There’s been some discussion on the internet lrecently of the possibility that John McCain will select his friend Joe Lieberman for the number spot on the ticket. I’m a big Lieberman fan, and the issues he’s great on — foreign policy and national security — are the issues that matter most to me. Even so, I’d be pretty dismayed at the prospect of having a virtually down-the-line domestic policy liberal in line to succeed McCain.
If I feel this way, I can only imagine how the more ardent social conservatives in the party would — Mike Huckabee’s core supporters, for example — would react. Some have pointed out that, according to polls, McCain has cemented that vote. But answers provided to pollsters in August are non-binding, and probably not very indicative when offered before the candidate in question does something as drastic (in the view of some social conservatives) as selecting a pro-abortion liberal as his running mate.
Tapping Lieberman is the kind of move McCain might be well-advised to consider if he were running far behind Obama and needed to shake things up. But McCain trails Obama by only a few points. This isn’t fourth down and 20; it’s more like second down and 8. McCain doesn’t need to throw a hail Mary, and I’m pretty confident that he won’t.
JOHN adds: I assume you can’t get elected President without having some political skills, and no one with any political sense would think it makes sense to choose a liberal Democrat as a Republican Veep. No one, certainly, is suggesting that Barack Obama should pick a Republican as a running mate. Let’s hope the Lieberman boomlet dies out quickly.
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