While Charlie Crist may put off some conservatives, McCain could kill two birds with one stone by choosing Condoleezza Rice as his running mate.

Condi is currently the 66^th Secretary of State for President George Bush. She is a former professor of political science at Stanford University before joining the administration. She was first noticed by the public when she was named by Bush as the National Security Advisor in 2000. She is the first woman to ever be selected to this position.

Rice is one of the biggest supporters of the Iraq War and has been since its inception in the year 2001. She was also the first National Security Advisor to campaign actively for an incumbent President for the 2004 election. In 2005, Colin Powell left his post as Secretary of State, and Rice was then selected as his replacement.

Condoloeezza Rice has been the most active Secretary of State in the Middle East and the peace involved with the Middle East. She has actively supported democratic governments in the Middle East and continues to this day to travel to that region of the world promoting peace and democracy. She is very experienced in being an ambassador, which could help her as a running mate.

She is also a minority, like Obama and a woman like Clinton which, as stated, kills two birds with one stone. She is also very well spoken. However, the thing that could prevent her from being effective is being associated with the unfair low Bush approval rating.

Between Crist and Rice I would personally choose Rice, but it may be a move too risky for McCain. We shall all see what Maverick does come November.

Check back in when the other VP candidates for McCain are discussed, pros and cons.

John McCain is the Republican nominee for President in November, but who’s name will be on the ticket with Maverick? There are a few names being passed around the campfire and the one maybe most talked about is the current governor of Florida, Charlie Crist.

Crist has been campaigning for McCain ever since he has been in the race. The talk for Crist as the VP has been circulating ever since McCain locked up the nom. But who is Charlie Crist? Crist is a Pennsylvania born man and grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. Crist started in politics early when he was young in St. Petersburg. He got the nickname of “Chain Gang Charlie” when he was highly involved in the support of chain gangs in Florida.

Jeb Bush went on to name Crist his Deputy Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. During this time, Crist was already the State Attorney General. Crist was applauded for extending the powers of the AG to civil rights and fraud cases. Crist even gained national fame by working side by side with America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh to help with the cause of finding missing children. However, Crist was criticized as AG during the Terri Schiavo, for essentially ignoring the situation.

When Crist ran for governor, he ran on a pro-life platform, troubling to some conservatives. He was elected still in 2007, and has been a strong supporter of McCain for a long time.

Many feel Crist is still too green to become the VP since he is only 51, but many like his style and his aggressive nature. Will McCain choose a candidate who’s issues may upset conservatives?

Check back in when the other VP candidates for McCain are discussed, pros and cons.

Created by Alex Mangie; President of the YSU Chapter of the College Republicans

-Great Video about the truth of the political scene of the Mahoning Valley! Further proves why people need to sign the petition linked to the right; it’s time to make Youngstown Conservative!

Finally, the Mahoning County Republican Party launched their official website. We were one of the few counties in the state that did not have a website, but we finally got one up on the web now, which is good news!

Check out the site at www.valleygop.org.

I’ve also been talking with Dick McCarthy, who is running against [D] Ron Gerberry for State Rep in the 59th District I do believe. This young man is everything the local Republicans need. He is young, bright and has a tremendous career with the Dept. of Defense. I am going to push and push and push to get as many votes for Dick. He is one of the few Republicans in this area that will actually have the opportunity to make this a contested race this fall. I plan on endorsing him next week, along with an endorsement for a local Democrat; you guess.

Tonight, I officially became a member of Mahoning County Skywarn. The National Weather Service had an informative meeting at Austintown Fitch which a couple hundred people attended. Skywarn is a great organization that relies on storm spotters, like myself, to report Severe Weather in the Area to the National Weather Service to issue Watches and Warnings.

Well President Bush, in his recent budget, approved a $202 million dollar budget for NOAA, A 5.2% increase from the NOAA Budget of 2007. This was a great move by President Bush. He put more money into yet another organization that is saving people’s lives. I have been noted on this blog that I feel the safety of Americans is vital for the future of this country! We need to stop funding environmental organizations that claim that Global Warming is real, and start funding the true environmental organization that is protecting Americans each and every day!