The Schultz Report: Clinton, Pawlenty fighting tough odds to be their parties’ VP picks

In this Friday’s Schultz Report, we talk about the terminal stage of the Democratic presidential nomination race and about the buzz concerning US Senate dark horse Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer’s chances of emerging as an alternative to the controversial Al Franken. But most of this week’s audiocast is devoted to a look at the leading vice-presidential hopefuls from both parties.

Schultz parts company with the growing conventional wisdom that says Tim Pawlenty is the frontrunner for a spot on the GOP ticket.  “The first three people McCain’s asking out to his ranch,” notes Schultz, “are Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Florida is a critical swing state that the Republicans want to pick up. Right now, in head-to-head polls between McCain and Obama, several polls actually suggest that Obama is actually leading in Florida, so [Crist] makes sense.  Mitt Romney, in terms of his support from business conservatives, [and his being] somebody with an economics background, makes sense for McCain. And Bobby Jindal is a popular Southern conservative from an area where McCain has not done well.

“They reinforce the notion that McCain is thinking about winning more than he’s thinking about going with somebody he can get along with. A lot of people say he’s going to pick Tim Pawlenty because Pawlenty has always been with him, they get along, they work well together.

“The fact that he appears to be considering Mitt Romney — it looked like those two hated one another during the Republican primaries — suggests that McCain is more conventional than we think. He wants to win, and  [wants somebody] who can maybe deliver votes.  Tim Pawlenty? At best, he might be able to deliver Minnesota, but it isn’t even clear he can do that. The Star Tribune poll that came out this week indicates that both Obama and Clinton are waxing McCain in Minnesota. There just seems to be no value in putting Pawlenty on the ticket.”

On the Democratic side, Schultz sees no Hillary dream ticket in his crystal ball. “I don’t think that’ll ever occur,” he demurs. “I think [Obama] won’t pick Clinton even though she’s angling for it because of, one, her radioactivity with a lot of independent voters. And two, I’m not sure he wants someone who will be running for president from the get-go if he’s elected. It’s just not clear she would be the good lieutenant that a vice-president is supposed to be.” Better bets, in Schultz’s view: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, and Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who served as secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan. 

Listen: David Schultz on the veepstakes, Clinton/Obama, and Franken/Nelson-Pallmeyer (19:57)