Lieberman for Veep?

I wrote a story in March noting just how ubiquitous Joe Lieberman had become in McCainworld.  If anything, he's become even more prominent in the campaign since, holding conference calls to carry the campaign message and appearing at his friend's side all over the country, including last Thursday at a nationally-televised town hall meeting in New York. 

It remains a longshot, but Lieberman's name has been popping up as a veep prospect.  It almost has a Cheney-esque quality to it: you look around and then pick the guy who has been right in front of you all along.  And people who know McCain say that if he were liberated to pick whoever he wanted, politics aside, he'd love to tap his pal Joe. 

The problem, of course, is that there would be blowback.

"The political consensus is that McCain couldn't get away with either, and he knows it," wrote Bob Novak in his Saturday column about McCain's inclination to look at both Lieberman and the pro-choice Tom Ridge.

When I floated the prospect to another prominent conservative, he didn't waste a moment before telling me what the reaction would be from the right-wing: harsh.

There is also the matter of whether Lieberman, who knows from running for veep, would be interested in reprising his 2000 role.

"As my boss says, 'been there, done that, got the t-shirt!'" quipped Lieberman spokesman Marshall Wittmann when I asked if it was crazy to think the senator may be a prospect once again.

Of course, that is not exactly a Shermanesque denial.

And the possibility continues to bubble in Republican circles. 

Appearing yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Karl Rove included Lieberman on a list of four possible running mates for McCain.

Rove said he preferred Mitt Romney, but said Lieberman would be "the choice way out of left field — you know, the real excitement."

I'm not sure how much excitement the famously genial and mild-mannered Lieberman would bring to the ticket, but it would make a statement.

Especially if McCain finds his chances for victory to be increasingly distant as the summer wears on, Lieberman could be the man he turns to.

Why?

Because he'd help underscore two central elements of McCain's campaign while also making a major symbolic point about the sort of president he wants to be.

First, it would be similar to what Gore did for Clinton in 1992: reinforcing strengths instead of bolstering weaknesses.    McCain has long said that the threat of Islamic terrorism is the preeminent issue facing the country: picking somebody who also feels strongly about the same and has much experience on national security issues could help keep a focus on the matter  

And, perhaps even more important, selecting a Democrat-turned-Independent would help McCain make the case that he is the real post-partisan in the race.   One of the most compelling arguments the Arizonan has is that he has walked the walk when it comes to working across party lines on difficult issues while his rival has done more talking than walking.  Picking Lieberman would make that argument in living color -- and suggest that a McCain presidency could end the gridlock that has beset Washington's political culture.

That's the argument for -- there are many more strong points to make against, not the least of which is Lieberman's abortion stance, opposition to the central elements of Republican economic dogma and his diminished stature among his fellow Democrats in the Senate.

But in politics as in football, it's tough to come back if you're down a few touchdowns and running the wishbone.    You've got to throw the longball.