Bow to the party, "maverick"

McCain has how made his indications that Tom Ridge will be his VP pick, edging out Joe Lieberman – but he still will not make a public statement about officially picking either one. Why? Because he has to play Republican politics, where his choice is not necessarily his choice to make.

The “leak” of Ridge as McCain’s VP pick is to test the party’s reaction and change his mind if he gets too much political feedback. Already the GOP has ordered its main mouth, Rush Limbaugh, to threaten McCain with defeat (i.e. pull out the unlimited corporate contributions) if he were to pick Ridge, or even his second choice of Lieberman. Their theory is that a lot of “the base” only cares about a single issue, and there can be no compromising or discussion. Ridge and Lieberman have both publicly stated they believe in a woman’s right to choose. The GOP platform is that women are not qualified to make decisions over their bodies, and legislation must enforce that. Rapists are to have their fathering rights preserved by the Word of God, and women must live with this – no discussion allowed - even if their life is in danger. (the far right calls this “pro-life” while supporting the death penalty and waging deadly wars for natural resources)

So, McCain likes to portray himself as a maverick, even though he has dutifully followed the party line throughout Bush’s tenure (caveat – just 95% of the time, not always). Now that the GOP is voicing its displeasure over his decision-making due to a political agenda, we’ll see if McCain stands by his decision, or caves to politics yet again.