Posted on 08/27/2008 10:00:02 AM PDT by calcowgirl
Reports of strong support within John McCain's presidential campaign for Independent Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman as the Republican candidate for vice president are not a fairy tale. Influential McCain backers, plus McCain himself, would pick the pro-choice liberal from Connecticut if they thought they could get away with it.
But they can't get away with it -- and this has been made clear to McCain by none other than Joe Lieberman himself.
Lieberman surely doesn't know that much about Republican politics, but he has close Republican friends. One of them prevailed on Lieberman to tell McCain that a McCain-Lieberman ticket would be a disaster for all concerned, and especially for the GOP.
Actually, Lieberman is a heroic figure among Republicans for having risked his Senate seat to support President George W. Bush's war policy. But aside from the war, he votes the straight liberal line, including pro-choice on abortion. Lieberman's Republican friend told him that the Republicans would leave Minnesota in a state of disarray with a McCain-Lieberman ticket, alienating social conservatives who now make up the core of Republican voters.
At the heart of the desire for Lieberman as running mate is a basic strategic disagreement between the Bush and McCain high commands.
McCain's top strategists argue that the Bush coalition that won the last two presidential elections is dead and must be replaced by a new one that extends to the left, as Lieberman would.
Bush strategists disagree, asserting that McCain is getting around 90 percent of the old Bush vote and can win the election with a few moderates added in.
The Republican operative who urged Lieberman to dissuade McCain from picking him believes that there is still a very useful role for the maverick Democrat in this campaign: as McCain's secretary of state. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
Except in this case he's not even a RINO. He's an out and out liberal Democrat who just happened to be kicked out of his party for also being a patriot.
There is no reason why the convention has to vote for Lieberman.
“Because McCain wants him!”
Pulleaze!
McCain is lucky enough not to have a mutiny
just over himself.
I could accept Liberman as Sec Def or Sec State. I like him as a person and think he’s an honorable man and a patriot. But I don’t want him to be VP.
IF McCain selects him, and Liberman accepts it ... well ... I’ll have no choice but to vote for them because the alternative is too frightening to contemplate.
McCain, and only McCain can elect Obama at this point. If he picks a solid conservative, it’s a blowout win for him. As for Joe, if Liberman said that he would appoint a Roberts or Alito to the bench, maybe I wouldn’t get sick to my stomach if McCain picked him. If Liberman went further and said that he’s pro-choice but anti Roe v. Wade I might be able to live with the pick. The is nothing in the constitution that speaks to the issue of abortion, it is a states rights issue. If you support justices making laws from the bench when it suits you, then you can’t complain when they make up laws like Kelo that screw you. Joe could also argue the obvious, throwing out Roe v. wade does not ban abortions. I don’t see Liberman doing this so make him secretary of state instead and have the gop pick up his senate seat.
Chris Matthews would stroke out if Zell was picked.
Maybe the likelihood of a law suit by the pedestrian who he hit and planted on his hood before he tried to drive off set off his “brain tumor.”
How about John Kasich or Chris Cox?
Russia's Aggression Is a Challenge to World Order
By LINDSEY GRAHAM and JOE LIEBERMAN
August 26, 2008
Why retire? He should write until they have to pry the pen from his cold dead hands. God bless Bob Novak. Keep on writing, man!
There’s no way McCain could be stupid enough to select Lieberman as his running mate. Is there? But then, Jim Fergosi put in the Wild Thing in the 1993 World Series.
This is very cogent, credible and concise. Maybe more columnists need to get brain tumors.
McCain has to be himself. He isn’t good at pretending to be something he isn’t.
Lieberman isn't a RINO; he's an independent liberal. (The 'R' in RINO stands for 'Republican'). McCain won't pick Lieberman. No need -- has already has (most of) the center wrapped up. He needs to shore up the base, and he knows it.
How about Tancredo? Duncan Hunter
The chance of McCain picking Hunter or Tancredo (guys that got less than 1% of the vote in the primaries) is zero. I'd love to see it (I supported Hunter in the primaries), but it's a ganja pipe dream.
Lieberman as Vice-President? HELL NO.
Lieberman as Secretary of State? I wouldn’t object. I’d rather see somebody a lot more pugnacious like John Bolton, but Lieberman could do a pretty credible job. If nothing else, he could bore some of our enemies into signing treaties with us...
}:-)4
You bet. This would be a classic case of pooping in the punch bowl. It says a lot about McCain that nobody puts it past him.
It is hard enough to pull the lever for McCain. If he picks Lieberman, that will seal the 3rd Party deal for me. I can only go so far in support of a liberal ticket.
“Influential McCain backers, plus McCain himself, would pick the pro-choice liberal from Connecticut if they thought they could get away with it.”
He’ll only pick Slow Joe if he WANTS to lose.
McCain can’t be himself and be elected... that’s the issue.
If he reformed back to the Republican bashing RINO he really is tomorrow, Obama would be King of the World in no time. Lieberman seems to be a sincere man and an all-around good guy, but he’s liberal on almost every front.
Sincerity is not the only cause for support, and although I’m concerned like everyone else about our military might and standing in the world, there’s more to being a leader than defense. Napolean was pretty good at defense... Hitler had a pretty good army... morality and rightness have to play into it at some point.
I’m not convinced McCain would be as strong as everyone thinks with the military anyway. Yet to be seen.
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