Who Makes the Better Running Mate? Pawlenty or Barbour?

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Lisa Schiffren of the National Review Online says her readers' number one choice for McCain's running mate is Bobby Jindal. But her choices for second place are a tie between Governors Pawlenty and Barbour.

Governors Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Haley Barbour of Mississippi tie for second place, though Pawlenty is edging ahead even as I write.

Pawlenty supporters are convinced that he has a big future. One reader wrote, “He’s young, energetic, has a good grasp of policy, and won re-election in a blue state in 2006.” Another: “He appeals to the vast majority of the conservative grassroots while bringing in moderates, and he’d shore up support in important Midwest swing states like Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.” “He won’t alienate the media. He has co-chaired McCain’s campaign since the beginning and remained loyal in the dark days of autumn.” Furthermore, unlike McCain, Pawlenty is sound on immigration; and “his wife, an articulate former judge, is a Baptist and he attends her church.” (A professionally accomplished wife is a big plus in my book.) And “Pawlenty has held the line on fiscal conservatism and kept his ‘no new taxes’ pledge, vetoing more than 50 bills sent to him by a tax-and-spend Democratic legislature.”

As it happens, the current conventional wisdom among strategists is that Pawlenty is the man. To win this year, the GOP will need to hold all the states that Bush won — unlikely — or to bring over some that he narrowly lost. Minnesota tops that list. His downside is that he has no national presence. I couldn’t pick him out of a line-up. Now would be a good time for him to start raising his profile.

Another reader enumerates Haley Barbour’s assets: “He’s a bit younger than McCain, and is a southern governor with a strong pro-life record — and he was the only competent elected official in the midst of Hurricane Katrina. He’s also strong on taxes and spending: He balanced Mississippi’s budget, and he vetoed a cigarette-tax increase and vowed to veto others. Barbour would be a perfect balance to McCain by addressing his southern problem and his conservative problem — and he is credible enough that Americans would be comfortable to see him being one heartbeat away from the Oval Office.”

I, personally, have seen Haley practice the dark arts of politics up close, and emerged with great respect for him. He’s a Reaganite. He is also immensely charming (you can’t win if people don’t like you) as well as very smart. (Imagine if Trent Lott had been really smart.) Barbour may be top-of-the-ticket material in the future. The downside may be that this is not the best year for a lobbyist or a genuine (if upper-crust) good ol’ boy.

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