I thought about my earlier post where I said this site should just refer to Lieberman (R) and forget about all the angst. I was wrong.
The guy has a role to play in the government of the United States. The Democrats should "kick him upstairs" and make him the running mate of the next Democrat President in 2008.
Lieberman has just been re-elected to another six years in the Senate. The next two will be hard for Democrats in terms of getting him to vote with them, as the wounded bulls of the GOP won't have lost all their power.
However, if the polls in '08 point to a Democrat Presidency, and the prospect of cementing the tight margins they will be operating on over the next two years, Lieberman would be a fool to throw in his lot with the GOP. While many Kossacks may struggle to think of anyone less honest or more broke, he will play the role of honest broker to the hilt.
A Democrat President will, of course, offer sweeping change. But for all the appeal of a far-reaching transformative agenda among the true believers, there are folks out there who fear change. Those folks will live in swing districts and be vulnerable to GOP scare campaigns - they voted for Bush II twice, and they'll keep voting for his successors until Democrats get the message. An honest broker is just what they need to consider voting Democrat. Putting Lieberman on the ticket would be the voice of moderation that the Democrats need to win back the centre.
This makes Lieberman a kind of kingmaker within the Democrats. But he has seen off a challenge, and he'll see off as many Democrat ideas as he chooses to, until Democrats realise that he's not a man to be trifled with.
In a Senate with 55-56 Democrats, as may be the case after 2008, Lieberman would go from the centre of attention to outcast in a flash. No rooster wants to be a feather duster. He'd be glad to take a national role, going on about values in Hollywood films and civility and getting things done while the Presidential candidate talks the big talk. In other words, he'd do exactly what you'd hope a Vice President would do. Plus, as Vice President he wouldn't get in the way of the business of the Senate. He could be compared with Lyndon Johnson in that regard, missing the hurly-burly but busy with a broader agenda.
He'd never make President - the piping voice, the lobbyist wife, the Washington-insider status, even the religion - all would work against him if he overreached himself. Still, he won't go away.
This would probably exclude Hillary Clinton as Democrat candidate in 2008. A New York-Connecticut ticket probably wouldn't be considered representative of the US at any point since the Louisiana Purchase. People just don't believe that Hillary's radicalism is fully under wraps, even with the moderating influence of The Honest Broker. Oh well.
Obama, Edwards, Schweitzer, Pelosi - anyone else would be fine as Presidential candidate and fine with Lieberman. Whether Democrats would embrace him - even while holding their noses - says a lot about the party and how serious it is to do what it takes to win (and shunt a potential troublemaker into a job that need cause nobody any trouble).