McCain may be on the GOP ticket, but only if he can continue to suck neocon you-know-what.

The other two are too independent (read: not wingnut enough). While they would certainly make the best ticket to defeat whomever the Dems put up, they couldn't win the nomination in the first place.

In 1997, after the defeat of Robert Dole - who was only the candidate in 1996 by default - they GOP had ZERO candidates available. They looked around and saw a complete vacuum. The result was George Schultz and the uber-GOoPers interviewing anyone even remotely capable of drawing votes - regardless of other qualifications. So they selected the dumbest Republican in history, who happened to be a good schmoozer - America's version of Nero.

And as America burns - its bridges, its ties to its history, its ties to human dignity, its ties to democracy - we have to wonder who they will interview and designate this time.

From the point where Schultz, et al, anointed Bush, all the uber-GOoPer money went to Bush. And that was case closed.

McCain is sucking up for all he is worth, because he knows this will be his last chance at the gold ring. He is turning into Gollum over his Precious. . .

That would make a good ad: McCain as Gollum, salivating over his Precious. . .

Powell cannot rouse the rabble rabid Right, and is black, so he would lose a lot of votes in the Southern Strategy states, to put it bluntly. His UN speech of lies lost him most of his street cred, and though he is fighting back against the Administration at the moment, he has a long, long uphill climb.

Graham has maybe a bigger burden. Rumors a few years back that he was gay will come out again in any primary season. Add that to his major participation in the impeachment of Clinton, and he can't draw much from the other side of the aisle. From his side of the aisle, he has no natural constituency, except the South. Although probably the best of the three, he needs to have already made some move forward, which he hasn't done. With only two years to go, I put his odds on being at the top of the ticket at 5%.

The uber-GOoPers will put their money behind Rice or Cheney, and they will crush anyone who is not from the WHIG or the neocon wing. Rove will go with Rice or Cheney, if he isn't in prison over the Plame affair.

Rove will NEVER be behind McCain, Powell or Graham. Whoever Rove goes with will win, and we all know why...

I don't agree that Rice has a snowball's chance in hell.

She has three problems which make her non top of the ticket material.

First and foremost she is a woman. No one in the Southern primaries is going to vote for her.

Second she is a black woman. There is no way in hell a black will win the Southern primaries.

Third she is a never-married black woman and of course there will be rumors questioning her sexual orientation.

There you have it three strikes and Condi's out.