Steele for veep?
Apparently John Gizzi thinks it’s a possibility. As part of a continuing series of possible veepstake winners profiled on the Human Events website, Gizzi had some good things to say about possibly the second most-beloved Republican in Maryland – after his onetime boss Bob Ehrlich - but Michael seemed to be lowering his expectations a little:
Steele for Vice President? “It probably won’t happen — not in ’08 any way, Steele himself says.
Michael’s probably correct – not that he’s unqualified, but generally a candidate goes into the election cycle with a list in his or her head of people who he or she would like to work with on the ticket. Since there are still two possible options to head the Democrat side of the ledger and a plethora of aspirants on that side to balance their ticket out, it may not be until the convention that John McCain announces his choice.
Just going by gut instinct, I think the arguments against Steele at the bottom of the ticket run in three categories:
- While he won statewide as part of the Ehrlich/Steele combo, in his first solo effort he lost by ten points and didn’t draw an appreciably larger percentage of the minority vote in a state which has more minorities than most – at least not enough to win.
- If Barack Obama is the candidate on the Democrat side, selecting Steele would seem like a token gesture. He’s already been portayed that way in statewide races, naturally the national media would be no more kind.
- Selecting someone from a state that’s probably not going to be in play (particularly if Obama is the nominee) generally goes against conventional wisdom.
Personally I think Michael Steele would be an asset to the ticket but having lost his last race it’s probably not going to happen. What intrigued me about the Human Events article was its conclusion:
“I’m intrigued by the idea of running for governor [in 2010]. I think Maryland is ripe for my brand of Lincoln Republicanism — that focuses on individuals, not institutions, that focuses on families in communities, not programs and outdated unionization of ideas, if you will, and opportunity.” He also won’t rule out another Senate race, especially if Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski retires in 2010.
What this could mean is a primary fight in two years on both sides, since rumor has it that Comptroller Peter Franchot is considering challenging Governor Martin O’Malley for the Democrat nod and there’s rumblings of Bob Ehrlich giving it another go on the GOP side. Talk about an interesting primary season! I’m rubbing my hands with glee thinking about the campaign commercials on the Democrat side if Franchot and O’Malley go head-to-head. Can you say ammo? But I think there’s a better possibility of both Bob and Michael being on the November ballot as one tries for the Senate seat and the other for Governor.
We’ll have a lot of topics to discuss over the weekend as the Maryland GOP gets together, but I suspect talk of 2010 won’t be really high on the agenda. That will be a subject next time around since the Fall Convention will occur after Election 2008 – meanwhile we have Delegates (and Alternate Delegates such as myself, hopefully) to pick and national party representatives and electors to affirm this weekend. See you in Annapolis!
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Wicomico County Elections 2010 Examiner
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Please note that the opinions expressed on monoblogue are not necessarily those of the Wicomico County Republican Party Central Committee, of which I'm a member. (But they probably should be.)
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