With the general election campaign officially underway, speculation continues as to whether or not Barack Obama will pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. On the Republican side, buoyed by his appearance on Fox News Sunday morning, many insiders believe long-time McCain supporter Governor Tim Pawlenty is either McCain’s number 1 or 1a choice to become his running mate.

But when will we know?

Recent presidential election cycles tell us we will need to wait at least a month. Back in 2004, John Kerry selected John Edwards as his running mate on July 6th of that year.

In 2000, the wait was even longer: Dick Cheney was announced as George W. Bush’s running mate on July 25th, while Al Gore waited until August 7th before Joseph Lieberman was added to his ticket.

Of course, with the whole primary process moved up a few weeks this year, perhaps the announcement of running mates will occur earlier as well. McCain is in the advantageous position of being able to wait and see who Obama picks, as the GOP convention is held after the Democratic convention.

1 Comments

  1. rebecca on July 17, 2008 at 10:56 am

    I pray McCain picks Romney. He seems to be the only one with strong values, economic experience, and charisma to beat the Obama machine. I don’t believe Barry knows best.

    Why would a guy drop an American sounding name he used professionally all along for a name that raises speculation of his patriotism during a time of war with middle eastern countries?

    Why does America turn their heads while someone who says he wants to sit in the big chair fails to salute the flag…O, wait, he has enough experience to be president yet has no clue when it is appropriate if not political protocol to salute the flag?

    We need strong leadership right now, not puppets and propaganda. The LAST thing we need is an egotistical people pleaser who will say whatever is necessary to lure the votes and THEN do the research to try and figure out what in the heck he is REALLY going to do.

    So, Barak isn’t so sure about the war now…and he isn’t so sure he should salute the flag…and he isn’t so sure that he should stand firm on real values. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t vote for him if he was the ONLY candidate running.

    The lemming attitude of American voters is stupid. I hate to hear people say they are voting for him because they think he is going to win anyway. Why would you give your power away when it matters most.

    The biggest crisises in this country right now are the economy, the war, and the family. Restore the strength and value of the family and you can heal this country. Romney is the only one who is addressing that. Restore true patriotism and we can win the war and promote peace in the world though we will never control those who are given to greed and domination as a way of life. We do have a role in this world that we cannot be afraid of. Mc Cain has the most experience and most valuable opinion there. Our economy is out of control and you cannot fix what you do not understand. No one else has the economic background that Romney does.

    I don’t care what your political affiliation is – or even mine for that reason. You have to vote for the strongest leadership for this country – or you absolutely deserve all the carnaige because you brought it on yourself.

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