Posted on 08/27/2008 3:04:19 PM PDT by 21stCenturyFreeThinker
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Doesn’t Robert Novak have some axe to grind with the McCain VP selection process? I seem to recall he was fed some misinformation by the campaign a while back. Could still be mad about it.
Ex. 1: Whig William H. Harrison picked Democrat John Tyler as his VP. Harrison died a month after taking office, and Tyler turned out to be an extremely partisan President.
Ex. 2: Abraham Lincoln picked Democrat Andrew Johnson as his VP. Lincoln was assassinated, and Johnson's positions so abominable to Republicans that he was the first last and only president impeached by Congress... until William Jefferson Clinton.
McCain is 72. What are the odds that Joe Lieberman will become President?
It depends on what John thinks, and I think his choice of Joe was made months ago. Everything I have ever read about McCain says that trying to tell him he can’t do something is a sure fire way to make sure he does it.
McCain is trying to build a new Republican coalition that spans the middle of American politics. Let's face it, if you're looking for new voters you aren't going to find them on either the far left or the far right. He is banking on the fact that conservatives will vote for him no matter what even if it means they are voting against the other guy. And with Obama as the Democratic nominee he is probably correct in assuming that.
If McCain wins with the moderate strategy he has consistently used so far then he will have fundamentally changed the Republican presidential formula much the same as Reagan did. Especially if he wins decisively. Future candidates will work to unite the McCain coalition in the middle. He knows he won the Republican nomination in spite of conservatives and not as a result of them.
In addition to his core beliefs, McCain is probably looking at some cold hard political facts. Bush won without the popular vote in 2000, his reelection majority was especially narrow in 2004, the Pubs never had large majorities in Congress, and they lost Congress in 2006. He sees the need to ride a new horse with more popular support.
Whether that's what's good for the country is another matter. But look at his strategy so far and tell me he's not doing that.
That could be part of the motivation to report this improbable scenario. McCain is not going to select someone who is not a member of the Republican Party. The overture to Lieberman (remember all those signs in a past election about Lierman--where did that sentiment go?) is simply a politically savvy gesture to independents to vote for McCain.
A move to place Lieberman on the ticket would require an absolute political tin ear on the part of McCain’s team. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face...
If this should come about, it will ensure the election of BHO due to the serving of divorce papers to the GOP base by the power brokers.
No question that Lieberman would be the worst possible choice of all the names that have been floated.
I suspect that McCain is allowing a lot of wild speculation about who the nominee will be for the reason that keeping them guessing as long as possible will enlarge the size of the tent.
I personally think Novak is pretty well connected to the inside scoop in both parties. I see this column as relaying a public message to McCain from the party.
Novak is hardly the only one reporting McCain’s infatuation with Lieberman. The fact that McCain has even considered putting a pro-abort liberal a heartbeat away from the presidency tells us all we need to know about how he will govern. Both McCain and Obama deserve to lose this election. The only certainty is that whichever one of that dreadful duo wins, America loses.
The lieberman ‘ploy’ was designed to make conservatives welcome a moderate like Romney. Don’t get too excited, it seems to be working.
aint gonna happen. The numbers game point to Cantor...he’s from Va and that may help McCain with the electorial count
Pick the Droopy Dawg for a McCain WH cabinet position.
But for VP? uhhh...no!
I’d be happy with Lieberman as Secretary of Defense, but not at Veep.
I still think it’s gonna be Romney, btw.
Cantor would be a great pick. But as far as helping the ticket with VA, he’s a Representative so, ergo, he only represents one district from that state. I’m wondering if that would be have a significant impact on VA voters in total.
The VP choice should come from this group:
Eric Cantor- Virginia
Mike Pence- Indiana
Rob Portman-Ohio
Mitt Romney-Massachusetts/Michigan/Colorado
Why in the world would McCain stray from this list ?
‘That makes me very happy’
If McCain wants to pick a democrat as Secretary of Defense, he should choose Sam Nunn.
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