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"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
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Author:  Michael J. Gaynor
Bio: Michael J. Gaynor
Date:  June 5, 2008
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Topic category:  Other/General

VP Drama for McCain and Obama

In 2000, the critical state was Florida. In 2004, it was Ohio. In 2008, it will be Michigan.

The question of the moment is whether presumptive 2008 Democrat presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. will dare to (or dare not to) pick rival Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as his vice presidential running mate.

Many call it a dream ticket.

Many call it a nightmare.

The United States Secret Service has not issued a position statement on the possibility in general and whether the difficulty of protecting a President Obama would be affected if Hillary becomes Obama's vice president in particular.

Michelle Obama reportedly doesn't like the idea, probably for more personal than political reasons. But former President Jimmy Carter warned that the result of teaming Obama and Clinton would be to add their negatives and thereby diminish Obama's chance of winning.

No one really thinks that Hillary's presidential ambition has disappeared, of course.

Hillary will suspend, not end, her campaign on Saturday and wait for enhanced scrutiny of Obama to bring to light a reason for the so-called Super Delegates to turn to her by the time the 2008 Democrat presidential nominee really is nominated under the Democrat rules--at the national convention in August.

If Hillary is not the Democrats' presidential nominee, she will be in a win-win position.

If Hillary is on the ticket, she will be take credit if the ticket wins and blame Obama and seek the 2112 nomination if the ticket loses.

If Hillary isn't on the ticket, she will say and do the politically correct things, of course.

But most Hillary people are smart enough to know that she won't mean it in her heart and Obama will join Senators McGovern and Kerry and Governor Dukasis as leftist Democrat presidential nominee losers.

Even if Obama picks a prominent Clinton supporter, like Governor Strickland of Ohio or Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania, it won't be enough for the Hillary enthusiasts, particularly women and Hispanics.

Obama might be happier and safer if he could run alone.

McCain too must pick a vice presidential nominee, even though he might prefer to run alone too.

He probably will wait until the Democrat ticket is set.

In the meantime, McCain's entertaining lots of possibilities.

But, given his age and experience advantage, McCain needs (1) to pick a person is ready to succeed him on Day One and (2) to stress, not subvert, his experience advantage.

Governor Bobby Jindel of Louisiana is great on the issues and accomplished, but he's more than a decade younger than Obama. If McCain picks him, he's playing into Obama's hands and if he needs Jindel to carry Louisiana, then Obama will win.

Likewise, if McCain needs Florida's Governor Charlie Crist to carry Florida, he'll lose. And Governor Crist wouldn't help McCain elsewhere.

Bottom line: McCain needs to pick a well known vice presidential candidate who would be ready to succeed him on Day One and would reassure conservatives AND significantly enhance McCain's chance of carrying a key battleground state.

That person is Mitt Romney.

That state is Michigan.

In 2000, the critical state was Florida. In 2004, it was Ohio. In 2008, it will be Michigan.

Michael J. Gaynor

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Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.


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