McCain more than likely sat back and watched carefully as the Democrats hosted their convention in Denver. I believe his campaign wanted to get the feel of what kind of attacks and zingers he could expect during the course of the campaign well in advance of making his last minute decision on his running mate. I am not totally sure he has chosen as of yet. Sending out a press release that he has decided might be just a front to get a little attention while the Democrats have the show. I believe that he will make his final decision personally tomorrow night after Senator Obama's speech. As for who he will choose, I think that he really can't go with Mitt Romney now. Why? Well, McCain is hitting Joe Biden hard because he said that Obama was not qualified to be president and that McCain was. If McCain then choses a running mate that has been critical of him and questioned his ability to be president, he will lose the moral credibility to make the argument about Joe Biden that he is making now. I don't think he can choose Whitman because the McCain camp has hit and continues to hit Obama because of his inexperience and lack of leadership resume. Whitman does not have political experience and McCain will seem disingenuous if he runs with someone just as politically inexperienced as Obama. I don't think Lieberman or Ridge because they will be seen as too liberal by McCain's conservative base. Huckabee never was taken seriously because of gaffes and foolish comments he has made like those at the NRA convention about Obama. Bobby Jindall has said no, and really lacks the experience that he needs to escape criticism in the wake of McCain's criticism of Obama not being ready or possessing the experience he needs. So, to me, that leaves Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas. My advice would be go with Hutchinson. Of course my vote is with Barr, so I am just speaking in terms of what I would do if I were McCain. KBH will help woo some of Hillary's disappointed female voters, and she has the experience McCain needs to capitalize on and still be able to hit Obama's lack of it. She also never attacked McCain and stayed neutral. The only thing she does not have is executive experience. Pawlenty does, but he still does not seem to be able to excite the Republicans like KBH could. However, her lack of executive experience could be a moot point since Obama has chosen Biden, who has none either. So what the Democrats have now are two U.S. Senators who have never been a chief executive of anything. The Republicans could now do that and get by unscathed because of it. There again, I would see KBH as a safe choice. These are just my thoughts. I would love to hear others.

I agree with just about everything you and Jason have stated... I'm just wondering if he throws a curve ball and goes with Guiliani and makes an attemp at NY. GOP wins NY and it's over. Those seen as moderate or liberal republicans have been successful in NY in the recent past. I think the last polls taken in NY had Obama and McCain seperated by single digits.

That argument could be made; however, with the tightness of this race, McCain will definitely get hit by the Obama camp for the issues surrounding his first marriage. As such, a Guiliani choice would bring additional baggage in to the ticket that the Republicans would find themselves spending time on to correct or defend. I think Guiliani's marriages and past will be more baggage than McCain can carry. I would stear clear of that. If I were McCain and wanted to compete seriously for New York, I would continue to reach out to disappointed Hillary supporters. That might tighten things up in the Empire State and possibly make Obama spend money there that he had not expected to spend, thus allowing McCain to come in and exploit the breach in Ohio and Michigan. Just my thoughts here.

I think McCain would like to go with Ridge, but I don't know how he helps him on the domestic issues/economy. How did Pennsylvania's economy do while he was the Gov?