Jay began writing politically themed commentary and founded his blog, Swimming Freestyle, in October 2007. Here he'll write about politics from a progressive perspective.

More Articles
Topics

A Picture for the Day

Khaled Hosseini on the McCain/Palin mobs

Some loose ends on Troopergate

How is a GM/Chrysler merger smart?

North Korea removed from terror list

A Picture for the Day

Status of Force Agreement

1930 British/Iraqi Treaty

Examiner Feeds

These websites were picked by the Progressive Politics Examiner as useful resources.

Rocket launches on space station voyage

MSNBC Top Headlines - 1 hr 52 mins ago

Official: More than 100 Taliban killed

MSNBC Top Headlines - 2 hrs 20 mins ago

Rays work late into night, get even with Red Sox

MSNBC Top Headlines - 2 hrs 24 mins ago

Are those lobsters in your pants or ...

MSNBC Top Headlines - 3 hrs ago

No. 17 Okla. St. trips up Daniel, No. 3 Missouri

MSNBC Top Headlines - 3 hrs ago

News

Opinion

Progressive Politics Examiner Links

swimming freestyle

National Examiners

Amos Wright
Conservative Politics Examiner
Most Recent Post
UCLA Economists' Warning To Be Completely Ignored

Michelle Kerns
Book Examiner
Most Recent Post
Swedes hand the Nobel Prize in Literature to Frenchman Le Clezio and insults to Americans

Charlie Papazian
Beer Examiner
Most Recent Post
Planning for the 2009 Great American Beer Festival begins in the meantime 2008 Competition results

Patricia Phillips
Space News Examiner
Most Recent Post
Space dynasty? Richard Garriott & Owen Garriott discuss Sunday's Soyuz launch

Ruth Manuel-Logan
Auto Examiner
Most Recent Post
Where did all the dealerships go?

Browse All Examiners

Find the Examiners
writing about your
favorite topics.

Find Examiners »

The Veepstakes

2 comments

July 23, 10:22 AM

by Jay McDonough, Progressive Politics Examiner

It's getting close to convention time. By the time the two parties nominate their presidential candidates, each will have picked a running mate and speculation of who's in and who's out has been heating up. Robert Novak had even reported this week that John McCain was considering revealing his choice in a bid to offset media fascination with rival Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East and Europe.

Chris Cilizza at the Washington Post has his latest pick s as to the leading contenders:

Republicans

1. Mitt Romney

2. Tim Pawlenty

3. Rob Portman

4. John Thune

5. Sarah Palin

Democrats:

1. Evan Bayh

2. Tim Kaine

3. Jack Reed

4. Joe Biden

5. Hillary Clinton

Cliizza explains his rationale as follows:

For Obama, that choice is between change and experience. Does Obama opt for a vice president who reinforces his fresh-faced appeal (Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas) or does he go for a more known commodity within the party who has the experience he lacks (Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Jack Reed of Rhode Island)?

McCain's choice is whether to throw a "short pass" or a "Hail Mary." The short pass candidates are people that McCain is personally close to or would fit an obvious need for him. Choosing a "short pass" candidate would be a signal that McCain believes he can win this race without fundamentally altering its current dynamic. Among the "short pass" names are: Govs. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Charlie Crist of Florida, former governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, former Rep. Rob Portman of Ohio and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

The "Hail Mary" option would suggest that McCain believes that he has to shake up the race with an entirely unexpected and unorthodox choice that would carry great reward and great risk. It's the opposite of a safe pick. Among that group: Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Topics: Obama , McCain , Vice Presidents

Feed

Comments

A Picture for the Day

Add a Comment

October 11, 7:37 PM

Belgrade, Serbia: Supporters of FC Timisoara light flares during their team's Uefa Cup match against PartizanPhotograph: Srdjan Ilic/AP ... Read More

Khaled Hosseini on the McCain/Palin mobs

9 comments

October 11, 11:46 AM

Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns", has an relevant op-ed piece in tomorrow's Washington Post in response to the (hopefully subsiding) display of rancor and ugliness at John McCain and Sarah... Read More

Some loose ends on Troopergate

6 comments

October 11, 11:24 AM

Now that the Troopergate report has been released, there's quite a bit of spin going on. This is from the McCain campaign:Today’s report shows that the Governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan.... Read More
Topics: Troopergate

How is a GM/Chrysler merger smart?

Add a Comment

October 11, 10:45 AM

There's news today that embattled auto manufacturers, General Motors and Chrysler, are in preliminary talks to merge the two corporations.The talks between G.M. and Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns Chrysler, began more than... Read More

North Korea removed from terror list

Add a Comment

October 11, 10:17 AM

Hoping to salvage one of a very few success stories for the Bush Administration, the President is set to remove North Korea from the list of terrorist sponsoring nations. Just a couple weeks ago, the U.S. arms negotiator, Assistant Secretary of... Read More
Topics: Bush Administration , North Korea

A PIcture for the Day

Add a Comment

October 10, 7:12 PM

Palestinians covered their bodies with mineral-rich mud on the shores of the northern part of Dead Sea, in the West Bank, as they enjoyed the last day of the Muslim festival of Id al-Fitr. (Photo: Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse — Getty... Read More

Troopergate report released

7 comments

October 10, 5:50 PM

The Republican dominated panel overseeing the investigation into charges Governor Sarah Palin "abused her powers" when firing Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan was released today, finding Ms. Palin did, in fact, abuse her powers... Read More

McCain got the message

4 comments

October 10, 5:29 PM

A lot of people were afraid, including members of McCain's campaign. Afraid it was creeping out of hand. The crowd feeding off itself, the jeers escalating and getting uglier and more frequent. Thankfully, John McCain apparently heard... Read More