I hadn’t thought that was even a remote possibility, but apparently his name is being bandied about.
Perhaps coupled with a one-term pledge from McCain, essentially making this a Petraeus for President campaign, he would certainly be a potent VP choice, especially given the current exceptionally high regard for the military among the public — if he accepted it.  Despite some reports to the contrary, General Petraeus has said he has no political ambitions,.  And he might consider his current job too important to step away from anyway.
Interestingly, Bob Woodward’s new book is said to claim that Petraeus was given senior Cabinet-level authority: supposedly, on all matters relating to Iraq his opinion was weighted equally with the Secretaries of State and Defense. The VP job might even be a step down.
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politically it would be a smart move for mccain, but i personally believe that petraeus is needed more urgently elsewhere. and not just because i want mccain to lose in november ;p.
McCain doesn’t need another military man on the ticket, unless it was perhaps Colin Powell, and even that would be a questionable pick, IMHO. He really needs somebody with good Economic chops and a healthy dose of Foreign Policy knowledge, and at least ten years younger.. but not Romney- too slick.
Beyond that he can just sit back and watch Obama/Biden implode.
McCain’s military credibility is all that is needed on the ticket. If we need more military credibility than John McCain provides, we’re in big trouble.
What McCain needs is someone to shore up his right flank and at the same time provide real credible economic chops.
Romney?
CosmicConservative’s last blog post..I’d like to hear McCain and Obama’s position on this issue?
Yeah, but still… Petraeus.
"Yeah, but still… Petraeus."
I dunno… Charismatic, admired military/civilian leader with a rather Roman-sounding name… Might finally drive some of the BDS-left to violent revolution, what with all their Caeser fantasies…
It would be an instant winner with me, however, I don’t see how it benefits McCain except, maybe, to reassure undecided voters that if he doesn’t complete his office he’ll have an instantly credible replacement.
Dean’s last comment is one I can agree with.
I think, though, that having two people on the same ticket being strongly associated with the military would not be a good thing. Too many ways to hang too many ‘frightening’ things onto that ticket.
I think the ideal running mate would be a woman in her 40s, with strong (but not loony) conservative credentials. If she happened to be ‘of color’, all the better.
Haven’t a clue who that might be, so he’s going to have to settle for less-than-ideal.
John_B’s last blog post..Saudis Increase Border ID Security
Sarah Palin isn’t ‘of color’, but she’s got everything else on your list (female, 44 years old, strong-but-not-loony conservative). She’s also Governor of Alaska, which would make her the only person on either ticket with executive experience.
Sarah Palin continues to be my choice.
I think McCain needs to do something unexpected and exciting for his choice, and Sarah would do it. It would counter the absolutely boring Biden choice, and give Hillary supporters all the more reason to jump ship. She’s also got VERY high approval ratings in Alaska… Something like 80% – 90%. She’s young, attractive, solidly conservative and pro-life, while not being a total psycho. Consider:
Palin’s first veto was used on legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to gay state employees and their partners. In effect, her veto granted State of Alaska benefits to same-sex couples.
It would be an inspired selection… Which is exactly why I doubt the dolts running McCain’s campaign will do it. They’ll probably go with Romney, which is almost as bad a choice as Biden.
Still, I hope for Palin.
Governor Palin fails for me as a choice for two reasons:
1) On the most important issue for a Vice Presidential candidate, she is highly questionable: experience. She’s been a governor for less than two years. And of a very small state, population wise (less than 700,000 people in the entire state). Her previous experience was as a mayor of what would have to be called a very small town (total population under 6,000). No offense to the fine people of Alaska or the town of Wasilla, but this to me is not confidence-inducing; is someone with that light a resume really ready to become President of the United States in one heartbeat?
2) On a more personal note, on the major issues that matter to me most, I’m not even clear where she really stands. Although she could certainly address that if she were the nominee, I’d be scrutinizing her carefully.
Of course it’s already a given that I support Senator McCain, and her selection would not be a dealbreaker for me. Still, other than trying to reassure pro-lifers that McCain isn’t going off the reservation, and playing for female voters (whom I don’t think generally care all *that* much if it’s a woman), I’m not sure what she really brings to the ticket. Even Alaska’s piddling 3 electoral votes are already pretty much guaranteed to go to Senator McCain anyway.
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