Who are you...

... and what have you done with F Ryan???

While I am inclined to agree with you that Lieberman would be a great (perhaps the only) cross-party VP candidate choice, James did have some valid points in his post on this topic... and Joe addresses none of them.

He's definitely NOT Southern.

He's not "conservative" enough for the GOP base... they'd see it as another McCain sell-out to the "left".

He'd appeal to moderates, but probably not too many Dems would cross to vote for him. He is known for supporting "Bush" more than for supporting "conservative" ideals (with the exception of his pro-life views).

I am still of the opinion that McCain and whoever his running mate is MUST run a campaign as independent of Bush as possible. Put as many miles as you can between the "new" GOP candidate and the last... it leaves too much to chance otherwise.

A campaign selling strong defense and individual freedom as its core planks will appeal to moderates and conservatives alike, and doesn't need to be "dressed up" with bi-partisan ticket promises. Here's why I think that is very true...

Remember Dukakis? His very liberal positions went up against the Reagan-Bush agenda of "popular conservatism" and lost epically. Yet he won a greater percentage of the popular vote than Bush did in '92 (who also lost, in case any of you weren't paying attention...) because Clinton focused on a "centrist" or "moderate" platform to appeal to the broadest section of his base that he could. There was nothing radical or "leftist" in what Clinton was spouting... he just did a great job beating up Bush Sr. (and Reagan, by the way) for mistakes made since 1981... real or otherwise. So, when Bush Sr decided to take his support among the moderate GOP voters for granted and tried to appeal to Dems with his reasoning for the "new taxes" he promised he wouldn't enact (budget reduction, more programs, etc.)... it backfired and he became (arguably) the first successfull war-time President to lose a re-election bid.

McCain is going up against a VERY liberal opponent... regardless of who it is. When there is that much seperation between candidates, history shows us that you have to stick to core issues and do whatever it takes to bank on the most enthusiastic support of the base as possible. The more popular the McCain-? ticket is with the majority of GOP votes, the more popular it will be to moderates and conservative Dems like myself.

Please, do not take this to mean that I think a bi-partisan Cabinet is a bad thing... I do NOT think that. McCain could offer Joe (or any one of a dozen other "Blue Dogs") a rock-solid cabinet position (wouldn't a Dem in the SoS chair make sense in todays international arena?)... but the VP MUST be a conservative, or he risks pissing off the base even more than they are now.

No, my friend... the questions isn't "Should it be a Blue Dog?" The question is "Should it be a woman or another executive?" Kay Bailey Hutchison or Haley Barbour? That Sarah Whosit (from Alaska) or Michael Steel (black former Lt Gov of MD)? ALL are rock-solid conservatives, and none are questionable in their positions.