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Biden denies VP speculation, while Team McCain eyes Lieberman

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Given that there’s very little actual news when it comes to the presidential candidates’ running mates, it seems almost silly to examine (and overly interpret) what little news there is to glean. And yet, the political world wants to talk about little else, so we might as well go over what we’ve got.

Late yesterday, for example, Joe Biden surprised almost everyone when he suggested he wouldn’t be Barack Obama’s pick.

As Delaware Sen. Joe Biden was leaving his house in Wilmington this afternoon, he slowed down and said to the gathered news reporters outside his home: “You guys have got better things to do, I’m not the guy.”

A source close to Biden, however, told the Huffington Post, “That is a comment that he typically gives for people who ask about [the vice presidency]

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,” adding that Biden has been repeating the same stock answer for weeks.

Soon after, Biden himself clarified his denial, telling reporters he hasn’t talked to anyone and doesn’t know what’s going to happen. “I promise I don’t know anything,” Biden said.

Is it possible that Obama has decided to pick Biden, but Biden doesn’t know it? Sure. The NYT noted that as of late Monday, Obama “had not notified his choice — or any of those not selected — of his decision.”

Also yesterday, Obama spoke at a town-hall meeting in North Carolina, and was asked if would utilize his vice president as Bush utilized Cheney. “Let me tell you first what I won’t do,” Obama said. “I won’t hand over my energy policy to my vice president, without knowing necessarily what he’s doing…. My vice president also will be a member of the executive branch, he won’t be one of these fourth branches of government where he thinks he’s above the law.”

Obama’s pronoun use , of course, sparked a new round of speculation about whether this would rule the possibility of a woman running mate.

On the other side of the aisle, most of the talk, oddly enough, has been about Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman has already said, many times, that he’s not interested in running on the Republican presidential ticket, but there are nevertheless multiple reports about the possibility.

John McCain is seriously considering choosing a pro-abortion-rights running mate despite vocal resistance from conservatives, with former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) very much in the mix, close McCain advisers say. […]

One source close to the campaign who is sympathetic to such a plan sketched out a scenario in which Lieberman was the choice.

“First, if your instinct is to run on experience, it doesn’t hurt to have a vice president who’s got it, too,” said this source, a conservative.

But more than that, according to this source, picking Lieberman would dramatically support McCain’s theme that he puts “country first” above all else.

“It would fit well into the narrative of his not having any politics in the White House,” said the source. “No more Dick Morris, no more Karl Rove — we’re governing here. It’s an easy, natural message for McCain and it implies a one-term pledge without actually saying it.”

What’s more, Jonathan Martin reported that there appears to be a vetting process underway.

Top aides to Joseph Lieberman have reached out to former staffers in recent days with “substantive questions” about the issue areas they worked on while working for the Connecticut senator, according to a source close to Lieberman.

Clarine Nardi Riddle, Lieberman’s Chief of Staff, and Sherry Brown, a top district aide and his 2006 campaign manager, are working the phones and sending emails in an apparent attempt to compile a portfolio for the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee.

Without saying definitively that the information-gathering was being done to share with McCain’s campaign, this source said “it would be unusual if not in the context of being vetted.”

If McCain were to pick Lieberman, there may be a legal problem — in order to be certified on some state ballots, the Republican Party requires Republican candidates to be Republicans.

Nevertheless, this seems to have moved beyond the “insider scuttlebutt” phase. A state GOP official told the Washington Times that he talked with two “high-level” McCain campaign officials who said that “Lieberman is a very real possibility.” The same Times article notes that Lindsey Graham is among those pushing for a McCain-Lieberman ticket.

The GOP base is

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, not surprisingly, very unhappy about the possibility.

Stay tuned.

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Comments

  • jhm

    says:

    If Hon. Sen. Leiberman gets the nod, I hope we can finally examine the bang up job he’d done as both Chair and Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, including confirmation hearings for Mr. “Brownie” Brown.

  • Bernard HP Gilroy

    says:

    Leiberman is a red herring. Going through the motions of vetting him helps burnish McCain’s “maverick” image while the act of finally not going with him allows evangelicals to think they’re still calling the shots.

  • Rielle Lovechild

    says:

    Every time I think of the McCain campaign, “They can’t be that stupid.” – they tender proof that they are. For that reason alone, I guess Lieberman is still actually in play.

    Wouldn’t it be fun if Obama does a pre-emptive, bipartisan, mavericker-than-thou move and chooses Dick Lugar as his VP candidate?

    Won’t happen, but Lugar might accept, he’s very popular and thoughtful (Required Disclaimer Notice: for a Republican), Indiana would go blue with its 11 electoral votes, and it’s fun to think of the consternation factor.

    Bayh, not so much. Lugar is infinitely more popular here (and a thoughtful mover and shaker in the Senate).

    Just havin’ fun.

  • Buffalonian

    says:

    I agree with #2. There’s no upside for an actual Lieberman pick beyond McCain’s personal comfort with him. However, this trial balloon allows him to get criticized by the base which which helps with undecided ‘moderates’ by making him seem different than his party.

    Then when he picks a anti-choice VP – as he will – the base comes back whole heartedly. what else are they going to do? support Obama? stay home to cut off their noses to spite their faces?

    Of course, the media laps it up because it fits their narrative that:
    1. Lieberman is a centrist
    2. McCain is a maverick
    3. Republicans are a rational party of people operating in good faith

    The fact that all of these are gross distortions and lies matters not a whit.

  • MsMuddled

    says:

    Dear God etc.,

    Please have McCain pick Lieberman.

    I haven’t laughed much since y2k. This would really help in my recovery.

    Please?

  • Incertus

    says:

    Wouldn’t it be fun if Obama does a pre-emptive, bipartisan, mavericker-than-thou move and chooses Dick Lugar as his VP candidate?

    No, it wouldn’t be. Set aside the whole matter of Obama’s lack of progressivism for a second. Few people have mentioned this as a factor in Obama’s choice for VP, but I’m going to throw it out there. Obama, perhaps more than any other candidate in the history of the republic, needs assassination insurance. He needs a running mate that would make a right-wing crazy think twice about wanting in the big chair. A Republican running mate is the opposite of that.

  • wvng

    says:

    I’m with the Anonymous Liberal on Obama’s choice:

    “I’m still holding out hope that the Times is completely wrong, that my blackberry will light up tomorrow morning with an email informing me that Obama has chosen someone whom none of the pundits have been talking about.
    . . .
    Yet year after year we go through the same drill. The names of the people on the short list are leaked one by one and by the time the announcement is made, we know it’s going to be one of two or three people. Just once I’d like to see a campaign fool everyone. And given that I’m not particularly enamored with any of the people supposedly on Obama’s short list, I’d love this to be the year.

    UPDATE: For what it’s worth, I think I’m with just about everyone else in saying that, of the three names currently being floated, I’d prefer Biden.”
    http://www.anonymousliberal.com/2008/08/for-once-surprise-us.html

    A part of me still tingles at the thought it could be Gore. If wishes were ponies . . . .

  • Brian

    says:

    If it is in fact LIeberman, I believe that seals the deal for Obama. I think every democrat in the country would be thrilled to vote against that ticket just to stick it to the bastard.

  • Maria

    says:

    I think Bernard and Buffalonian have it down. After this Maverickabuki for the moderates, McCain will settle down to naming some gruesome winger. His strategy, such as it is seems to be emerging: go right to pacify the base while occasionally feinting left to fake out the ever-credulous media.

  • Wally

    says:

    I’d like to nominate Maria for the Best Made-Up Word That Describes a Real Phenomenon of the Year Award. Nothing could capture better the series of dance moves, shrieks, and clashing cymbals that McCain goes through to sustain his maverick image, or the complete falseness of the image. Well done, Maria!

    Does anyone really buy Romney as a potential VP pick? Honestly, I haven’t heard of a single possible pick that doesn’t piss off the evangelicals or alienate the moderates. Maybe he’ll announce that he won’t have a running mate because he’s such a maverick.

  • Basilisc

    says:

    The Rude Pundit recently ruminated on how great it would be if McC picked Lieberman. I won’t give a link because I don’t want to access the Rudester at work, but you can find it easily if you want.

  • The Answer is Orange

    says:

    Being a Democratic prick and then a Republican prick would certainly round out Joe’s resume.

    Given the ham-fisted approach the GOP takes to … everything, I can see them running the following game: McCainiac asks Joe to be his Veep. Joe graciously and publicly declines. McOldster then picks someone else.

    The GOP “thinking” behind this: Jewish voters, regardless of party affiliation, will think McCrank is a swell pro-Jewish guy for asking a Jewish guy to be his Veep and vote for him no matter who he eventually picks.

    The GOP will of course find subtle (not) ways to remind everyone between mentions of The Hanoi Hilton that McMaverickety* has a Jewish friend. As an added bonus, people who point and laugh at his first pick can be labeled as bigots and future accusations of bigotry on the part of the GOP can be brushed aside with pictures of LIEberman (I-Con) and McCain playing snuggle bunnies.

    Now of course, because we all have brains (I’m not counting the trolls) we know that people aren’t that stupid and are likely to be more pissed off than not at the thought of LIEberman in the White House, especially after his latest bout of playing Blow the TalEvangical and/or such a pathetically transparent ploy. But this is the GOP we’re talking about. The guys who gave us the Keyes v. Obama match in Illinois.

    Gosh. I suppose we should thank them for that.

  • August J. Pollak

    says:

    Ugh. Isn’t it PAINFULLY obvious this Lieberman stuff is the Harriet Miers nomination all over again?

    Two weeks of suggesting McCain will pick a moderate pro-choice VP gives him the image of being moderate and pro-choice, and then he nominates a moderate-appearing but actually hard-right running mate (like Romney) and it looks like a “compromise.”

  • Lance

    says:

    Okay, now I think Obama’s choice is Bill Richardson. That’s why, when he was asked about a comparison to Cheney, he thought to talk about Energy Policy. Richardson was a Secretary of Energy and is an excellent choice to handle Energy Policy while at the same time giving Obama support on Foreign Policy without that being the ‘excuse’ for his selection (remember Obama has said he doesn’t need a VP to shore up his Foreign Policy creds).

    I’ll repeat again, McC*nt wants a VP who is a “Friend” and it seems his friends, LIEberman and Ridge, are pro-choice. McC*nt knows he is going to die in office, and he doesn’t want to leave the White House to Mitt Romney, whom he despises.

    Still, in the end I think it will be:

    McCain/Romney 2008
    A Polygamist…
    … and a Mormon

  • danimal

    says:

    McCain is stubborn, McCain really wants Lieberman; don’t count him out. I’ve been predicting McCain/Lieberman 08 for months now. It fits McCain’s view of bipartisanship and I believe that Lieberman’s obnoxiousness for the past two years is best explained by his veep desires.

    The right wing will go nuts, but what will they do, write in Ron Paul? Vote Libertarian? The only thing they know is power and they hate to give it up; they’ll fall in line.

  • Lance

    says:

    TAIO wrote: The GOP will of course find subtle (not) ways to remind everyone between mentions of The Hanoi Hilton that McMaverickety* has a Jewish friend.”

    Reminds me of Stephan Colbert hugging and pointing to his [insert minority here] friend pictures. Someone should photoshop a McC*nt/LIEberman picture like that.

  • Little Dick

    says:

    Basilisc, I just checked out The Rude Pundit (don’t know where I’ve been) for the first time. That is some nice stuff over there. Thanks for the reference…

  • Diogenes

    says:

    Won’t be Lieberman. First, Joe would have to claim to have had a conversion experience to become a republican. That would end his political career, and if there’s one thing we all know about holy Joe, it’s that he’s always got an eye out for number 1. Secondly, it would kill the GOP. They’d loose this thing in a landslide, and they know if. I’d put my money on the aforementioned Mavericabuki theater here, with the added bonus of allowing McCain to pick Tom Ridge, who he really wants, and claim it was a compromise, but who the RR wouldn’t take without some sort of olive branch.

    Now, if, by some pact with Satan, McCain manages to steal the Oval Office, look for Lieberman’s name to be floated as Sec. of State or Defense.

  • hark

    says:

    The pundits will tell you that the choice of VP makes little difference in the election, but go on to speculate endlessly about those choices.

    You’d think one of them might talk about the issues for a change, just to shake things up a bit, get out of the rut of turning campaign trivia into the days’ cause celebre, but that never seems to occur to them.

  • Maria

    says:

    Thanks, guys! Donate my residuals to the campaign of any worthy Democrat. No Blue Dogs unless it’s a blood-red district, of course.

  • Shalimar

    says:

    I am ecstatic at the mere thought that Lieberman will finally and fully become their prick. He’s been ours for far too long and the memories weren’t good.

  • Always hopeful

    says:

    There must be some real possibility for Lieberman otherwise he wouldn’t have his nose up McCain’s butt…he’s nothing if not for himself.

    If Lieberman makes the cut, look out Iran!

  • Steve in CT

    says:

    While we seem to be bouncing around fanticies how about this one that’d also never happen. Obama and Polosi vs McCain & Clinton (if she’s stood up at the dance).

  • Wayne

    says:

    Even though I don’t support or agree with all issues that McCain & Lieberman stand for I do think this ticket would stand a great chance of winning. What good is it to stand on principals and lose the race? After all, McCain will be the president.

    I definitely would vote for this ticket!

  • Zorro for the Common Good

    says:

    Leaving aside the Lieberman issue, I don’t buy that Obama tipped his hand by using male pronouns to refer to his VP choice. Read the full quote: When he uses “he”, he’s clearly alluding to Cheney, and how his VP choice won’t be like that. Later in that paragraph, he refers to what his VP will be like, and switches to “they”.

    Now, I happen to think that the pick will be a man, but I don’t think Obama has officially told us that yet.

  • Dr. Ted Baehr

    says:

    Lie-bermann is a complete waste of space, what a tool. If McCain wants to prove he’s not a puppet of Dick Cheney he’d be smart to go off the grid and find someone GOOD to be his VP. Most Republicans are corrupt so leave them off the list. Too many homos in the Democratic party, so they’re out. Is David Duke still in politics? I donated to his campaign back in the early 1990s, he’d be a good choice.