GOP Veep Sweeps

(Newser) - Barney Frank ripped into Mitt Romney yesterday as part of a DNC effort to discredit the possible Republican VP choices, the Boston Herald reports. Citing flip-flops on abortion and gay rights, the Massachusetts Congressman called the ex-Massachusetts governor ‘the most intellectually inconsistent politician I’ve ever known.” Romney, he charged, will "say whatever he thinks will win the next election." More »

(Newser) - Much ink has been spilled over Barack Obama and John McCain’s upcoming VP selections, but a running mate is not a game-changing choice, the Chicago Tribune reports. History suggests the effect on opinion polls will be noticeable but not huge: Gallup shows recent candidates getting an average 5% bump after announcing their picks. More »

(Newser) - Republican vice presidential hopeful Tom Ridge is campaigning with John McCain in Pennsylvania today, CNN reports. McCain and ex-Pennsylvania governor Ridge started the day meeting with employees at a GE plant. Asked what he would do on first taking office, McCain replied, “Call Tom Ridge to Washington from whatever vacation he is taking and get him to work." More »

(Newser) - Tim Pawlenty grew up in the blue-collar stockyards of south St. Paul, but through ambition and charm he’s climbed his way to the top office in Minnesota—and the top tier of John McCain’s VP short list. But critics say that ambition could prove his undoing, the New York Times reports. Pawlenty’s obvious eye toward higher office has hurt his administration by making it too cautious, they argue. More »

(Newser) - Tim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota often mentioned as a possible running mate for John McCain, urged GOP candidates to act more like Democrat Barack Obama. "Say what you will about Barack Obama," Pawlenty said today, "people gravitate when you have something positive to say. … People want to follow hopeful, optimistic, civil, decent leaders. They don't want to follow some negative, scornful person." More »

(Newser) - John McCain probably will let Barack Obama make his vice-presidential pick before he does, Politico reports. GOP strategists hope that by making his announcement after Obama’s convention acceptance speech, McCain will be able to shift media focus toward his own campaign, as well as playing off the Democratic pick. "If they go first, you have more information," says an adviser. More »

(Newser) - John McCain’s campaign is divided when it comes to a running mate, and William Kristol speculates in the New York Times about the four strategies being discussed: Defeat Obama straight up —If McCain thinks he’s winning, he’ll pick a “do no harm&rd