ranch
Posted at 1:59pm on May 26, 2008 John McCain's Sedona picnic
67 species of birds or a veepstakes?
By Mark Kilmer
John McCain invited several people to his ranch in Sedona, New Mexico Arizona, this weekend. There were old primary opponents like Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, and Mitt Romney. There were some prominent Republican governors, like Bobby Jindal and Charlie Crist. FedEx CEO Fred Smith was there. Lindsay Graham, of course, made it, as was Joe Lieberman. Former eBay boss Meg Whitman was there. And McCain advisor Charlie Black.
And there were others.
The nation's political press decided that this was a tryout for McCain's veep spot, while Lindsay Graham, appearing on CBS' Face the Nation, told host Bob Schieffer that his best Senate buddy was just showing off his ranch and its 67 species of birds. (NOTE: I here use "press" as a generic term for the media.)
There have been other recent get-togethers at the McCain ranch, including a recent one with Minnesota Tim Pawlenty, Mel Martinez, Trent Lott, and Utah Governor Jon Hunstman. (That was in early March, with little press coverage.) Martinez cannot be veep, as he was born in Cuba.
My two bits this Memorial Day, after my solemn embrace of the memory of those who gave everything to preserve our ongoing republican (small r) experiment, is that this McCain event strikes me as a cute sort of trick. We're not going to have any better idea of who is and who is not on the any list based on any guest list to a sleepover in late May. (I like Fred Smith, but he has a day job.)
I think Utah's Huntsman, a Mormon McCain supporter, would make a fine veep, but is he out of consideration because he was invited to the wrong meeting? (After all, he agrees with McCain, and most of the rest of the media-saturated nation, on AGW.)
I'd like to think, again, that this was a trick.
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