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Fortunately, He’ll Remain Many, Many Heartbeats Away

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Guest post by Steve M.

Yes, gratifyingly, someone who should remain many heartbeats away from the presidency will do so, if Robert Novak is correct:

Close advisers of Sen. John McCain say there is no possibility that Independent Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman would be McCain’s vice presidential running mate on the Republican ticket.

… Lieberman still votes the straight Democratic line in the Senate on nearly all issues except Iraq, and McCain’s advisers feel Lieberman never would be accepted by the Republican Party.

Readers of my blog know that I’ve speculated on this possibility, but, yeah, I don’t see how it would make sense — too many people in McCain’s own party think John’s a “RINO” (Republican in Name Only), so he’d probably choose a running mate who’s never, ever strayed from GOP dogma. (Such a running mate would, of course, be treated as a perfectly reasonable person by the media, not as the extremist he or she would certainly be, because that’s how the game is played.)

However, I’ve long believed that Lieberman will make a prime-time speech at the Republican convention, and I stand by that prediction — no matter who the nominee is. And the media will, of course, express astonishment, then swoon.
Oh, and this “footnote” from Novak is amusing:

When Lieberman endorsed McCain, Democratic friends called his office seeking reassurance that he was endorsing McCain only for the Republican nomination and not actually the office of president. No, they were told, this was a real presidential endorsement.

Oh, good grief. They had to ask? It’s been obvious for at least a year that Joe will endorse whoever the Republican nominee is. OK, maybe not Huckabee — but Huck’s to the right of all the Democrats on the war, so I think even he’d get Joe’s blessing.

Alas, Lieberman is still not universally despised in America — he’s sorta popular, in fact — so this could actually help the Republicans.

Comments

  • petorado

    says:

    “I’ve long believed that Lieberman will make a prime-time speech at the Republican convention”

    Maybe Lieberman and Zell Miller could be the Unity 08 ticket!

    Joe, god willing, will become the most irrelevant member of Congress after Nov. 4.

  • dnA

    says:

    I fully expect him to have a cabinet position in a future administration having to do with his other favorite issue, violent video games.

  • RonChusid

    says:

    I also doubt McCain would pick Lieberman, but we must keep timing under consideration. At the present time it would be unlikely for him to say something which would alienate the Republican base, considering the problems he already has. Besides, candidates want to keep their options open, partially because many others who desire the spot might be more motivated to work for the candidate.

    If McCain should win the Republican nomination he would be in a different situation. While he would still be better off not alienating the party’s base, his prime concern then would be the general election. If McCain saw choosing Lieberman as his best shot of winning, his current statements don’t mean a thing.

    Again, I doubt it will happen, but it can’t be ruled out based upon what people say now.

  • Misha2

    says:

    IF Joe should be McCain’s vp candidate we should immediately toss Joe’s hairy ass out of the Democratic party.

  • Marc

    says:

    Anything might be possible, but unless he suddenly changes his voting patterns Lieberman is pretty much to the left on most economic and social voting ratings. Add that to McCain and they would be a center to center-left combo on all but the foreign issues. Of course, if they got elected they could always change but other than desperation how could the Rs base be sold on such a ticket.

  • doubtful

    says:

    …we should immediately toss Joe’s hairy ass out of the Democratic party. -Misha2

    Technically, the Democrats in Connecticut already did that. He’s not a Democrat, he’s an Independent who Senatorial Democrats needed for their useless majority. Since they’ve done nothing with that majority, it’s time to strip him of his committee assignments, especially after his endorsement of McCain.

  • zeitgeist

    says:

    hey, as long as he sounds a totally freakin looney speaking at the Repub convention as ol Zell did, i’m all for it.

  • Grumpy

    says:

    I’ve long believed that Lieberman will make a prime-time speech at the Republican convention

    That’s a pretty sturdy limb you’re going out on.

  • Rich

    says:

    The Senator from Jerusalem will land on his feet no matter who gets anointed, or appointed president in November. If the Dems take a large majority in the Senate he will be largely irrelevant in the Dem caucus, and he won’t caucus with the minority because he won’t be very welcome there either. Look for him to leave the Senate at that point. AIPAC will probably lobby for him to become our ambassador to Israel. Whoever is in the White House will probably agree. One way or another he will be a major lobbyist for Israel. In other words, he’ll just be doing business as usual.