Everyone’s been getting into who will be the next Veep. I’m no different, though I haven’t said much on this blog. To me, there’s three viable choices who I see as frontrunners: Rob Portman, Mitt and John Kasich. I think that Mark Sanford would be a solid choice but I don’t see him as a frontrunner.

I don’t see Sarah Palin or Bobby Jindal in that mix…yet.

Let’s look at my frontrunners, starting with Mitt.

Mitt has quite a few highlights on his resume. Most impressive is his rescuing the Salt Lake Olympics. To accomplish that is nothing short of miraculous. Nobody thought it possible but it happened.

Another plus is his economic credentials. Building a company from the ground up is something that people have to pay attention to and respect.

The other major plus working in Mitt’s favor is that he’s a good campaigner.

That said, he brings some negatives to the table. Fairly or unfairly, he’s perceived as a less than warm person. There’s a perception that he’s an elitist because of his wealth. I’ve never bought into that but that’s a perception that he’d have to fight.

The biggest negative, though, is his health care plan. It’s hurting people in Massachusetts. It’s costing alot of money. It isn’t a popular thing by any stretch of the imagination.

Next, let’s look at Rob Portman.He’s credited with doing a solid job as OMB Director. Having strong economic credentials in this election is a definite plus for McCain’s running mate. Portman is also a true free trader, which is a positive thing because people know he isn’t an isolationist. Portman’s other policy strength is that he’s a credentialed reformer.

Finally, he’s an energetic campaigner.

On the downside, Rep. Portman is a relative unknown on the national scene.

Which brings us to John Kasich. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll unabashedly admit that I prefered Kasich over Bush and McCain in 2000. The main reason why is because he’s a fiscal hawk. He was proposing balanced budgets during Bush 41’s term in office. At that time, people thought we’d never see another balanced budget. That changed the minute Kasich became the House Budget Committee Chair in 1995. It isn’t coincidence that 2 short years later, we were running surpluses.

Another appealing thing about Kasich is that he’s got a strong record of working across the aisle with sensible liberals. His offering of balanced budgets with Tim Penny is the perfect example of his principled bipartisanship.

Yet another thing working in John Kasich’s favor is that he’s a plain-spoken idealist. His story of being a mail-carrier’s son growing up in Youngstown, OH is compelling. Think of Kasich as the GOP’s answer to Tim Russert. Russert and Kasich both made their mark in Washington, DC but they never forgot where they were from. They both knew the perils blue collar workers faced because they’d been there. That’s something that will play well in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The other plus that Kasich has going for him is that he’s just plain likeable. That quality should never be underestimated. Hillary lost alot of ground because she was seen as a witch whereas Obama was seen as friendly. Of course, Obama’s image as friendly was busted when the Wright videos came out.

Finally, John Kasich is a great debater. Many was the time that I watched him defend the most appealing of conservative ideals on Crossfire and win. Don’t think that that wouldn’t be helpful on the campaign trail and in the VP debate.

Lately, he’s been on Hannity & Colmes alot arguing policies and politics on their panels. It’s apparent that his debating skills haven’t diminished a bit since his Crossfire days. His arguments always go to the heart of the matter. Rarely does he argue about peripheral things.

Imagine how compelling that trait is when trying to pin Obama or his running mate down on tax policy or energy policy. This isn’t tiny. It’s huge. If there’s anything I’ve learned about liberals, it’s that they try changing the subject the minute they realize that they’ve been painted into a corner. Kasich’s been debating skill is consistently returning the debate to the central point of the question.

His name on the ticket means that Democrats can’t win Ohio. It also gives us a great opportunity to take Pennsylvania out of the blue column and into the red column.

To summarize, Kasich is an skillful debater, a policy wonk and he’s likeable from an important red state.

What’s not to love?

UPDATE: Welcome AmSpecBlog readers. Take the time to see my activist-centered writings.

Like I told Quin, I’m tired of Washington GOP pundits and ’strategists’ repeating the mantra that this is a tough year for Republicans. That’s total nonsense. While it’s true that candidates who run a traditional CW-type campaign will get whacked hard, it’s equally true that candidates that campaign confidently on issues like drilling to bring down high gas prices and keeping taxes low will do very well.

Technorati: Mitt Romney, Rob Portman, John Kasich, Debates, Campaigns, Policy Wonk, Likeability, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Reforms, Fiscal Restraint, Balanced Budgets, Election 2008

Cross-posted at California Conservative