Reading between the lines, Kristol seems to believe a McCain/Lieberman ticket would be as conservative as any traditional Republican pairing, but voters might be fooled into thinking otherwise.

I'm stunned at this first-ever incidence of Kristol getting something right.

"Either the ticket would be more of the same, or it would be a striking break with the past. It can't, however, be both."

Um, yes it can. Kristol is saying that the republicans can pitch the ticket to stupid voters (plenty of these) as a "unity ticket," but anyone with more than their half-a-brain knows that they'll govern just like Bush (only with more wars). Duh.

Ooops. Note to self: Read whole post before commenting.

How, exactly, would the "renouncing any further ambition to run for the presidency" clause be enforced? this is above and beyond the ever-present danger of the "heartbeat away" scenario.

A McCain-Liberman ticket would be awesome, if only because no matter what, the Republican die-hards would be forced to vote for a Democrat.

Lieberman is quite possibly the only VP choice with worse stage presence than McCain, though Guiliani would be a close second.

I know when I think of courting the tens of Hillary supports who vow not to support Obama the first name that pops into my mind is Joe Lieberman.

(Haha, I just totally hit tab and typed orange. Old habbits.)

Give Kristol a break. He was under double the pressure his week, having to write two columns, one of which was trashed: "Obama caves to screeching Hillaryites."

You're seeing the product of only half his work, the column he wrote last week entitled "_____ is the worst VP choice since Thomas Eagleton."

Steve, you are on fire today. Keep it up.

I think McCain really, really wants Lieberman.

Does Joe remind you of anybody? I know, the Emperor in Star Wars. I am going to really worry if he starts wearing a black robe with a hood.

We couldn't get lucky enough for McCain to pick Holy Joe. Lieberman didn't cost Gore too many Democratic votes in '00, but he'd hurt McCain plenty among Republicans. If there's anything a gun-totin' Jesus-lovin' good ol' boy down south hates more than an African-American, it's a Jew.

McCain's latest attack ads are also rather, er, stunning.

The first ad recycles old Biden criticisms regarding Obama's lack of experience. Biden has obviously changed his mind as he is telling voters now.

The other ad claims Hillary didn't get the veep slot since she dared to criticize Obama. If those claims were true, how come Biden was selected despite making similarly disparaging comments?!

Unless Obama makes unforced errors, it is difficult to see how such transparently dishonest *and* logically inconsistent negative campaigning could possibly succeed. McCain's mavericky straight-talk anti-Bush reputation also ought to be totally irrelevant now has he has abandoned virtually all the policies he favored five years ago.

MARCU$

Shorter Billy da Kid: I think McPOW should tap his Jewish friend for Veep because that'll fool other Jewish people into voting for him, bwaha, I'm so clever.

And as a one-off, quasi-national-unity ticket, with Lieberman renouncing any further ambition to run for the presidency, a McCain-Lieberman administration wouldn't threaten the continuance of the G.O.P. as a pro-life party.

When one is next in line behind an old guy who has been through hell, one doesn't need to renounce any further ambition to run for president. One just needs to wait.

But that's another thing about Kristol Meth's piece. It looks like he's suggesting LIEberman would have to take an oath not to run for prez. How the hell would that work? Who would enforce it if JoLIE (I-Con) changed his mind?

The charge that McCain would merely mean a third Bush term would also tend to fall flat.

Sure, if you ignore two things:

1. LIEberman would be Veep, not president so it doesn't negate the McBush problem.
2. LIEberman has probably fought with McPOW for the honour of sticking his nose up Bush's ass.

Plus there's the fact that Democrats hate Joe because he's a douche and the Republican party isn't short of bigots and/or people who just won't ever trust him because he once ran with Al Gore.

Man, I wish someone would pay me a crapload of money to spout gibberish.

I drool when I think of a Biden/Lieberman VP debate. Of course, he wasn't out to win in '00.

It might not be a completely stupid idea. It might be one way that some Hillary supporters could manage to bring themselves to vote for a republican. After Obama stabbed Hillary in the back with Biden, the polls have now evened up for the first time ever. All that some would need is just this type of cover to be able to stomach it. Obama was a fool not to pick Hillary. I hope this wasn't the turning point, but it could be.

McCain has made clear his will be a pro-life administration.

Just how, I wonder, Is McBomber pro-life.

*

Kristol ignores the elephant (heh) in the room, but Republican voters won't -- McCain has an above average chance of dying or suffering a debilitating illness in office, which would make scary liberal Democrat Lieberman the president. It's the same obstacle to choosing Fiorina, Whitman, Jindal, Palin, or any other "daring" running mate. McCain is old (oops, I said it) and in dubious health. Republican diehards are going to want a sure thing in the #2 spot.

I think McCain really, really wants Lieberman.

He's been telegraphing that for many months.

Reading between the lines, Kristol seems to believe a McCain/Lieberman ticket would be as conservative as any traditional Republican pairing, but voters might be fooled into thinking otherwise. That, at its core, is Kristol's message to the McCain campaign: pick Lieberman, run to the right, and con the public into thinking the ticket is something unique and different.

For all intents and purposes, McCain is attempting to campaign as a Democrat this cycle. A "Truman" Democrat. Lieberman would seal the deal.

Of course, he wouldn't really be a Democrat, not even a supposed Truman Democrat, but McCain only cares about war, so I'm sure the image of a neo-conservative Truman that the neos have been trying to create for the last coupla cycles is perfectly satisfactory for McCain.

Pick Lieberman and run left and right at the same time!

max
['Unfortunately, the Biden pick plays right into that.']

Not that it matters much, but I think the new favicon looks like a bloody mess. Perhaps it's just my browser (Safari).

You know, I just had a sobering thought.

Save for a few hanging chads and some uncounted votes, Lieberman would be our Presidential candidate at this moment.

Shudder.

I don't know what Kristol is smoking, but McCain picking Lieberman or any pro-choice Republican would be an act of political suicide for McCain that would cost him any chance of winning.

The base is only now starting to gel around him because they view the One as unacceptable and they view it as their patriotic duty to vote for a loser like McCain if only to keep a naive waif like Obama from the Oval Office. Having McCain pick someone like Lieberman would be such a deal breaker that a significant number of them will not bother to vote for such a ticket.

I thought the first rule for picking a VP was that the choice should do no harm. McCain would lose many more votes than he could ever hope to gain by picking Lieberman. So it's not going to happen.

Shorter Kristol: If getting another staunch neocon as Veep means giving in on abortion, well, that's just the price we all have to pay for more war.

Obama and Biden will try to frame the presidential race as a normal Democratic-Republican choice. If they can do that, they should win. That would be far more difficult against a McCain-Lieberman ticket. The charge that McCain would merely mean a third Bush term would also tend to fall flat. -- Kristol

Kristol is actually *aware* that a) Repub brand is, let's say, less than popular??? and b)that the prospect of "third Bush term" is a kiss of death???

I had to check to make sure that the sky wasn't falling...

But yeah, sure, *do* prick LIEberman as your VP, Sen McBush. Pretty please, with sprinkles on top. The ideal choice, every way you look at it. Just wear a Kevlar vest at all times and never forget to look over your shoulder before you cross the street.

Lieberman is Kristol's choice because he is about the biggest whore for neocon ideology to come down the oike

We dont get to pick our families mhr [really lame and childish what you posted] the candidates do however get to pick their staff and the McCain one is just a repeat of the last eight years. Enjoy the neo-cons, you deserve them.

McCain has made clear his will be a pro-life administration.

Awesome! So he'll pull all troops out of Iraq and renounce all plans to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran? That's just grea.....

Oh, wait. Sorry. Right. Ah, it seems he'll only be pro-life for first trimester fetuses. For actual human beings, not so much.

Kristol seems to believe a McCain/Lieberman ticket would be as conservative as any traditional Republican pairing, but voters might be fooled into thinking otherwise. That, at its core, is Kristol's message to the McCain campaign: pick Lieberman, run to the right, and con the public into thinking the ticket is something unique and different.

I'm just worried Kristol's column is part of an even more nefarious plan: hype the Lieberman possibility for months, convincing morons that you're the kind of person who would love to tap Lieberman as VP even though, as they already seem to have bought lock, stock, and barrel, you just have to pretend to be an orthodox Republican a leeetle longer until the election's over. Then pick a hard-right running mate in order to convince those other morons that in fact you've capitulated to them. Both ways: I haz dem.

Reading between the lines, Kristol seems to believe a McCain/Lieberman ticket would be as conservative as any traditional Republican pairing, but voters might be fooled into thinking otherwise.

That is how Bush won in 2000.

McCrap picking Joe LIEberman would be a double plus for warmongers everywhere!!!

Pick a war! Pick a war anywhere! Start a war! Start a war anywhere!

As long as it is good for the Likud Party and for AIPAC, it is a good war. And all of the neo-cons wars and planned wars are good for corporate amerika - so double plus!!!

Go. Go. Go. War. War. War.

McCain is attempting to campaign as a Democrat this cycle.

This is absolutely correct. I watched a McCain ad on TV this weekend. It spoke of a broken Washington, how McCain would take on tobacco and drug companies, big Oil...reform Washington....

It could have been an Obama ad. And this ad was running in Texas.

"Naturally, the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along, whether it is a democracy or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."
- Hermann Goering (Reich-Marshall)
at the Nuremberg Trials after WWII

The second night of the Dem. convention will be devoted to taking up a collection among the delgates to help George Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama's half-brother and hut-dweller get plane fare to Detroit and be introduced to the delegates. -- mhr, @14:13

Detroit??? What kind of delegates will he be introduced to there? Parallel universe ones?

But parallel universe seems to be where you (and, apparently, some others like you) must be living. The Convention lasts 4 days. The money won't be collected till the second day (and late, at that, from what you're saying). And he's supposed to be there within the next 48 hrs? How? Via a time machine?

Do you have *any* clue how long it takes to wire a money transfer and make it available to the recipient at the other end? Are you even sure George has a valid passport? Do you have *any* clue how long it takes to get an American visa (always assuming that you do get it; US doesn't like to issue permits to enter to those who cannot show that they're leaving behind enough property to want to go back)? Do you have *any* clue how long it takes to book a ticket on an international flight from Kenya (which you can only book *after* you have received your visa)?

Obviously, not; you're just as clueless about such little practical details as you are about politics.

I should add, by the way, that this makes one column in a row in which Kristol did not publish any obvious factual errors that required printed corrections.

Well, maybe not...

On further reflection, Kristol's pipe dream of a McCain/Lieberman ticket could be considered a factual error at worst, and masturbatory idolatry at best, since, according to Republican party rules and the balloting system in most states, it is essentially impossible to have a non-Republican on the Republican ticket.

I would say the fact that he wrote it at all, and that his 'editors' approved it is stunning evidence that they are not aware of these hurdles and blockades or they would otherwise not engage in such vapid and meaningless speculation. But it's hard to fault him, since oh so many others have been playing this silly game, as well.

I hope Kristol is right. The Democratic slogan would become, "If McCain dies, you voted for Lieberman." That would replace Tippecanoe And Tyler Too as the most effective campaign slogan in US History.

Obama's choice of Biden for VP communicates to the bankers and defense industries Obama fooled liberals into supporting an establishmentarian.

McCain - Lieberman; the "New Crusader Ticket"!

Ron Byers: "Does Joe remind you of anybody? I know, the Emperor in Star Wars."

The consensus is that Lieberman is the dad from ALF.

I'm with Mike B.--In a VP debate, Biden will wipe the floor with Lieberman. And it will be so entertaining! Get your popcorn ready!!

I think petorado at 2:20 nailed it precisely.

Kristol seems to believe a McCain/Lieberman ticket would be as conservative as any traditional Republican pairing, but voters might be fooled into thinking otherwise.

Given that Kristol's sole purpose in the greater public discourse (i.e. at the NYT, on NPR, etc...) is to gull the rubes, that seems pretty much par for the course.

Kristol's column contained no factual errors, for once, because it contained nothing that could be confused with a fact.

And calling Lieberman the dad from Alf is a slur on Alf's dad.

I've never even seen Alf and I found that funny.

Yes, McCain is elderly and it is possible that, for whatever reason, his may not complete his term--if elected.

Adding this to the statement that "McCain does not speak for his campaign" leads me to think that the Repub. VP candidate will be the "Heir Apparent" determined by the party bosses. I don't think McCain has much to say about who his running mate will be.

So the role for the Repub. VP candidate is to be in the wings to complete the term, if necessary, and/or to begin laying the groundwork for the 2012 presidential campaign whether McCain wins or not.

Yes, McCain is elderly and it is possible that, for whatever reason, his may not complete his term--if elected.

Adding this to the statement that "McCain does not speak for his campaign" leads me to think that the Repub. VP candidate will be the "Heir Apparent" determined by the party bosses. I don't think McCain has much to say about who his running mate will be.

So the role for the Repub. VP candidate is to be in the wings to complete the term, if necessary, and/or to begin laying the groundwork for the 2012 presidential campaign whether McCain wins or not.

well I think there could be some debate about the factual truth of this statement

(having been a Democrat all his life)

It's one big neocon love fest.
http://whereistand.com/JoeLieberman/JohnMcCain/

Maybe McCain and Kristol should just run together. They don't seem to disagree on anything yet.
http://whereistand.com/JohnMcCain/WilliamKristol