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Posted on 08/16/2008 3:08:51 PM PDT by calcowgirl
With John McCain's vice presidential pick only a few weeks away and the race between him and Barack Obama far closer than either of them probably thought it would be at this point, the possibility of McCain choosing Joseph I. Lieberman as his running mate suddenly seems both credible and plausible in a way it didn't a few months ago.
It appears, from the consistency of McCain's numbers in the polling data, that he has shored up the Republican base . . . .
So McCain no longer has to close the sale with conservatives, which is a good thing for him, because to win, McCain is going to need to pivot to the center, especially after spending most of the past year trying to reassure the Right. His advantage going into the fall, with the number of Republican voters apparently declining and the number of independents increasing, is that he is not a conventional Republican. But it won't be enough for him to say it, or to invoke his record; that record is unknown to most voters, who really don't pay that much attention. He will have to reinforce it with action. . . .
McCain's most dramatic possible play would be the selection of Lieberman -- a Democrat who was only eight years earlier his party's nominee for vice president and, after losing his own party's line in a Senate reelection bid in 2006 and winning instead as an independent, now calls himself an Independent Democrat. In selecting Lieberman, McCain would be doubling down on the central bet of his candidacy -- that aexperience, gravitas, and a willingness to buck the leaders of his own party out of a sense of integrity and what the American people need will trump youth-dynamism-charisma. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...
I don’t know about Lieberman. I think it’s a risky gamble to appoint a Democrat who is faily liberal on the issues. The one exception is his strong support on Iraq and the war on terror in general. Maybe he’s one Democrat who actually thinks about our survival against the Islamo-fascists. The other Democrats blame all of our problems in this area on Bush. We apparently aren’t as loved around the world as Obama would like.
Do you want to be liked and appease evil? Or would you rather be feared and respected?
If he chooses any abortion supporter for VP, and puts them one heart beat from the Presidency on a GOP ticket...he loses the sale with conservatives.
McCain is the pits. I don’t care what the Rino’s say.
Still stuck on stupid amnesty.
Still stuck on a pro-abortion veep.
Still stuck on forbidding ANWR drilling.
Boy, is McCain and his stupid advisors gonna be in for a big surprise come election day.
Nay
Conservatives, instead, will TOLERATE him and will vote for him, providing that he doesn't (again) stick his finger in our eye. The BEST way for McCain to ALIENATE CONSERVATIVES would be to pick a liberal, like Lieberman.
If he does so, HE WILL LOSE, as we will simply stay home. This will be a FATAL mistake for him.
He has not, especially with Social Conservatives of the type that would be most put off by the selection of Lieberman.
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I remember back in 96 thinking that Dole didn’t want it, but McCain seems to want to throw the whole thing before the fall campaign even starts.
He planned on replacing the conservative vote with liberals to begin with.
He never opened negotiations so there is no "sale" to close.
as opposed to?.... This is how you learn to count your blessings.
I don't care how much Lieberman has stood on the WOT - he supports partial-birth abortion for God's sakes!!! He is a socialist on EVERY issue except the WOT.
I think it's risky gamble to vote for a Democrat who is fairly liberal on the issues.
Wait, you were talking about Lieberman, not McCain, right?
I was going to call Barbara Striesand but will instead call Lurch and go nuanced. To an extent the statement IS true. McCain can rely on the fear of Obama's SCOTUS to force a significant portion of the base to cast a ballot for him. Indeed, he doesn't have to "close the sale." BUT [monkey] McCain certainly has it in his power to "queer the deal" and torque off enough of his base to make them stay home. He can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Lieberman would be such a choice. LIEBERMAN IS A LIBERAL - LOOK AT HIS VOTING RECORD. Sure he's reliable when it comes to national defense, but only that. Put him in line for the Presidency when there is a statistical chance McCain will not live out his term because of health? NO NO NO
Dude, that's just kinky.
Dumb article.
If we wanted a liberal dim, we would vote for BO.
McCain will commit political suicide unless he picks a real hard nosed conservative.
“So McCain no longer has to close the sale with conservatives,”
Is Podhoretz drunk?
My wife and I were starting to accept McCain as the only alternative. However, Leiberman would be a deal breaker. We will not vote for a liberal gun-hating puke, even if it means the election goes to Bambi. I’ll write in Alfred E. Neuman before I cast a ballot with Leiberman on it.
What a sad state of affairs for the Republican Party.
The question arises, how many Vice-Presidential candidates have lost two elections while running for different political parties?
I’m feeling blessed that I don’t have to vote for either idiot in this race. Mine will be a write in.
What an idiotic analysis. McCain will still have to close the sale with conservatives even after the election. Picking a democrat -- or even a liberal republican -- would nearly assure a victory for Obama because conservatives who are currently willing to hold their noses and vote for McCain will not do so if he lurches left.
If conservatives leave, the GOP is finished.
The GOP is within spitting distance of self-destroying the same way the Whigs did and at this point I’m not sure that wouldn’t be the best outcome.
“I’m not so sure McCain has closed the sale with conservatives.”
Actually, I’m absolutely sure McCain HAS NOT closed the sale with conservatives. If he picks Lieberman, Ridge, or some other in-your-face liberal I will vote Constitution.
I have no idea where these people get their ideas....
prisoner6
Any argument in favor of Joe Liberalman as McCain’s Veep would have to involve a serious discussion of the advantages to the Conservative movement of having B. Hussein Obama win the coming election...
If he would pick Lieberman as VP, how would you think you could trust him to pick judges?
They obviously need to lay off smoking the RINO dung, eh?
McCain hasn’t even opened the sale with conservatives yet.
A Lieberman pick would seal the deal that conservatives will vote 3rd party or leave POTUS open.
I can safely ignore Podhoretz from now on and be confident I’m missing nothing of value.
You want a guide to Joe Lieberman's war policies? If it involves Americans fighting and dying on the side of Israel, and against Muslimes, then he's for it.
On everything else, he's a f***ing knee-jerk liberal asshat.
I wouldn’t vote for McCain if he picked Ronald Reagan himself as a running mate. McCain has proven again and again that he does what he pleases when he pleases, party and voters be damned.
McCain had better not listen to Podhoretz (a normally intelligent man) on this.
He is way off the mark. The support of the base for McCain is by and large reluctant. If he picks Lieberman, he will lose a huge chunk of it, I believe.
You didn’t get Podhoretz when he was endorsing Rudy Giulaini for god several months back?
If ever there was a Country-Clubber with utter disdain for the grassroots, JP is your guy.
Huh? I must have missed that, because I saw quite the opposite. But at this point, I agree he should double down. Conservatives will either vote for him because they feel they have to. No sense in his spending his resources doing something he's not good at. (ie. acting like he is tolerant towards conservatives)
And another thing. McCain has had several very clever and effective commercials recently, and I thought that he was doing very well in that department - until I got my first look and listen to a new one today, that attacks oil companies and virtually ignores the need for exploring and drilling for American oil wherever American oil can be found.
At this point I can’t decide whether his problem is senility or schizophrenia. Either way, his fitness for the Presidency remains an open question for me and my family. Yes, I AM angry and frustrated.
Maybe McCain should offer to be Obama’s VP. Why bother with a phony 2nd Democrat party calling itself by another name?
Why would picking Lieberman make a difference? The VP selection is far less important than anything else.
McCain’s job now is, “just win, baby”.
If Lieberman helps (and I doubt that he does) then it’s the right move.
Get Serious! The only way Lieberman can be considered more conservative than the average Dim is on the War in Iraq. He is a Liberal on all other issues. Even McCain has enough sense not to pick him for VP.
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