McCain VP Pick Can Disagree On Some Issues
This column was written by Ramesh Ponnuru.
John McCain does not just have to pick a running mate. He also has to decide whether to require his running mate to agree with him on almost all of the major issues.
In 2000, Joe Lieberman had to move left on school choice, Social Security, and affirmative action to get on the Democratic ticket. After his shift in positions, he was aligned both with Al Gore, the presidential nominee, and with his party. McCain's choice is going to be trickier, since on several issues he himself is not in alignment with his party. If he picks a vice-presidential nominee from the conservative end of the party, should he make that nominee profess agreement with him on global warming, immigration, stem cells, and the like?
I think the answer to that question is a clear "no." For one thing, there would be no point in picking someone conservatives like while forcing him to abandon the positions that made conservatives like him in the first place. It might even make conservatives less supportive of a McCain candidacy if they think he is trying to remake the party in his image. It would, in addition, make it hard for McCain to continue running as a man who values integrity and conviction. It would make it harder for McCain to attract a running mate to begin with. A conservative politician is not going to want to tack left to win McCain's favor and then, if the ticket loses, move back right to realign himself with the Republican base for future elections. It could even, somewhat paradoxically, undercut McCain's case that he is a maverick Republican if he insists on making other Republicans conform to his views.
By far the better course, if McCain picks a running mate who is to his right on these issues, would be for that vice-presidential nominee to emphasize those issues where they agree but forthrightly admit to their disagreements. The veep nominee could say that he understands that President McCain will call the shots in his administration but that he will feel free to offer the president his own views in private.
Immigration is an intensely divisive issue among Republicans. But it should not be all that difficult for a McCain running mate to handle. There are scores of Republicans who could say something like the following while doing no violence to their records: "Like Senator McCain, I support getting control of our borders, meeting our economic needs, and treating all people humanely. I did not think that the bill he promoted got the balance exactly right, but I salute him for showing leadership on this issue and I trust his judgment on it more than I do that of Senator Barack Obama, who says that illegal immigrants should have driver's licenses."
Similarly, McCain cannot pick a running mate who has insisted for years that global warming is a myth. He can, however, pick someone who is not convinced that mandatory emissions reductions are the best answer to it. McCain should make a virtue out of necessity, and let his ticket stand for intellectual diversity while the Democrats offer the country liberal uniformity.
By Ramesh Ponnuru
Reprinted with permission from National Review Online