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.