U.S. Sen. John McCain was to wrap up his two-day swing through Pennsylvania this afternoon by greeting voters here in Lancaster County.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (right) introduces Republican presidential
candidate Sen. John McC
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Bonnie Bowman of Lancaster Township (left) and an unidentified member of Victory '08 prepare McCain si
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And if we've learned one thing about the likely Republican presidential nominee during his stops in Erie, Harrisburg and York, it is this:
Boy, is he fond of Tom Ridge.
McCain has been nothing if not effusive in his praise of the former Pennsylvania governor — a fellow decorated Vietnam veteran with whom he entered Congress in 1983 — as they have traveled together across this battleground state.
And that, of course, is fueling speculation that McCain could pick Ridge to be his running mate, a move that would go far toward locking up this state's 21 electoral votes for a Republican candidate for the first time since 1988.
"Here we are three weeks before the Republican convention, we don't know who his choice is for vice president, and we've got one of the guys prominently mentioned on the list running around our state for two days with the presumptive Republican nominee," said Franklin & Marshall College political analyst G. Terry Madonna.
"I can understand why there's so much speculation," he said.
"McCain has said that Pennsylvania is a major state in his electoral college game plan; he has been here six times in the last eight weeks; he has spent about $6.5 million on ads — not arguably the reasons for this speculation," Madonna added.
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who has been traveling with McCain, said he believes Ridge should be on the short list, but that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is perhaps the strongest choice.
"Romney is strong. He had a good record as governor, had a good health-care plan which is very successful," Specter said in an interview with the New Era's editorial board this morning.
Still, he said, "I'd put Tom Ridge in the mix." And Louisana governor Bobby Jindal. And Florida governor Charlie Crist.
"These issues fluctuate and there are a lot of moving parts. The fact that Gov. Ridge is pro-choice, I think, is a problem for McCain because of solidifying the conservative base.
"Now, there's a fair amount of time between now and the Republican convention, when we meet in Minneapolis on Sept. 1, and there could be a shift on that competition with respect to the conservatives, so that could open the door for Ridge," Specter continued.
Pennsylvania's senior senator downplayed McCain's response to a question in Erie on Monday in which he was asked what he'd do in his first 90 days in office. He replied: "Call Tom Ridge to Washington from whatever vacation he's taking and get him to work."
"When McCain said he's going to give Ridge a call in the first 90 days to take him away from his vacation to Washington, it sounds like he won't be down the hall in the vice president's office at the time," Specter said.
Specter went on to say, "I don't think McCain really intended in what he said to take Ridge out of it. It would be premature to do that."
At the town hall-style meeting on Monday at the General Electric Co. plant in Erie, Ridge's hometown, McCain also said he was "honored to know a person like Tom Ridge, who had every opportunity after he graduated from Harvard not to go to Vietnam.
"He could have found a doctor that would have given a certificate that he had a bad knee, but instead he went and decided to serve his country during the Vietnam War. And he came back here to Erie" and became a prosecutor, congressman, then governor.
"That's the kind of people that this part of America produces."
In an interview with The Patriot-News, Ridge said he was not lobbying to be McCain's running mate.
"I'd like to serve my country wherever I can do best," Ridge told the newspaper. "I didn't lobby for two of the best jobs I have had, assistant to the president on homeland security or to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. I won't lobby for this one, either.
"Obviously I'd be honored to get (the vice president job)," said Ridge. "I'm enjoying my private life, but I learned a long time ago to never say never."
McCain was speaking at a town hall-style meeting late this morning in the Toyota Center at the York Fairgrounds. He was expected to travel to an undisclosed location in Lancaster County afterward.
McCain was then expected to fly out of Lancaster Airport and to northern New Jersey for a fundraiser.
Frank Orban III, McCain's co-chairman in Lancaster County, said he believes McCain is not leaning toward one particular candidate for a running mate.
"Sen. McCain yesterday made it very clear that there were no decisions about the vice presidency. That's a subject that is very much open, and that was repeated by Ridge himself," Orban said. "Obviously, in Pennsylvania, Ridge is well known, well liked. It would be a plus, but there are a lot of other parts of the country. There are a number of people, each of whom has pluses and minuses."
Later in the day Monday, after appearing in Erie, McCain stopped at a supporter's house in Lemoyne, where he taped one-on-one interviews with local TV stations.
He then traveled to Harrisburg, where he stopped at the Bass Pro Shop and spent about half an hour shaking hands and posing for pictures with customers and store employees, according to The Patriot-News. He bought a fishing scale and a green, camouflaged jacket.
"Now all I need to do is catch a fish," McCain was quoted as saying while leaving the store.
(This report contains information from McClatchy-Tribune and The Associated Press.)
Staff writer Tom Murse can be reached at tmurse@LNPnews.com or 481-6021.
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