John McCain to Tom Ridge: Don't hold your breath for vice president spot

For all the continued gnashing of teeth among some conservatives over John McCain's long, obstacle-strewn, improbable rise to the top of the heap in the Republican Party, he's been taking care not to unnecessarily aggravate parts of the GOP base. Indeed, today he seemed to go out of his way to send a reassuring signal to antiabortion forces.

McCain was at Villanova University in the Philadelphia area, joining MSNBC's Chris Matthews for an interview session in front of a student crowd when the following exchange occurred:

MATTHEWS:  Let me ask you about your Republican Party.  You've been a maverick, and a lot of people like you because of that.  I want to ask you how much of a maverick you are.  Would you put a person on the ticket with you, like the former governor of this state who is very popular, Tom Ridge, even though he may disagree on the issue of Roe v. Wade and abortion rights? .... Would that stop him? 
MCCAIN:  I don't know if it would stop him, but it would be difficult.  I just want to say that Tom Ridge is one of the great Americans.  He served in the Vietnam War.  He served in Congress.  He served as a great governor of this state.  I am proud to call him my friend. 
MATTHEWS:  Why that one issue?  Why is it that one litmus test issue?
MCCAIN:  I'm not saying that would be necessarily, but I am saying ... the respect and cherishing of the right of the unborn is one of the fundamental principles of my party.  And it's a ... deeply held belief of mine.  But I just want to say, again, the admiration and respect and affection that I have for Tom Ridge -- he and I came to the Congress together many years ago.  And I can't tell you how much I admire him.

No doubt.

But at this stage of his running-mate selection process, McCain did not have to all but rule out Ridge (who also served as the first head of the Department of Homeland Security). True, Matthews phrased his question well, but McCain could have wiggled out of it, saying Ridge was a great American but it was premature to discuss his prospects -- or those of any other -- as his veep pick.

That would have kept alive a murmur of concern among social conservatives, though. And after overcoming so much distrust among core GOP constituencies to emerge as the presumptive nominee, it appears clear that McCain wants to still such worries.

-- Don Frederick

Photo credit: Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[sebjoeko]

Now that the smoke has cleared, it seems clear that the pick of Palin hurt McCain's campaign sufficiently to cause him to lose the election.
In retrospect, would'nt the pick of Ridge as VP broadened McCain's appeal to the legion of undecided voters?
Did the harccore conservative element of the Republican party really have such sway as to have eleminated the choice of Ridge early on, as the author states above?