McCain's Veep

As I mentioned briefly earlier this morning, I would have very little problem with John McCain selecting someone like Rudy Guiliani or even Joe Lieberman as his VP candidate. If the election was a lock, if McCain was up by fifteen points in every poll and somehow had California, New York, and Texas assured, than by all means, pick a Bobby Jindal or Fred Thompson, get them out there, pave the way for the next election.

But the way November is shaping up, McCain is going to have to do everything he can in order to keep the White House in Republican hands, and if that means bringing someone on board who can shore up support among independents, centrists, and even some on the left, then he's gotta do what he's gotta do.

Lieberman has been bandied about recently as a possible Veep pick, and despite his liberal stances on many issues, he is certainly someone that many on the left, and in the middle, respect. In the eight years since he lost as Al Gore's VP, Lieberman, perhaps more so than any other Democrat out there (maybe Zell Miller beats him), Lieberman has shown that he is willing to stand up for his beliefs and to say what he thinks, rather than what the opinion polls tell him to do. For the most part, despite the left's constant claims of a Cheney-run White House, the VP still has little actual power or influence, and if bringing a centrist on board is what it is going to take to keep Obama out of the White House, than I can live with that. I'm already going to holding my nose when I pull the lever for McCain, and I can't really pinch it any tighter.