A prominent black Republican says GOP presidential candidate John McCain should select a vice presidential running mate who is a groundbreaker — or a ceiling-breaker.
Former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts was in Iowa this week, and granted Radio Iowa an interview. "Think about this: wouldn’t it be nice if every voter who went into the ballot box on Election Day in November, that they realized regardless of what ticket they voted for, they would be voting for history," Watts said.
Among those listed as potential running mates for McCain is the woman who’s Alaska’s governor, which would be history-making, as Watts puts it, were she to be elected America’s first female vice president. Watts insists he isn’t interested in being America’s first black vice president.
"I don’t care if you’re a quarterback, if you’re a CEO, if you’re a member of congress, a state legislator —the cheer of the crowd is so seductive," Watts said, "and I’ve heard the cheer of the crowd enough in many chapters of my life that I know not to get seduced by it."
Watts, a former star quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners, spent a few years as a pro football player in Canada before returning to Oklahoma, where he served as a Baptist pastor. Watts was the first African American ever elected to congress from Oklahoma when he won his first race in 1990. He left congress in 2003.
In other political news, Iowa Republicans hold their state convention today and the featured speaker is former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa Caucuses. The state conventions for both major parties in Iowa were to be held on June 14th, but both were postponed due to flooding. Democrats held their state convention on June 28th.