Lieberman Would Name McCain Defense Secretary

[Carmerian]

Story here.


"McCain heard the exchange on his car radio and laughed.

"Sen. McCain appreciates his good friend's tongue-in-cheek offer, but he plans to continue to serve the people of Arizona in the U.S. Senate, working with President Bush in the White House,'' said spokesman Marshall Wittmann. "


EDIT : Here's the same story at Google

[leesa]

1. Figures.

McCain is a traitor.

[Cha]

8. I agree with what you say!

[Blitz]

21. McCain is a traitor???

How do you figure? Please, explain that statement.

[alwynsw]

46. John McCain is anything but a traitor

I've known John McCain since 1974. While I do not agree with his political positions except in rare instances, I can assure you that he is anything but a traitor.

[Hokie]

2. Just one more reason

Just one more reason not to vote for Holy Joe. McCain is a Bush ass-kisser. How could Gore have ever picked Holy Joe as a running mate? This proves that candidates should pick their VP nominees very early so they can be properly vetted.

[Cha]

7. Exactly!

"Vetted"! And then changed if they don't cut the mustard.

[trogdor]

47. Bingo!

I am hoping that the top four candidates (the ones who might win) are thinking at least this far ahead.

First of all, I would say it's likely that the convention might actually be a real nominating convention as opposed to a PR event, where you have two or three finalists who don't quite have a majority of the delegates duking it out. What happens if we go into the convention with a delegate breakdown something like this (excuse my bias)?

Howard Dean: 29%
Dick Gephardt: 27%
Wesley Clark: 25%
Others: 19%

This would be a potential 'perfect storm' disaster. Does the good doctor get the nomination without a challenge, or some coalition-building go on to get somebody over the top? I'm not so sure about party rules.

[robcon]

3. It's too bad.

Joe is our best candidate, and McCain would be a plus.

[pinkpops]

5. I agree with everything you said

except the part about Joe.

[0007]

18. Gee, I hope your not serious?

I have more respect John McCain.

Thank you kindly for your solicitude!

[Carmerian]

4. While I don't like Lieberman

I do like McCain. He has a lot of views I consider wrong, but I do respect him for his integrity. Our world would be a better place if there were more people like him in both parties.

[October]

34. You like McCain?

He is vehemently anti-union.

[Carmerian]

39. Eh...

"He is vehemently anti-union"

That would fall under "views I consider wrong". When I say I like the man, that's just what I mean. He seems to be a nice enough guy and is known as a straight-shooter.

Just because the majority of Republicans these days are psychotic loons, don't assume that they all are. Those last sane Repubs are the same people we're going to have to ally with to fight the nutjobs over issues like BBV.

[trogdor]

48. McCain is one of the smarter ones.

Some of his views would still horrify most of us here, but I think he's very qualified to be the Secretary of Defense. Only problem is, he's one of the only remaining voices of reason in the GOP, and he's fairly high up in the food chain; do we pull him from the Senate only to get yet another cookie-cutter wingnut taking his place?

[goobergunch]

53. Actually, we'd get a Democrat

because the Governor of Arizona is a Dem.

:evilgrin:

[Cha]

6. WHY am I not surprised?

lieberman is such a putz.

[dArKeR]

45. Putz? Loser! He lacks any substance so he has to draw in other

personalities to try to make himself look good! This is a failed campaign! It has nothing to do with race or religion it has to do with character, speaking ability, passion, positions.

I really don't respect him for being a team democratic player. He did so poorly in the VP debate how could he ever think he'd do any better in the Pres. debate? He's too selfish for me.

[David__77]

9. Warmonger central...

These guys deserve eachother. Just earlier today, I was thinking of being a bit conciliatory toward Lieberman, but this just proves how foul his views are.

[sweetladybug]

13. You know I wish people would just get off of Lieberman

If he gets the nomination I will vote for him. I understand why Gore chose him as a running mate. The Democrat Party consists of people with alot of different points of view and Lieberman especially represents a lot of folks who are in the middle as far as religious beliefs goes although he is very liberal on alot of issues (check his voting record)and he tries hard to work with other Senators both Democrat and Republicans. Everyone needs to get off Lieberman ass and if he gets the nomination we need to stand by him.
He is not my 1st choice for President, but he sure as hell would be a better President than the appointed one sitting in the white house now. Democrats need to stop bitching about other Democrats and start bitching about all of the things Bush is doing to our country to destroy it and keep Bush on the defense instead of keeping other Democrats on the defense.

[ibegurpard]

14. Well, it would help if Democrats didn't defect to help Republicans

win political victories, a la the late-term abortion bill a few days ago. Why the hell would I support a candidate for president who flat-out says he'll appoint a Republican as defense secretary.

[dax]

20. how about his stance on BANKS,INSURANCE, and THE WALL??

Lieberman is the WORST of the litter-he backed the banks and credit card companies so people cannot write off debt in bankruptcies (Like Bush can sell his stock and make millions before each business went bankrupt but if I wipe out everything I have to deal with say, CANCER, I will still have to pay off my credit cards as soon as I get on my feet). Lieberman thinks the wholesale THEFT of land from Palestinians is ok-the WALL just prevents families from reaching their land and sole source of food that they have relied on for 150 years, not to mention the bulldozing of homes and olive groves,and Lienberman will defend the rights of big Pharma and private insurance companies with his last breath, and is soft on accounting oversight to prevent the kind of looting ENRON exposed, also backing tort reform, a BUSH pet project to make sure that when say TEXACO dumps PCBs in your neighborhood and you have three children in a row with tumors and or leukemia, you can only get maybe 25,000 per child and their treatment will far exceed that. I learned about that here in Oregon-they capped insurance payouts to $25,000 for family crashes. 3 teenagers get in an accident. the brother of the driver is a quadraplegic who needs oxygen and an attendant. His mom is trying to cope having received only $25,000 from the MILLION dollar policy she had on a Postal workers salary. They have lost damn near everything but the insurance business has never bothered to CUT their rates, they just have EXHORBITANT profits which only go up while our wages, as usual are going down. Lieberman is NO FRIEND of working families that you can BANK ON.

[PassingFair]

35. Jeez, Dax

Tell us how you really feel! Good post, good points, but you left out his bizarre championing of "faith-basted" initiatives. Lieberman O'God is no friend of church/state separation, either.

[mmm]

58. Jolly Good Post!

You sure got Holy Joe LIEberman's number

[Voltaire99]

43. See Joe. See Joe run. See Joe help the Republicans.

Well, I see your point, Gayle. Joe's a "Democrat," so he has to be better than a "Republican."

It's not much of a point, though. What, after all, is a "Democrat," Gayle? If that "Democrat" votes consistently with the right wing, does that not somehow register with you? Can you look past party labels, and weigh substance?

Lieberman's shameful record of warmongering, corporate deregulation (he's one of the Enron Democrats who helped bring about that fiasco by blocking accounting reforms in the earl 90s), threatening the entertainment industry, and promoting religion in public schools are all reasons why I will never vote for him.

And why you shouldn't, either.

[trogdor]

49. CLIPPING!

Illegal use of the term "Democrat Party". Ten yard penalty.

[ursacorwin]

56. snarf

"warmonger central"

[The Zanti Regent]

10. Shut up and GO AWAY, LOONEYMAN!

just for once, I wish this worthless fraud would shut up and go away!

[Carmerian]

11. Is this some sort of DLC schtick?

Now that I think about it, Clinton had a Republican as his defense secretary as well, that being William Cohen. The Republicans don't seem to reciprocate when they're in power, though, do they?

[PATRICK]

19. Kennedy too

I think it's time to abandon that "bi-partisan" model as there are not enough non-nut GOP quality guys to be worth the bother. Someone sympathetic to the real military(unlike Rumsfeld) is the current antidote whether conservative or not. As Daschle and Bayh how much capital they got from trying to forge a coalition in the middle with moderate Republicans.

And McCain is no moderate, integrity or not. McClintock seemed to have integrity too, but his victory would also have been a horror show.

[tlb]

41. CIA Director Tenet is a democrat

appointed by President Clinton and retained in office.

[carpetbagger]

12. That's one way to pick up a Senate seat.

Think about it.

[0rganism]

15. Exactly what I first thought, too

Lieberman may be a butthole, but he knows how to plan for the long haul. By proposing that he'd nominate McCain, he's (1)showing a bipartisan outlook, (2)gaining some moderate/indy support, and (3)compensating for the Senate deficit. Sharp guy.

McCain knows it, as well. He's not playing along, tho. I doubt he much likes being Lieberman's tool, but it's easy enough to brush a long shot like that aside for the moment.

[salin]

28. but of course while this might be a decent general election

strategy, it is a darn foolish one during the primary. He is already mistrusted for 10 years + of stands that have favored corporate interests over citizen interests (his stand on several issues in the early Clinton years prevented reforms that would have averted some of the Enron-esque shennanigans and implosions 10 years later.) He didn't please many of those who voted for him with rhetoric that was vey critical of the Gore campaign. His big lead (both in polls - mostly due to name recognition, and in raising money) has been disapated - he has been unable to gain momentum - in part due to the sense by many within the party that on numerous issues - now foreign relations as well as economic, that he is veers over the center to the right. Be it true or not, this is a common perception. In that sense, making an announcement that panders to that concern weakens his primary candidacy (what one has to do before the general election) rather than strengthens it.

[tsipple]

16. We're All Missing the Real Reason

Lieberman is trying to find a way to get some votes in Arizona. That's the whole reason for the "McCain's my Secretary of Defense" line.

And it's smart politics. Especially because the Democratic Arizona Governor gets to name his replacement. :-)

Don't think it'll work for Senator Lieberman in Arizona, but it was worth a shot.

[Flying_Pig]

25. It won't work in AZ. A number of key players there have recently

withdrawn their support of Lieberman, and given it to Kerry, Clark, or Dean. Once Clark kicks in big there, which he will, Joe is toast in AZ, and he knows it. I expect the three top runners in AZ at voting time, will be (in decending order) Kerry, Clark, Lieberman, and Dean.

As far as McCain goes, he is very controversial in AZ. There are lots of conservatives in AZ, and they can't stand McCain, and the Dems he's pulled along in past elections, are going to abandon him next time because of his support for the war. McCain is going to have a tough re-election campaign, and there's a good chance he can be unseated. I am a member of the Arizona Democratic Writers Guild, and we are going to work extra hard to see McCain loses his seat. He probably *will* need a job when we ge through with him ....

[tsipple]

30. That's REALLY Going Out on a Limb

Dean is currently leading in the latest Arizona poll by 8 points, right? A fourth place finish would be pretty amazing under those circumstances.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. Heard it on Imus this morning.

But he drew the line at asking him to be his VP!:eyes:


On edit: His offer of SOD was totally serious. If he claims it was a joke, he's flat out lying.

[Code_Name_D]

22. Well, on the plus side, he took my advice. (;0_0) Bad exicution however.

Name your cabnate on the campain trail, and use them to help push the campain. Plus, your pre-named canadate (if chosen wisly) will be a far more knowlagble voice in their feild. It will also take out another "known-unkown" out of a canadate.

But you need to at least ask the guy, before you apoint them, maybe? Huh? Ya think? What a puts. :eyes:

[RaRa]

23. I'm sorry to say this but

why in hell does this dude think this is the time for him? While his position on Iraq completely disqualifies him as a deserved candidate, it's the simple, if unfair fact that he is an orthodox Jew. I've discussed this with a dear Israeli friend, and we both think that in light of world events the LAST thing this country needs (except for a second * term) is a Jewish person in the White House. I mean this with complete practicality. The world, and especially the Muslim world already hates and distrusts us as it is. This would be too negatively symbolic. I just wish he and the other candidates (like Braun, Sharpton and Kucinich - all whom I really like for various reasons) who aren't realistic contenders this time around would just drop out and endorse someone.

[JackSwift]

24. It is traditional to name at least one

opposing party member to a cabinet post. Cohen was Clinton's defense secretary. Minetta is Bush's transportation secretary. Frankly, the Republicans have been getting prime posts and democrats minor posts (like transportation). The Republicans should not be offered something as important as Defense again until the Republicans reciprocate with State, Defense or AG. This is just another example of how Lieberman thinks all important posts should be filled by right wingers. As cordial and collegiate as McCain is, he is a right wing Republican.

[goobergunch]

55. Why don't we tap McCain for Veterans' Affairs?

:evilgrin:

[RichV]

26. William Cohen is a Republican

and Clinton chose him for Sec Def. Is this worse?

[salin]

31. Cohen was a very centrist (relatively liberal) republican

ala Chafe, and Snow. In todays' climate he would be perceived to be more liberal than several sitting democratic senators.

McCain while having integrity and at times playing the role of a Maverick on issues of defense plays the hawk (not quite neocon but very conservative) role quite consistently. The difference - with regards to Defense policy - is not a matter of degrees it is a completely different location on the map.

Interestingly enough, several 1980s era republicans in the Senate were perceived to be as liberal or more liberal than democratic Senator Joe Lieberman when he first won his senate seat over more liberal republican Senator Lowell Wieker. I was more familiar with Wieker and Rudman at the time, but I believe that Cohen fell into this same camp. (worth noting, the only race in my life where I have ever rooted for the republican over the democrat was in the Wieker/Lieberman race.)

[FrenchieCat]

38. Cohen was chosen as Dec of Def. by Clinton

Only because Clinton was called a "Draft Dodger" as the opposing sides' campaign battle cry and it one of the strategies Clinton used to reassure the Republicans.....and the Clinton national defense doubters.

[quaker bill]

27. It would have been appropriate

for him to check with McCain first. Perhaps, he would have looked less like a desperate idiot.

The man is toast.

[goforit]

29. Throw-up time!!!

:puke:

[salin]

32. Confident Joe - already pandering to swing independent voters

(non-democrats) before he has the nomination. This sort of talk plays much better to the general voting population than it does within the party.

[October]

33. Oh man, I hate both these guys!

:nuke:


Surrounded by traitors!

Man, I have not been right since 2000. Every day since that theft of an election I wake up to news that makes my jaw drop. Every damn day. When will it stop?

Where's Gerald Ford? I need someone to tell me that at long last our national nightmare is over...


:nuke:

[PassingFair]

36. You and me both, October...

I don't know who originally said it (probably Dorothy Parker), but I wake up to the radio every morning thinking "What fresh HELL is this?"

[October]

50. I check the DU Board every morning

Never before coffee though...


:donut:

[Solly Mack]

37. and this inspires me how exactly?

oh well..that's nice, Joe.

ho-hum...

[DrBB]

40. Lieberman is one of our finest Republicans

I'm not sure why he pretends to be a Democrat. He's not very good at it.

[thebigidea]

42. This is a tremendous idea!

I can't believe all the naysayers on this thread... that bright young man has come up with an incredible tactic...

just think of the possibilities...

Paul Wolfowitz as Secretary of State.... William Bennett for AG... Lynne Cheney in some capacity as Patriotism Czar...

this spirit of bold bipartisanship will reap VAST dividends.

Think of the appeal to the swing voters, to the Alan Colmes contingent...

I'm telling you, Joe better pack his bags... for the WHITE HOUSE!

Its thinking like this that will make him President some day!

[Voltaire99]

44. Gingrich likes Lieberman, too!

On Faux tonight, Hannity was plumbing the depths of Newt's mind (wotta thought!) as Newt frothed away about the "leftwing" and "unilateral disarmament" positions of the Democratic nominees, who were being mocked as "The Naive Nine."

Except for Lieberman, whom Newt singled out for praise. Lieberman, he said approvingly, isn't at all like those awful others!

We can read between the lines without much difficulty. Lieberman is the establishment's ace-in-the-hole - their fallback if Bush should botch things so badly that he becomes unelectable...

Watch for more efforts to paint Joe as the only decent, upstanding Democrat, the only one who can, ha ha, unite the party (i.e., prove palatable to plutocrats).

My guess is that Bush would wallop Lieberman in a Reagan-sized landslide, with progressives sitting out the election (or voting Green) and even many moderate Dems finding little reason to bother with such a Tweedle Dum - Tweedle Dee choice.

[Cat Atomic]

51. Who's his choice for VP? Sean Hannity?

:P

[Zgrrl]

52. stick a fork in joe...

While I appreciate the sacrifice that Senator McCain made for this country, I am...what's the word...EXASPERATED that Holy Joe's latest tactic to win votes is by pandering to Republicans. The posters here who claim this will not work are 100% correct, exactly for the reasons stated. This is the PRIMARIES, Joe, you're supposed to be reaching out to the BASE. My wingnut neighbor, who consistently votes Republican because he has more weapons in his home than have probably been discovered in Iraq, LOOOOOOOOOVES John McCain. But he is not going to be voting in the Dem primaries, not even strategically. He doesn't think that way. My state is probably going to go for Dean, maybe for Kerry or Clark, and I'm predicting Kucinich will do quite well here. Lieberman is not even going to be in the top 4.

Joe, I tire of you. Be gone!:eyes:

[SOS]

54. Before Joe fills his cabinet

he should note the polls which put him in single digits.
His Chicago meet-up only has three members.
He also might want to check with his future War Secretary before offering the job. From the article:
"McCain heard the exchange on his car radio and laughed."

[revcarol]

57. McCain: the defense contractor's wet dream!!

FOR every weapon money can buy, especially those we don't NEED now that the Cold War is over.

Lieberman, you wouldn't get my vote now if you were the only one on the ticket!!
(P. S. I will work my butt off to get a progressive as Congressman/woman!!)