FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T PICK LIEBERMAN

August 14, 2008

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann have the ultimate VP solution for John McCain: Joe Lieberman. The senator from Connecticut parted company with mainstream (and by mainstream I mean left-wing) Democrats by supporting the war on terror, supporting the war in Iraq, even appearing at the 2004 Republican National Convention to speak on Bush's behalf. Lieberman was primaried for his apostasy and now has the official scarlet (I) beside his name because of it. Lieberman has become a pressure valve in the Senate because the slim Democratic majority falls apart without his assent. After the election, Democrats will no longer need him.

Lieberman is to conservative Republicans what Benedict Arnold was to the British - a useful turncoat they can admire from a great distance, but for whom there is no genuine allegiance or affection. Arnold was an American general who defected and became a shunned colonel in the British army, never well trusted by his superiors, and hated in his land of birth.

Morris' argument that Romney is a no-go because he didn't do well in the primaries falls a little flat. Romney won 9 primaries and two caucuses in a field that included surprise candidate Mike Huckabee. Remember that Bush 41 didn't do very well either, winning only 6 states and DC, even though the field was fairly weak. Reagan/Bush went to the White House twice, and Bush/Quayle once, falling to the Clinton machine only after 12 years.

Morris' second argument that consensus and bipartisanship are well-served by a McCain-Lieberman ticket does not seem to hold water. Voters on the Republican side who are outraged by broken borders, gay marriage, Hillarycare and the liberal blockades against Alito and Roberts don't want bipartisanship. They want to win. A Lieberman gambit soft-sells conservative ideals and tells the voters McCain isn't serious about them. Morris' choice may have some appeal among moderate Republicans. I hope moderates will accept Romney; this is more likely than conservatives accepting Lieberman.

Morris mentioned Abraham Lincoln's choice of Andrew Johnson as a model of bipartisanship that McCain should try to match. However, history reveals that Lincoln was barely in his grave when Johnson's cronies forced the Black Codes (servitude) on newly-freed blacks in the South. Republicans hated Johnson for this outrage, forced votes on the new laws in which blacks could participate, and impeached Andrew Johnson on 11 counts. By a single vote on each of 3 counts, Johnson escaped conviction and removal from office, and in 1868 he ran for President as a Democrat. So much for bipartisanship.

Let's get back to what the Vice-Presidency is; the fine print on the box detailing what happens if the product fails. If McCain serves out his term, all is (presumably) well. If not, we get a sort of Bizzaro McCain that, but for terror, is roughly as far left as Barack Obama and will presumably appoint Ginsberg or Breyer type justices to the Supreme Court. To conservatives, Joe Lieberman has all of McCain's flaws and many more, yet has only the terror thread as a virtue. He's pro-gay, pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-big government, and pro-everything else they're against. To those who are wary of 71-year old McCain, Joe's 66 years offer no relief. Joe looks old and sounds old. Joe has no military background and is a lifetime lawyer/politician. To those who want a governor or a leader, or a proven vote-getter, Joe is none of the above. In 2004, his best showing was 11% in Delaware. He only got 5% in his own state.

Conservatives will accept Lieberman on the stage at the convention, but they will not accept him on the ticket. They'll take the maverick, but not the McGovern.