Barbacoa en casa de McCain

Nos llevan tres días vendiendo que este fin de semana John McCain va a utilizar una barbacoa rústica a celebrar en su casa de Sedona, la ciudad de la tierra roja, para realizar entrevistas de trabajo a una serie de aspirantes a convertirse en su running-mate. Allí estarán los Gobernadores Bobby Jindal, de Louisiana, y Charlie Crist, de Florida; su ex rival Mitt Romney; y un par de adosados que viajan, comen, y duermen con el candidato, los Senadores Joe Lieberman, de Connecticut, y Lindsey Graham, de Carolina del Sur.

También asistirán dos personalidades del sector privado que han sido barajados para la Vicepresidencia: Fred Smith, presidente de FedEx, y Meg Whitman, ex presidenta de eBay, cuyo nombre suena para suceder en 2010 a Schwarzenegger como candidata republicana a Gobernador de California. Soy escéptico sobre los supuestos objetivos de esta reunión. Si bien esta pequeña convivencia puede servirle para comprobar la compatibilidad de caracteres, diría que el verdadero propósito es asegurarse un buen lugar para McCain en las hojas de los periódicos dedicadas a la campaña. Por ejemplo, en el TIME ofrecen hoy a McCain tres claves -las de siempre, edad, preparación, y aceptación- para hacer la selección. The Keys to McCain's VP Pick

(...) —The campaign is looking for a running mate who will be relatively youthful. McCain has said that he is aware of the "enhanced importance" of a vice presidential pick, because of his own age. McCain adviser Charlie Black has gone even further, saying a younger pick could minimize the age issue in much the same way the selection of George H. W. Bush minimized the age issue for Ronald Reagan in 1980.

—McCain wants a thorough process to ensure a running mate who is well prepared. In an interview on his campaign bus in early April, McCain described Dan Quayle, who served as vice president from 1989 until 1993, as a cautionary tale. He said that while he liked Quayle, he felt the former vice president had "not been briefed and prepared for some of the questions."

—The chosen running mate is unlikely to offend the social/fiscal conservative base of the Republican party. In a recent appearance on MSNBC's Hardball, McCain was asked if he could pick a pro-choice Republican like former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. "I don't know if it would stop him but it would be difficult," McCain said. The bigger political danger is clear to McCain's allies. In recent months, he has had some success in uniting the Republican Party behind his candidacy, and he would not want to reopen old concerns among the party base about his conservative commitment just weeks before the party convention. (...)