Please, please, please, please let McCain pick Holy Joe! It is a trainwreck waiting to happen. Right now, John McCain has managed to be fairly successful in his campaign--he's got the neocons locked down, always has. He's got the moneycons on board, largely because he sold his soul to get the nomination. He's got moderate Republicans because of his attacks on Obama in the past few weeks. The one group which seems uncomfortable with McCain, regardless of how much he panders to them, regardless of everything, is the social conservative contingent. They're not voting for Obama, most likely, but they sense (correctly) that John McCain really doesn't care too much about their issues and doesn't really respect them much. He'll offer them a loveless marriage for 4-8 years, but after getting their guy the last two times and having their true love in this race (Mike Huckabee) gunned down by the National Review/Club for Growth axis, they're probably not so happy. Jim Dobson famously said he wasn't helping McCain this election cycle.
So...if McCain picks a pro-choice, generally-liberal-except-on-Iraq senator not of his party he actually risks the most damage than if he were to pick an economic moderate/populist like Huckabee or a more dovish realist choice like, I don't know, Tom Ridge. Those other factions are seemingly very comfortable with McCain these days. On the other hand, sociocons are already alienated, and a pro-choice veep choice might very well trigger a convention walkout. Suddenly there'd be stories about the great Republican collapse. While liberal bloggers might go ballistic about Lieberman being McCain's running mate (though I imagine the reaction would be more along the lines of "I knew it" at this point) and while it might continue the myth of McCain's centrism and bipartisanship--which has been largely untrue for at least four years--the GOP convention would be the most contentious since 1964. I don't think it's understatement to say that such a decision could split the GOP, with the sociocons bolting the party altogether. This is the sort of stuff that partisan Dems like me pray for.
So, do I think McCain would do it? No, he won't. These stories have been too prevalent for them to be complete fabrication by McCain's camp, but McCain has sold his soul for this presidential bid, and he's not stupid enough to let this derail his entitlement. It doesn't seem to bother him that he's turned into a hack. John McCain's greatest personality flaw is becoming more manifest as this campaign goes on: he can rationalize literally anything. This is what comes from being adored for so long that you begin to believe that your shit doesn't stink, and that makes him a very, very dangerous man. He's got to be smart enough to realize VP Joe isn't going to work, and even on his own merits Lieberman's a bad choice: I don't recall him being able to speak about the economy, I do recall him being a terrible debater. It's gimmicky, and if McCain's legendary stubbornness leads him to this choice he will deserve everything that happens to him (as though he doesn't already!).
Then again, some of this stuff makes you wonder...Karl Rove knows how to keep the GOP base together, if nothing else.
