Joe Lieberman

So Joe Lieberman endorsed John McCain for President. What to make of this?

Occam's razor probably would suggest that Lieberman is endorsing John McCain simply because he believes that McCain is the best man for the job. However, in American politics things never seem to be that simple.

Here's how I see the situation.

Back in 2000 Lieberman was tabbed to be the running mate for Al Gore but in order to be added to the ticket - Lieberman had to denounce his support of school vouchers. Prior to that - Lieberman was a champion of school choice. For his shot at glory - Gore and the Democrat Party made him kowtow to the teachers unions and forswear one of his core beliefs. Then Bill and Hillary Clinton sat on their hands (or Al Gore kept them from helping out) and Lieberman sees his chances at victory slip away by the slimmest of margins.

Lucky for Lieberman that he hedged his bet by not only running for VP in 2000 but also running to keep his Senate seat.

Then came 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq. Lieberman had and has a clear vision of who the enemy is and his support of the military actions cost him any chance of getting the Democratic nomination in 2004. By then the anti-war far left had usurped the party of JFK and Harry Truman. Then far left came after Lieberman in his re-election bid in 2006. They came after him in a big way.

Lieberman was a three-term Senator but yet many of the party higher ups joined the netroots crowd to try and oust Lieberman. That had to hurt. Lucky for Lieberman that he hedged his bet and was able to get re-elected as an Independent. Also lucky for Lieberman that as an Independent he held the balance of power in the Senate in his grasp.

It has to be understood that Lieberman's support of the war in Iraq coupled with his refusal to just lie down and accept defeat in 2004 (even though it would have meant the state of Connecticut "settling" for and inferior choice of representative) has led to what could be termed Lieberman Derangement Syndrome (related to the more virulent Bush Derangement Syndrome). And now he endorses a Republican for President? You can almost hear the Queen of Hearts calls of "Off with his head" from the LDS left (and no I don't mean Democratic Mormons).

Lieberman is 65-years old and as an Orthodox Jew - his support of Israel is unshakable. It could be that Lieberman has reached a point in his life where he's just said "screw it - I'm not playing games any more". He supports Israel, he supports the troops in Iraq but he's liberal on most domestic issues. John McCain is not only the candidate that most closely matches up with Lieberman's beliefs but McCain is also a friend who was loyal to Lieberman in his struggles in the 2006 election. It makes perfect sense.

Now of course I'm not saying that at 65 Lieberman is ready to hang it up but I will say that he's savvy enough to know that the 2008 election will be closer than people think. If a Republican wins - Lieberman could be up for a Cabinet level post in order for the incoming President to look bipartisan. If a Democrat wins - Lieberman could be up for a Cabinet level post in order to get his seat in the Senate to a "real" Democrat.

Either way - look for Joe Lieberman to become an even bigger target of venom from the left. He has basically replaced Donald Rumsfeld in the left's axis of evil (behind Bush and Cheney).