John McCain

A few weeks ago, a spate of articles suggested that Mitt Romney was on the top of McCain’s list of potential VP picks. At the time it seemed like idle beltway gossip. But instead of subsiding, the talk is gaining momentum. In fact as I was writing this, the Drudge Report made it tonight’s headline (that or its a slow news night).

I didn’t think it was seriously possible, as McCain seemed to especially dislike Romney during the Primaries and there has been the constant concern that a Mormon on the ticket would futher alienate McCain from Evangelicals with whom he’s always had a lukewarm relationship.

Despite the obvious Romney negatives, there has been some interesting speculation and chatter that make it sound not only possible, but a good idea:

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A group of social conservatives is running an open letter warning John McCain that picking Mitt Romney as his Vice-President will be a “deal breaker.” The ads are being placed in cities where McCain is campaigning.

What makes this strange is that the most prominent conservative on the letter is Paul Weyrich, who endorsed Romney during the primaries. Even more odd is that the letter’s two big claims against Romney are his record on abortions and same-sex marriage. While Romney’s record on abortion is arguable his stand against SSM was pretty clear (My Mann Mitt provides links refuting both claims).

As Hot Air asks, “What’s this really about?” Evangelicals for Mitt thinks the targeting of Romney with the rise of Huckabee show “the need for a serious reformation of our movement.”

UPDATE: The group has an online petition you can sign at NoMittVP.com. There is a checkbox you can click that says “I would vote for McCain/Romney.” Some of the later names on the petition are checking that option (cough).

Marc Ambinder points out while the the petition asks that McCain choose someone who supports a Federal Marriage Amendment, McCain doesn’t while Romney does.

Last week, there were rumors and speculation that Karl Rove and other prominent Republicans were encouraging a McCain-Romney ticket for this November’s election.

Despite reports that his aides have opposed the ticket, Romney said last night in an interview that he’d accept a VP offer and downplayed the hard feelings between him and McCain, calling him the “Big Dog” (Millenial Star links to video of the interview).

Fred Barnes at the Weekly Standard says that Romney would make an excellent pick for Vice-President since he’s seen as a credible president and he won’t subtract from the ticket.   

That leads to Romney. He has run a vigorous national campaign and been vetted by the press and his opponents for the Republican nomination. . .

Romney has three other add-ons. He’s acceptable to conservatives and especially to social conservatives, who disproportionately volunteer as ground troops in Republican presidential campaigns. He’s unflappable in debates. With the downturn worsening, the economy may surpass national security as the top issue of the campaign. And after years of success as a big time player in the global economy, Romney understands how markets work. He could shore up McCain’s admitted weakness on economic issues.

However, Barnes dismisses Romney’s Mormonism as a liablity a little too easily. While the role of his religion has probably been overstated, it didn’t help in the Southern primaries where the GOP desperatley needs to win.

My guess is that McCain won’t pick Romney.  He doesn’t bring the right geography or demography (sorry but the LDS voting bloc isn’t as influential as we’d like to be). 

Never mind that McCain has never tried to hide his dislike for Romney. But maybe McCain can learn from Lincoln and swallow his pride to assemble a “Team of Rivals” to create a winning team.

As much as I’d like to see McCain swallow some pride for once and pick Romney, the idea will probably remain as idle speculation.  I’ll settle my hopes on a cabinet seat should they get that far.