Both men have received quite a bit of attention from those making early VP predictions. Both have recently won re-election as governors, and both have been at least center-right in their governance, with Sanford probably more reliably conservative and Pawlenty dealing with a more opposition-dominated legislature. Both governors are relatively young and potentially good candidates for a later presidential run for the GOP.
Conservatives have expressed a great deal of hesitation in climbing aboard McCain bandwagon, mostly on the basis of the two issues York mentions. They may find themselves energized by the addition of a running mate willing to dissent on McCain's positions on immigration and on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, better known as McCain-Feingold.
I'm cheered to see that Mark Sanford is gaining serious consideration for the VP spot, but Pawlenty's inclusion is a downer. As Jason Lewis has highlighted repeatedly on his excellent radio show on KTLK in Minneapolis--whose podcast is featured on the left sidebar of this blog--Tim Pawlenty has been a big disappointment to conservatives on the serious issue of global warming. And that can't be chalked up to an opposition legislature; he is regularly absent from the business of governing the state of Minnesota in order to attend global warming conferences calling for more restrictive legislation to curb our freedoms for the sake of bogus and highly politicized science.
If McCain believes that Pawlenty will deliver Minnesota, which has been relatively close in recent elections, for him, he's mistaken. The Republican Party there has had serious problems with their governor, and his choice as VP will not only likely turn the governor's office over to the DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, the name for Minnesota's Democratic Party), but will also reinforce conservatives' disaffection for the Arizona senator.
But conventional wisdom says that if you want to win an area of the country that your party struggles with, you choose a running mate from that area. I expect Pawlenty to be chosen over the Southerner Mark Sanford, whose conservative credentials are unquestionable.
Captain Ed's words about a future Pawlenty presidential run are also worrying, since a definitive McCain Caucus has been taking shape, including many members of the Conservative Eye-Poker Caucus like Lindsay Grahamnesty (R, Mexico City) and, of course, Tim Pawlenty (R., Scandinavia). If a McCain presidency were to be followed by a Pawlenty nomination, fears that the Republican Party is moving in a new, more statist, direction will be confirmed.
Ronald Reagan was the right man at the right time; so, I believe, was Dubya. Where is our right man this time?
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