If he had done that... it would be SO less fun!

A stronger and bolder move would have been to pick a true Democrat for V.P. if he could find one willing to go along. Joe has been such a disappointment in many ways of late, that I tend to think of him as an Independent Republican.

He may yet deliver that very speech.

Now THAT would have been the "Hail Mary" play that could have won him the election!

I do think, Hudson Joe, that it could have blown the election wide open. The latest polls show McCain hemorrhaging Independent votes since the Palin pick.

But Rich Banks could be right...he may yet deliver that speech if Palin self-destructs. Just remember: you read it here.

Joe Leiberman would have been interesting & bold & possibly smart. Valerie Plame might have been even wilier. Think about it...she was already vetted as a cia agent. A democrat. And smart about wmd. What more could we ask for? A truly maverick move instead of this pandering one with palin.

Lieberman would be a likely choice for the end-around I believe is coming on down the line. Palin was a good distraction for last Friday, but there is something else looming...I can feel it...

The Republicans have not gone brain-dead as a group -- Rovian political trickery is alive and well. After stealing the last two elections, there MUST be a better plan than Palin. We should have a contest to see if we can guess it, or at least who can come up with the most outrageous outline for the next two months of the campaign (fiction or non-fiction, as it might be hard to tell the difference).

My prediction is that Palin will withdraw (or be forced to withdraw) at the last minute -- so very last minute that ballots can not be changed in time.

McCain will put in Lieberman or worse (Romney or T Boone Pickens) and there will be nothing to be done about it. Some voters won't even have learned of a change -- mail in votes will already be in...

Maybe I am wearing a tin-foil hat to fabricate an utter fiction, or maybe I have become creatively hyper-vigilant on behalf of the Democrats. Currently, I am listening to a litany of lies coming from the speakers at the Republican Convention so am more than a little wound up just now.

By the way, I think we should keep our eyes on T. Boone Pickens. He has had more commercials running in Florida than McCain and Obama combined. Something is up with that -- he has NO need to advertise unless he is trying to inextricably link himself with the notion that he represents our "energy solution". To what end does he need to pay to make this proclamation?

Pickens has had more face time in Florida than Palin ever had, even now. He started up with the commercials at about the same point that the Swift-Boating attacks started for the Kerry campaign.

Sorry, Joan, for the rant. I wanted to tell you that I thought you made some very balanced and pointed assessments of the Dems convention on Salon. Thank you for that!

Has anything like that ever happened before -- a VP pulled off the ticket at the last minute? If so, I am unaware of it.

Joan, you've been studying Sen. McCain diligently! I could imagine the senator delivering that exact speech. Very nice. And I think that selection and the type of message you've suggested would have been very effective in persuading a large number of Americans who are just tired of the increasingly polarized partisanship, and just want it to stop... or at least ease a bit.

In the wake of the Gov. Palin pic, I'm really not sure what kind of position Sen. McCain is taking, and what his message is. He doesn't seem to be targeting moderate voters, though.

Neither McCain nor the Republican party is interested in anything so subtle, yet gobsmacking as a Lieberman for Veep. Why on earth would anyone truly expect anything so "maverick" from the party for whom Jesus and Reagan run neck-and-neck?

In its way, the Palin pick is right in the pocket for this crowd, as Chris in DC laid out so beautifully in his recent post.

For myself, I am wondering where went all the love for Mitt? I mean, as an official matter, he never quit the race, he merely "suspended" his campaign. And now they are still trying to figure out how to fit him in to the lineup at the convention?

Well, it would have been a whole lot less fun. Palin is the gift that keeps on giving.

McCain would have proven that he is a maverick, not a clone of Bush.

But it wouldn't be as fun.

I mean, if it wasn't for Palin, what possible reason would I have to break out Winger's Seventeen?

Remember that the Rove playbook is all about bringing out the base. That's how he wins elections. It's based on the politics of the wedge and the notion that turnout will always be low. The Palin pick SCREAMS "turd blossom's" pet strategy.

This is not that kind of election. This election will be won in the middle. McCain could have really put a dent in Obama's appeal with a Lieberman pick. Now he's such a "maverick" that you can't trust him to make a sensible decision.

Oh, sorry, just saw on MB's blog that Eagleton withdrew as VP on McGovern's ticket. I was only a wee lass at the time, or so that is how I like to remember it now...:) Might have to go study that a little bit...

Liz, I don't get what you mean about "McCain putting a dent in Obama's appeal with a Lieberman pick." I don't Lieberman is appealing to anyone anymore, is he?

Obama's big pitch is based on changing the way Washington does business. The GOP's only hope to win is to say that only THEY can offer that change. Reaching across the aisle for a VP pick would legitimize that message, and really draw independent voters to the McCain-Lieberman ticket.

But once you put the far right pander on the ticket, the independents lose interest. Which is why the McCain-Palin ticket will likely fail.

Rebulicans would have trouble trusting an ex Democrat, or whatever it is Leiberman is now. As it is they have trouble trusitng McCain after all the criticism he loobied at Republicans over the years. Which is probably why he has voted with Bush so often. Presidential ambitions. At any rate people are going to get tired of talking about Palin and concentrate on what McClain plans on doing if elected.

If McCain had selected Lieberman, he would lose. Someone else already said it, but the VP choice has to help you win.

It is indisputable that the Palin pick has fired up the base. This was step 1. It had to be done. You can't win without a base.

Now we will just have to see if she does well Wednesday night and at the VP debate. If she comes across as a younger, female version of John McCain...tough, challenging entrenched interests, things like that, then MCain has reinforced his brand. That's about all you can ask from a VP these days. McCain is still the top of the ticket.

I do think Lieberman's speech tonight was effective. Would it have been as effective if he was on the ticket? Maybe not, since he would just be somebody trying to get himself elected.

Finally, recall that Bush #1 still won with Quayle even after Dukakis was up more than ten points after his convention bounce. Long way to go...

I think you can give Peggy Noonan a run for her money, Joan. If McCain were really savvy he'd hire you as a speechwriter!

I'm with you all the way, Joan. What little respect I had for McCain evaporated with his tokenistic, pandering VP choice. What happened to the maverick I used to actually admire? He could have still picked a woman in his effort to grab the disenchanted Hillary supporters and chosen a respectable, intelligent, and experienced female. Though Democrat by registration and Libertarian by leanings, I have a lot of admiration for Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

And I'm with Rich as well. McCain may very well have to make another VP introduction speech.

I do not believe McCain will pick a replacement for Palin. It would open him up to additional ridicule that he didn't make the right choice the first time around and would be further grounds for questioning his judgement.

Great commentary Joan. Not all Democrats follow the party line. Had he chosen Joe Lieberman, I might have supported a McCain-Lieberman ticket. But then again, truth be told, these Republican 'goods' are a hard sell this election year, just because of what we the people have to face every single day. That doesn't mean I've made a decision yet though. I need to hear their debates, watch them closely, and pray about it. Yes I did say pray about it! If this country ever needed prayers instead of partisan politics, it is now. Even a post-modernist's God is a better choice than a gamble on empty promises.

Or what if he had announced: "My fellow Americans, I have selected a running mate, and his name is ROMNEY!"

Mitt Romney would then trot onto the stage on all fours, wearing a black bow tie and little red shorts. McCain would make him perform tricks like a circus animal, and the former Massachusetts governor would dazzle the crowd with his eager display of subservience.

"Behold!" McCain would bellow, triumphantly. "My vice president will do ANYTHING I command!" As the crowd cheers and cameras roll on Romney's antics, McCain would be demonstrating a reversal of the Cheney/Bush power dynamic that has proved so unpopular, as well as reaffirming his reputation as a strong leader.

Plus, you know that Romney would go along with it in a heartbeat. And it's still not too late...

Ha! I think right now I'd be more surprised to hear John McCain give a speech without overusing the phrase "My friends" than I would be to hear him declare Lieberman his new pick (though his somewhat tepid reception at the convention speaks against that ever happening).

And what he actually said was.......read all about it in "Top Gun Redux"! Don't mind me -- just pushing my own blog :-).

More seriously, I don't think Lieberman works. Turncoats, aisle-crossers and their ilk generally have a bad odor in American politics. Secondly, and especially in the case of a pol with a long record like Lieberman, Dems would have a field day turning up the opposite of virtually every position he'd be forced to take even in token obeisance to the Republican platform. It would be a sweet payback for the "I was for......before I was against" canard. This dog is drooling just thinking about the possibility.

Amen, Joan.

I think McCain's decision to move hard right has moved more voters into Obama's camp. And I wonder if Obama doesn't regret just a little bit his "post-partisan" can't we all just get along? politics of the past rhetoric that seemed to win him the primaries - in light of the fact that the Republicans don't want to play "can't we all get along and solve our problems"!

Not Joe, he just doesn't have the stones.
He would be cutting off christianist money and the campaign is bleeding cash.

If there is a Palin meltdown picking Joe would like like calling your best drinking buddy because you have need a of a wingman.

I'm tending to think there will be a meltdown and that the nod will go to Mitt.

No matter what McCain would have said the Christian Right would have revolted and caused serious damage to him. They are the largest constituency in the Republican Party. You don't get to piss them off so easily.

If there were some way around it, like not having a convention at all, then he may have gotten away with picking Lieberman and running straight to the media to validate his "maverick" choice. Maybe it wouldn't help him much in the balance of it all at election time. The Right could sit on their hands instead of mobilizing their flocks to the polls. But their power is more within the Party than out there in the electorate.

Both candidates are severely restricted in what they could do by their constituencies, their parties, tradition, media criticism, etc. It's naive to think there is any such magic bullet.

My own pet theory is that candidates should run with a named cabinet. So you have a potential Secretary of Defense out there talking national security issues, your future Secretary of the Interior addressing environmental issues, etc. All while the candidate appears above it all, including policy, spends his/her time campaigning and talking the big, symbolic themes of which elections are always about.

Hey, how clever, you may say. But try doing it and the media may just paint you as a presumptuous jerk for defying the way things have always been done and badger you until you stutter on live TV.

You can't fight the tsunami that is "that's just the way things are, Virginia." There are no brilliant moves you can make.

I agree he wanted Lieberman, and I agree that your speech would have shown true leadership. But I also agree (with McCain) that he would have lost the election had he done so. Conservatives are already lukewarm toward McCain; they wouldn't have bothered turning out at all for a McCain/Lieberman ticket.

By the same token, what if Obama had selected Chuck Hagel? I don't think the selection of Hagel would have necessarily worked for Obama, but it would have gone along with his theme of "One America, not Red America or Blue America". Perhaps such bold bi-partisanship would only workd for a Republican, but if that's the case, I wonder why?

By the same token, what if Obama had selected Chuck Hagel? I don't think the selection of Hagel would have necessarily worked for Obama, but it would have gone along with his theme of "One America, not Red America or Blue America". Perhaps such bold bi-partisanship would only work for a Republican, but if that's the case, I wonder why?

Alex, GWB (IRRC) did run the first time with the idea that Powell would be his Secretary of State. It went along way (then) to make him look more serious (though not to me).

This comment will expose my ignorance, but here goes: Was Condoleeza Rice under consideration for the position? Wouldn't she have been a choice that demonstrated McCain's willingness to bring qualified women into the White House?

I think Condi carries too much baggage of failed Bush policies. I'm not sure she could be an effective campaigner, either.

Bush - right. That makes sense. Thanks Procopius.

Ann, Condie Rice would have certainly been considered except, you know, she's ... black. Racist voters aside, she'd make pasty-face look even pastier.

And Joan, if he gave that speech, when he got to the line "...we all decry gridlock in our politics -- and then we go on demonizing those across the aisle from us..." he wouldn't be able to finish the sentence. He'd be drowned out by the cheering convention delegates.

yep, right. and then he could send whats left of the u.s. military to the west bank, right? paleeze. enough is enough. gore was fool enough to pander to that segment of the populous. read baldwin. read mailer. read something, paleeze.

Good speech Joan! It boils down to how united the fundamentalists are. Liberalism has brought a new generation to the table, and I've heard there is a new breed of fundie that doesn't buy the program, but I'll bet when push comes to shove, they'll come out in droves to smite the Sodomites. I've got my blog running, but no visitors!

Obama Experience = Dan Quayle Experience. I heard a lot of liberals trying to compare Palin's experience to Dan Quayle. They should really compare Obama's experience to Quayle. Except, Dan Quayle had been senator for 8 years when nominated as VP. Obama has only HALF the experience of Dan Quayle. Of course he did have that "community organizer" experience going for him. And he can use the word "change" in a sentence with eloquence. But he has less executive experience than Palin by far. The only thing he has managed, is his senate office. He is not qualified to be president of Starbucks.

In the unlikely event Palin is dropped from the ticket, Lieberman's probably the only one McCain could choose. It would be tantamount to McCain conceding, and could only be overcome by an even bigger Obama implosion.

I don't understand why he just didn't pick Jindal. Aside from the obvious gender difference, Jindal offers all the plusses of the Palin pick (social conservative cred, a phony show of diversity) with fewer obvious minuses--mostly in the experience department. Given that Jindal served a couple of terms in the U.S. House before becoming governor of Louisiana, it would be much harder to argue that he was unqualified to succeed to the presidency if something happened to McCain.

I disagree that the Lieberman pick would have blown the election open. It would have given us a day or so of excited comment, which would then have faded until Biden cleaned Lieberman's clock in the VP debate. By contrast, further installments of the hit soap Palin Place just keep coming!

Jindal is way too young. He's born in the 70s! '71, I believe.

I think Rove played the Veep card along pure Game Theory lines : those 2 x 2 Prisoners' Dilemma matrices can be so much fun!
If Obama picked Hillary, the fat man would have gone with someone like Jindal (though impugning Obama for intellectual arrogance might have been difficult with a Brown/Oxford Rhodes Scholar). Obama picks Biden, ergo Svengali takes the empty square with the highest payoff with Palin. QED.

k berry, I grew up in Indiana and Dan Quayle, then our senator, came to speak to my high school. Sitting near the front of the auditorium, I saw our future vice president get his famous "deer in the headlights" look when a student asked him a question about Nicaraguan policy.

That would never happen to Barack Obama. He would never flub a question like that, not the Quayle did. Experience is just one element; intellectual flexibility and the ability to learn and change and evolve are far more important. Obama has those qualities in spades, something no one has ever said about J. Danforth Quayle.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda...it's all in the crapper now, and McCain and his people have to live with it, unless in all their idiosyncratic eccentricity, they pull an Eagleton, and yank her from the ticket. I think however, that the die is cast.

Trouble is, the Christian right-wing votes. Hence, we have Palin.

Lieberman is an orthodox Jew, and Lieberman is committed to Israel. Certainly Lieberman believes the war in Iraq to be good for Israel. If the war were not good for Israel, Lieberman would be far more circumspect in supporting it. The value to the US is just not that crisp and clear, unless, say, you're an oil company.
Lieberman's religion influences him. Not that being a born again evangelical Christian would do any good, what with the second coming and all.
There are sensible reasons for ending the war, and there are sensible reasons for continuing. That kind of talk is off the table. We're all about emotion and feeling here.
Lieberman is a phony, and McCain rightly wants no part of him.

So many what ifs . . . what if the democrats had at least brought an impeachment vote to the floor of the house attempting, at the very least, to hold bush and cheney to account for their many crimes including torturing those enemy combatants Palin joked about? What if Congress had kept its duty to uphold our Constitution? Palin and her rhetoric would not exist and even Joe Lieberman might have been more moderate in his positions.

What if . . . .

Nice try, Joan, but Leiberman was never a possibilty, given the Republican base. But Palin? Now there's a no-brainer, and I mean that literally. If McCain wanted a woman, he could have chosen someone actually qualified, someone like Christie Whitman or Condi Rice. Gee, I wonder how Condi would have gone over with the base?

The Republicans screwed up a long time ago when they took in the Dixiecrats. The Dixiecrats evil spawn has now returned the favor by stealing the Republican Party, and that party is now driven by the same single-issue politics. But be not deceived. that issue is not abortion or guns or gays -- its racism, impure and definitely simple.