that profile is simply not Mitt Romney's. It is Tom Ridge's. What other options does he have? I suppose he could try to get Condi Rice as his VP, but she's socially liberal too--perhaps more so than Ridge. This could cause problems, base-wise. This also might be why Petraeus was mentioned as a VP candidate, though I suspect not seriously. I wonder if Bob Gates isn't in contention--that would actually be a pretty savvy move by McCain's campaign, as Gates is pretty popular in the media. And Gates is an okay debater, too. I've been reasonably impressed by him, and I'd actually feel a whole lot better about a McCain administration if Bob Gates were given a central role. Of course, of course, of course, McCain doesn't seem too into foreign policy realists these days. So maybe not.
Of course, there is someone else who fits this profile...
