No Clones and No Crazies
What John McCain is looking for in a vice president candidate.
Mitt Romney did not expect the lush beauty of John and Cindy McCain's Arizona ranch in the rust-colored high country near Sedona. He and his wife, Ann, were there recently for what was described as a "purely social" stay with some of McCain's closest political advisers (über-operative Charlie Black, Sens. Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham) and a smattering of veep possibles: Govs. Bobby Jindal (Louisiana) and Charlie Crist (Florida) and Sen. Sam Brownback. "I expected an adobe home and clouds of dust in the yard," Romney told me last week. Instead, he found a rambling wood-frame home on grassy bottomland dotted with orchards and a broad, fast-flowing stream framed by canyon walls. "It looked like Virginia down in there," he said.
In McCain's band-of-brothers world, it pays to know the turf. So if you are a guest, here's what else to expect: a host who greets you in his weekend gear (blue jeans, Naval Academy shirt); bird watching (McCain claims to have spotted 67 species on the property); chilled vodka from the fridge, if you are so inclined; Beach Boys and Eagles on the boombox; casual, but earnest, talk about public-policy issues, and a gracious hostess who will, nevertheless, size you up in a second and know where you fit—or don't—into the family future. Central to the day is a lecture from McCain on the how-to and health benefits of grilled chicken. Fork and spatula in hand on an outdoor wooden deck, he captains a gas grill the size of an aircraft carrier. "He says you have to make sure you cook it all the way to the bone," said Romney, sounding as though he thought this might be on the final.
As the GOP's presumptive nominee picks a running mate, intimates say he'll focus on finding someone with whom he can comfortably share the deck of his presidency. Electoral College strategy, demographics, ideological balance, experience—that's all secondary to whether the former Navy pilot can envision his choice as copilot. His close friends use varied phrases to describe this. "Personal compatibility," says former senator Warren Rudman. "Likability," says former Defense secretary William Cohen. "He is not going to pick a clone or a crazy," says Washington lobbyist Ken Duberstein. "It will be someone he's got great chemistry with."
The chemistry test yields some early possibilities: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, former Ohio congressman and budget director Rob Portman, Mississippi Gov. and former GOP chairman Haley Barbour, and even nominal Democrat Lieberman. Among these, some insiders argue Portman, 52, who has solid fiscal-reform credentials, makes the most sense. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's name gets mentioned, and conservatives talk up Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, but she is all but unknown to McCain. The candidate himself seems fascinated by Jindal. Of Indian descent and only 36, he is a former Rhodes scholar and an ardent proponent of the free market. McCain has been with him several times in recent weeks. Still, Jindal is unlikely to be a finalist. "Everybody admires the guy, but he probably is too young and inexperienced," says Cohen.
Then there's Romney. Last week he was on the road, auditioning for veep by headlining fund-raisers as he talked up McCain and trashed Barack Obama. On the surface, a McCain-Romney alliance seems improbable. They are vastly different personalities: Top Gun vs. straight arrow. They clashed during the slash-and-burn primary season. But under the watchful eyes of McCain lieutenants, the two men got along pleasantly, I am told. Good thing Romney eats chicken.
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Howard Fineman is Newsweek's Senior Washington Correspondent and Columnist, senior editor and deputy Washington bureau chief. He is the author of "Living Politics," a column that began on MSNBC.COM and Newsweek.com and that now also appears in the print magazine. An award-winning reporter and writer, Fineman also is an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, appearing regularly on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and "TODAY." The author of scores of Newsweek cover stories, Fineman's work has appeared as well in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Republic. His 2008 national best-selling book, "The Thirteen American Arguments," was released in paperback by Random House in the spring of 2009.
One of the nation's leading political reporters, Fineman has interviewed every major presidential candidate from (then-vice president) George H.W. Bush in 1985 to (then senator) Barack Obama early and often in the 2008 campaign cycle. His current work focuses on the Obama Administration and its top officials, as well as on Congress and politics throughout the country. Although based in Washington, Fineman travels widely in the U.S. and has covered politics and other events in 49 of the 50 states.
Fineman's work has produced many milestones and awards. A cover story in November 2001 featured President George W. Bush's first extensive interview after 9/11. Another cover, "Bush and God," was part of a series of articles that won the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. His reporting has helped Newsweek win many honors from the Magazine Publishers Association and the American Journalism Review. Other awards include a "Page One" from the Headliners Club of New York, a "Silver Gavel" from the American Bar Association and a "Deadline Club" from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). In 2006 he received the Alumni Award from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
As a reporter and writer, Fineman ranges widely. Besides campaign-year covers, other projects have included: race and politics, the impact of digital technology on society, the influence of Hollywood on politics, the rise of the religious right and of conservative talk radio. He has interviewed business leaders such as George Soros, Bill Gates, Steve Case and Robert Rubin and entertainment figures such as Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda and Jay Leno.
Although now under exclusive television contract to NBC, Fineman over the years has appeared on major public affairs shows, such as Nightline, Face the Nation, Fox News Sunday, Larry King Live, Charlie Rose and the NewsHour. He was a regular panelist on Washington Week in Review on PBS (1983-95) and on CNN's Capital Gang Sunday (1995-98). He worked with Ted Koppel on Nightline specials, and has been a guest on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report."
A native of Pittsburgh, Fineman began his career at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, covering the environment, the coal industry and state politics before joining the newspaper's Washington bureau in 1978. He moved to Newsweek in 1980, was named chief political correspondent in 1984, deputy Washington bureau chief in 1993, senior editor in 1995 and senior Washington correspondent and columnist in 2008.
Fineman holds an A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Colgate, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia and a J.D. from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. His legal education included a year as a visiting student at the Georgetown University Law Center. He received Watson and Pultizer Traveling Fellowships for study in Europe, Russia and the Middle East, and has traveled to more than 40 countries, among them China, Vietnam, Japan, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey and the West Bank Palestinian Territories.
Fineman is married to Amy L. Nathan, a senior counsel at the Federal Communications Commission. They live in Washington with their two children, Meredith and Nicholas.
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