Bob Collins
This has already been an election season of intrigue, but a setting this morning in Boston is the poster child for just how strange politics is in 2008. John McCain was giving a speech, and standing behind McCain at Faneuil Hall, was Sen. Joe Lieberman.
Consider this: It was just a little over 7 years ago that Lieberman stood behind VP Al Gore on a riverboat on the Mississippi River in southeast Minnesota, to kick off their campaign for the White House. Lieberman and Gore had locked up the Democratic nomination the night before in Los Angeles at the Democratic National Convention.
Lieberman has gone from VP candidate on the Democratic ticket to former-Democrat-in-chief of the McCain campaign on the Republican side in a breathtakingly short period of time. Lieberman is an independent now; a distinction driven more by political expediency than by philosophy. Connecticut Democrats turned him out in a primary election because of his support for the war in Iraq.
Some have guessed that Lieberman could end up on the Republican ticket. Over the weekend, The Rocky Mountain News reports today, McCain did nothing to diminish the speculation. “I say that after next Tuesday, if we win, there would be that consideration… I would be honored to serve by his side in any capacity,” he said.
Lieberman, on the other hand, seemed dismissive of the talk, standard protocol for most would-be VP candidates.
