With the recent talk that Eric Cantor, the House Minority Deputy Whip from Virginia, is being seriously considered as McCain’s VP selection, it seems to me that it is a distinct advantage for Cantor that he engaged in scurrilous attacks on Obama’s position on Israel.  If the last couple of weeks has shown anything, I would think it would have shown everyone that it is clear that the McCain campaign is going to be as unscrupulous as it has to be, and Cantor has already distinguished himself as an attack dog on McCain’s behalf.  Far from being a liability, Cantor’s willingness to push the dishonest party line portaying Obama as anti-Israel is a feather in his cap in GOP circles.  The real question is whether McCain wants to be the first nominee since Mondale to name a current House member as a VP nominee.  (Bob Dole had the misfortune of choosing a former House member in Jack Kemp, and that didn’t exactly work out well, either.)  This is what I have never quite understood about the conservative enthusiasm for nominating Rob Portman, John Kasich or Chris Cox, among others, since none of them really brings the sort of executive experience that is going to give voters confidence to support the Republican ticket with such an aged nominee in the top slot. 

This is not to fault the current or former House members in question, but simply to drive home the point that even Eric Cantor does not really offset an Obama selection of Gov. Kaine, because Kaine is a governor and Cantor is just a House member.  More to the point, a McCain selection of Cantor is a signal of desperation and fear that Virginia is really in danger of being lost.  Whether or not Virginia is competitive (it is), the impression that McCain is on the defensive and is doing its utmost just to hang on to states that haven’t voted Democratic in over 40 years will probably cripple the ticket going into the fall.  Choosing a Pawlenty or someone similar says that the campaign will be contesting the Midwest and conceding nothing in the South, and it will add a governor to the ticket to offset any executive experience Obama may add with his choice.  The good news for McCain is that he will be able to find out Obama’s selection some time in advance of his own.  Obama can rest a little more easy in the knowledge that all GOP options are more or less unappealing.