A McCain Romney Ticket?

WARNING: I WROTE THIS IN TEN MINUTES, i.e. not my best work, but just a few thoughts that I hadn't seen anyone else talking about.

At first sight the idea of a McCain/Romney ticket appear peculiar, but with some analysis the idea begins to make a lot more sense. First, Romney tried to run as the candidate who could unite all three legs of the republican party: the economic, social and defense conservatives. The strategy backfired when he had his fingers in all candidates target audiences, particularly Mike Huckabee’s.

Huckabee went after Romney for being a flip flopper and then when Mitt hit back he went after Romney for being a flip-flopper , a liar, being rich and for being negative. McCain used the clash between the two candidates to his advantage and also jumped in the brawl when it came time for the New Hampshire primary. The result: A lot of both McCain and Huckabee supporters don’t feel that Romney has the character to be President of the United States.

By Romney swallowing his pride and taking the VP spot both McCain and Huckabee will have to talk about what a great guy Mitt Romney is. The trade off is of course that Romney will have to talk about what a great guy John McCain is. In doing this Romney would smooth over a lot of edges with supporters of rival campaigns. Second, it also puts Mitt as “next in line” for the GOP nomination. By accepting the VP spot Romney will be able to run as the inevitable Republican candidate, whether in 2012, 2016 or 2020.

McCain angered a lot of Romney supporters with his low blow of taking Romney’s words out of context and claiming that Romney had at one point been in favor of a troop with draw. McCain is not considered conservative enough by the Republican base. Though smoothing over the Romney supporters and conservatives are both considerations of McCain’s, I believe the biggest reason why McCain would consider Romney is because of his credibility with the economy.
The economy is shaping up to be the biggest issue of this election and McCain has openly admitted that he is not an expert on the subject. McCain will not win this election on the issue of national security alone. He needs to convince the American people that there will be an economic turn around with him in the White House. He himself can’t make that sell, but with Romney as his VP that totally changes.

Now that’s looking at this whole thing through a political lens, try to look at it through any other and it just doesn’t make any sense at all. Mitt Romney and John McCain disagree on campaign finance, immigration, the economy, environmental policy, and the list goes on and on. This political season just seems to get stranger and stranger by the minute.

Jason Bentley is currently a communications major at BYU