No Joementum among Republicans

When Al Gore picked Joe Lieberman as his running mate eight years ago, many Republicans said he was their favorite Democrat. But that doesn’t mean they want him to be the Republican vice presidential nominee.

The Politico’s report that Lieberman, or fellow pro-choice politician Tom Ridge, was apparently being seriously considered as John McCain’s vice presidential pick was not welcomed by conservatives yesterday. “You will not have a unanimous vote at the convention, that much I can tell you,” said one unnamed Republican.

And there’s more on the McCain-Lieberman front…

• The Washington Times reports that state GOP officials are already plotting how to reject a Lieberman pick.
• Rush Limbaugh offers an emphatic “NO” to the idea.
• The National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez feels similarly.
• Jim Geraghty of the same publication also agrees, adding that Lieberman won’t win Connecticut for McCain.
• Jewish conservative John Podhoretz makes the case in Commentary magazine for Lieberman as McCain’s pick – foreign policy strength and both could pledge to fight the “corrupt political culture.” But he says Lieberman would have to pledge not to seek the presidency in order to mollify political conservatives.
• Byron York of National Review writes that McCain would like to pick a “friend” like Lieberman and the campaign believes it would give him back his “maverick” image – but he’s still struggling with the decision.
• And Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard has a similar take, writing that if McCain was making the decision without regard to policy or politics, it would be Joe – but that in the end, he’ll pick Pawlenty.
• Liberal blogger Jane Hamsher of The Huffington Post believes McCain will choose Lieberman and announce it next Friday, because the media will love it and it will steal Obama’s thunder after his convention speech.
• Time magazine political guru Mark Halperin said a choice of any “pro-choice” VP would be a “disaster” for McCain.

Signs do point this morning to Lieberman being vetted, according to Politico. And he’s also now on the Republican convention speaking agenda, although no specifics on when. And the Connecticut senator is following in the footsteps of another rumored VP nominee, Joe Biden, by heading to Georgia this week.