This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Republican nomination for Vice President of the United States in the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...

. On March 4, 2008, Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

of Arizona won the

2008 Republican nomination The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's convention fell on Labo ...

for President of the United States, and became the presumptive nominee. McCain held an event with Alaska governor

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

, revealing her as his vice-presidential running mate on August 29, 2008 (the date coinciding both with McCain's 72nd birthday and the Palins' 20th wedding anniversary), at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio, the day after Barack Obama's acceptance speech. The McCain–Palin ticket ultimately lost in the general election to the

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

– Biden ticket. John McCain later in life came to regret the pick.

Selection process

Sarah Palin was the GOP choice for Vice President. At a speech in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, McCain told supporters that regional considerations would have less bearing on his decision than the candidate's perceived ability to take over the office of the presidency–and the candidate's "values, principles, philosophy, and priorities." One factor that McCain had to consider, more so than did his opponent, was age. Had McCain won in 2008, he would have (on January 20, 2009) been the oldest person to assume the Presidency in U.S. history at initial ascension to office, being 72 years old. Other factors to be considered were shoring up the conservative base, choosing someone with executive experience, expertise in domestic policy (to complement McCain's foreign policy focus), and electoral college calculations. McCain initially wished to choose Lieberman, his close friend and the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, as his running mate; however, Lieberman's liberal record (voting with Democrats 86.9% of the time in the 110th Congress) and pro-choice stance led McCain's aides to veto the choice. Close aide

Mark Salter Mark Salter (born 1955) is an American speechwriter from Davenport, Iowa, known for his collaborations with United States Senator John McCain on several nonfiction books as well as on political speeches. Salter also served as McCain's chief of s ...

preferred Pawlenty, while the campaign manager

Steve Schmidt Stephen Edward Schmidt (born September 28, 1970) is an American communications and public affairs strategist who worked on Republican political campaigns, including those of President George W. Bush, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

preferred Palin. By picking Palin, Schmidt argued, McCain could snatch the "change" mantle away from Obama. McCain, rejecting 'safer' choices such as Pawlenty or Romney, instead chose Palin as his running mate.

Shortlist

File:Joe Lieberman 2008.jpg, File:Sarah Palin portrait.jpg, File:Tim Pawlenty official photo.jpg, File:Tom Ridge (cropped).jpg, File:Mitt Romney 2007 profile portrait.jpg,

Media speculation on John McCain's possible running-mates

After his selection by Republican primary voters as presumptive presidential nominee, news sources and political pundits began to speculate on whom McCain would or should choose, based on the candidates' ability to enhance the Republican ticket, personality (ability to work well with McCain), and preparedness for assuming the office of the presidency. The Associated Press reported that McCain had composed a list of 20 or so potential running mates. Over two dozen names had been offered as viable potential running mates by the ''

Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...

'', the '' Salt Lake Tribune'', the '' New York Sun'', the ''

Indianapolis Star Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

'', the '' Saint Louis Post Dispatch'', the '' Times of India'', and ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''. This list includes both names that had been mentioned in several sources and some much less likely candidates:

Members of Congress

File:Eric Cantor headshot.JPG, File:Sam Brownback official portrait.jpg, File:Lindsey Graham, official Senate photo portrait cropped.jpg, File:Joe Lieberman 2008.jpg, File:Lisa Murkowski 3.jpg, File:Paul Ryan, official portrait, 112th Congress.jpg, File:Olympia Snowe official photo 2010 edit.jpg, File:John E. Sununu.jpg, File:John Thune official photo.jpg,

Governors

File:Haley Barbour cropped.jpg, File:Matt Blunt.jpg, File:Charlie Crist, official portrait, 115th Congress (cropped).jpg, File:Mike Huckabee, speaking to a gathering at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.jpg, File:Piyush Jindal.jpg, File:Sarah Palin portrait.jpg, File:FEMA - 37933 - Gov. Rick Perry visits FEMA shelter in Texas (cropped).jpg, File:Mitt Romney 2007 profile portrait.jpg, File:Mark Sanford 113th Congress.jpg, File:Christine Todd Whitman 412-APD-A5-EPA13a.jpg,

Federal executive branch officials

File:Tom Ridge (cropped).jpg,

Other individuals

File:Mayor Michael Bloomberg (cropped).jpg, File:Carly Fiorina (16991338093) (cropped).jpg, File:US Navy 030417-N-5362A-003 Gen. Tommy Franks, Commander, U.S. Forces Central Command (CENTCOM).jpg,
from

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

File:General David Petraeus crop.jpg, File:Rob Portman official photo.jpg, File:Meg Whitman.jpg,

Declined interest

File:Kay Bailey Hutchison, official photo.jpg, File:Piyush Jindal.jpg, File:Colin Powell official Secretary of State photo (cropped).jpg, File:Condoleezza Rice cropped.jpg,

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, 2008 John McCain 2008 presidential campaign John McCain Sarah Palin Vice presidency of the United States Mike Huckabee Rick Perry Paul Ryan Michael Bloomberg Mitt Romney 2008 in women's history