Pingaloo ... ovah here
Posted on 07/30/2008 6:57:53 PM PDT by pissant
He’s going to transform the party — by turning us into hawkish Democrats? Nuance.
There’s a bigger point — and this initial volley, they say, lays the groundwork for it. They will be sharpening McCain’s message that he, not Obama, is the true change agent, a man who’s repeatedly taken unpopular stands, made the hard calls and forged bipartisan alliances.
Part of the calculus now is how his VP choice will further sharpen that message. There is significant support among top McCain advisers that he make a “transformative” pick who would change the Republican Party — someone who would appeal to moderate Republicans and Democrats…
A person who fills that bill, these advisers say, is Joe Lieberman.
Lieberman, an Independent Democrat, flatly denied his interest to ABC’s Ron Claiborne earlier this month, but McCain is now seriously considering him as that “transformative” pick, sources tell ABC News…
What’s more, some McCain advisers believe Lieberman would dramatically enhance the point they are now trying to make about Obama in this “celebrity” ad campaign.
McCain and Lieberman are anti-celebrities, the argument goes. They have, as one top adviser said, felt the heat after taking unpopular positions because they were willing to do “what’s right for the country” — whatever it meant for their own popularity.
Good news for that unpredictable five percent in the middle he needs to win, not so good for, er, everyone else in America. Are evangelicals going to vote for a guy who scored 100% on NARAL’s annual report card? Are Reagan conservatives jittery about McCain’s maverickiness going to feel reassured knowing Al Gore’s choice for VP is waiting in the wings? Is the left going to reach hitherto unscaled heights of apoplexy at the thought of the one pol they hate more than George Bush somehow ending up on the Republican ticket? (No, no, and yes, respectively, if you’re scoring at home.) Think of it in practical terms. Assume the worst happens and through some misfortune Vice President Lieberman becomes President Lieberman. Either the Democrats’ animus towards him results in hopeless gridlock in Congress or the breach is healed and we’ve got a lefty executive working with a lefty legislature towards common goals — Iraq excepted, of course. I like Liebs; I don’t like the idea. But the signs are there if you’re willing to look…
Exit question: Maybe the left, true to its proud tradition of honoring dissent, will forgive Joementum his apostasy? Hmmm.
I predicted this many months ago...
Just another reason McCain makes me feel ill...
No crap, the MSM throws out a couple of urine bombs and some just soak it up.
A liberal democrat colleague of mine at work is enraged at this idea. Hehehehe....
Me no like. Bad Medicine.
Oh yeah?? I'll support Karl Marx if you support Obama if McCain picks Lieberman.
Sheesh! I really have got to get out of here.
Well then, how about Opra? I'm sure that would get most of the womens votes.
Whoda thunk it!
Michael Medved predicted this months ago....
I think, it’s either Joe, or Bobby Jindal... but, he’s too green.
McPain will go with Joe... just to make it even more difficult to vote for him.
Don’t think for a minute that Leiberman is not bitter about how the left wing of the Rat Party tried to run him out of office because he wouldn’t vote the party line.
Leiberman has his baggage that don’t appeal to conservatives. But he also has baggage that don’t appeal to liberals. Joe is no Zell Miller Democrat, nor is he a Reagan conservative. But I do think he has more common sense, and has the ability to recognize that strong military and security does matter, the WOT is very important etc.
Frankly, I don’t think a Leiberman VP choice would hurt McCain at all. As for the consequences to America, the choice is certainly better than an OCommie Party Chairman.
Pingaloo ... ovah here
Dude, this is ABC News using unnamed sources.
Juan doesn’t care a wit about the “base”.
I would be very pleased with the selection of Lieberman, for the following reasons:
(1) It would probably help Sen. McCain among the all-important swing voters, to a greater degree than it would harm him among his more conservative base. Therefore, although securing the party base is generally more important than capturing swing voters—all other things being equal—in this case, I believe the selection of Sen. Lieberman would be a net plus.
(2) I have enormous respect for Lieberman, notwithstanding his failed alliance with Al Gore in 2000. I believe he usually stands on principle (although, regrettably, he did not do so, in my opinion, in 2000), and this is a rare virtue in modern politics at the national level.
(3) It is certainly true that on most social issues—in fact, on most issues outside of the Iraq War and the broader war against Islamofascism—Sen. Lieberman is a pretty typical liberal. But the vice-president does not get to make policy decisions—not even nowadays, what with an expanded role for today’s veeps, that goes beyond their dutifully attending state funerals.
On the downside, it is a fair observation to note (as the author of the above article did) that if something horrible were to happen to a President McCain, we would be stuck with a generally liberal President Lieberman. And given the former’s fairly advanced age, that possibility seems a bit less remote than it ordinarily might. Still, I think it is a chance worth taking.
Moreover, I see Sen. Lieberman as a real grownup—not an enormous compliment, perhaps, but more than can be said credibly about Sen. Obama, who often seems downright puerile. For the sake of our country, it is of immense importance that he be defeated.
Ya know, I like Medved as a person, But he can be a real putz, and he is in the can for McCain
Thing is, "the base" (for Scarface) is a bunch of illegal aliens, welfare/mortgage cheats, and moderate to liberal Americans who always "reach across the aisle" for a socialist group grope.
It’s official. This will be the first presidential election since 1852 with no Republican candidate on the ballot.
Surving the base of the part...what does that mean...are we all going to vote obama. No. Are we going to sit home so Obama wins. No probabally not. So. What the heck does he care about the base...and that is EXACTLY the problem
SO ABC is trying to stir up trouble among Republicans? Won’t be the first time. We’ll find out who McCain is chosen when he announces it. Until then, I won’t believe anyone’s predictions, least of all the MSM’s.
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