How McCain Might Become President

Latest polls show Obama leading Clinton in South Carolina. Meantime, McCain leads Giuliani even in New York. And the verbal battle between the Clintons and Obama seems to keep getting hotter. Polls suggest blacks are polarizing around Obama, while Clinton is playing the “gender” card for more than it's worth.

The 2008 presidential race has always been the Democrats’ to lose. It almost looks now as though they might manage to lose it.

Consider: the Republican race settles on McCain soon—the Republicans do tend to close ranks quickly behind a frontrunner--while the race between Obama and Clinton remains undecided and bitter into the stretch, also stirring up racial passions. The Democratic nominee might end up low on campaign funds for the fall, as Dole was in '96 after a tough nomination battle, and with a divided party, as the Democrats were after Chicago in ’68. It might be the perfect storm.

If I were McCain, I’d be talking to Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, or J.C. Watts as possible running mates--there might be a chance to at last dislodge the black vote from the Democrats. Or how about Joe Liebermann, as an invitation to disaffected Democrats to cross over?

Then again, here's another intriguing idea for a McCain-headed ticket: Michael Bloomberg for VP. It would of course pre-empt an independent run by Bloomberg; it would give the ticket some important credibility on the economic front, and the economy looks to be the big issue. It might give it some healthy extra funding. And, like a Liebermann ticket, it invites independents to come on board.