McCain walks the tightrope.

Word on the street (and on the news) is that John McCain, the future loser of the 2008 Presidential Election, has chosen his VP candidate.

Of course, if you’ve been following the race, you know that the Straight-talk Express has been on cinder blocks for months now. With this in mind, be prepared for mountains of Republican spin concerning why the VP candidate is the clear choice for John McCain, even though it’s been a long time coming and it really doesn’t matter who it is. After all, Bono could be the Republican VP nominee, and John McCain would still be George Bush.

McCain has a lot resting on his decision. In fact, many of his supporters (shallow as they are) may not be his supporters anymore, if they aren’t happy with his choice.

Think of it like the Republican answer to bitter ex-Clinton supporters: those who aren’t happy with McCain’s pick may simply draw back their support (and conceivably, not vote). It seems that for some, contrary to common belief, VP candidates do sway elections.

Think such a scenario is far fetched? Even the mainstream media disagrees: (from ABC)

[...] major conservative donors who have planned to bankroll issue-oriented advertising and other grass-roots efforts directed at social conservatives are putting their work on hold and will withdraw financial support if McCain picks a running mate that is not strongly anti-abortion [...]

Ah, the fickleness of the Right; it really is to be adored… at least by the Left.

Of course, the irony here is that the Right may now have a similar problem that the Left faced in 2000 and 2004. Although Ralph Nader is once again running for President, the reported (and perhaps mostly psychological) Nader Effect of 2000/4, wherein Ralph Nader reportedly took a small but decisive amount of support away from the Democratic front runner, is still a topic of discussion. Now, the Republicans could be facing the same issue, in the form of Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate.

One conservative strategist characterized the prospect of an abortion rights pick as a “disaster” for the Republican Party — and said selecting Lieberman would cost McCain the election. It would enrage conservatives and prompt some Republicans to shift support to libertarian candidate Bob Barr, the strategist said.

Well, in that case, let’s hope he’s made the right choice for the country: Lieberman (the right choice being the one that costs McCain the election). But what about Ridge?

[...] both would trigger a brawl at the convention next week in St. Paul, Minn., the likes of which hasn’t been seen at a Republican gathering since the 1964 nomination of Barry Goldwater, the last Arizona senator to be the party’s standard-bearer.

“I see a fight at the convention over either,” said Phyllis Schlafly, president of the Eagle Forum.

Well, personally, I can’t think of anything better than a brawl at the RNC. Oh wait! Yes I can… the failure of John McCain. Not that it hasn’t happened already…

So, with this in mind, let’s see the Republican’s party unity… and perhaps McCain’s left hook.