Oh Please Oh Please Oh Please…

I don’t believe that McCain will be running for President after Labor Day. I’ve been revisited by a diabolical vision of horror: Petraeus/Lieberman ’08. Right out of left field. Shock-doctrine politics. Brilliant Labor Day theater. Perfectly complements the “anniversary” of 9/11 that arrives shortly after the GOP convention ends. Able to mesmerize the “moderate undecided voter” who depends on TV for all political information. Temporarily drowns out all Republican negatives in a hurricane of novelty and media man-love. Enables some “moderate” voters to give war another chance as long as we can have a nice, strong General at the helm. Takes Democrats 2 months to figure out what the hell happened. Can be billed as a “bipartisan unity ticket.” Scares the hell out of me.Someone please convince me of why such a strategy wouldn’t work for Republicans, and how Obama could beat it back. I can’t think of any that are too compelling.

I will take that challenge StuporMundi.OK, so the thought that they may not nominate McCain is ludicrous. Here is why. One thing the Republicans do very well is stay with who they choose no matter what. Why do you think there is still a hardline 25% of Republicans who think Bush is still awesome. Mean while only 18% think the country is going the right way…25%! That’s the a quarter of the population who is basically saying…”whoooo hooo America FUCK YEAH!”So I don’t think we are going to see some crazy political move like nominating Patreus. If they did, the Dems would come together even harder under Obama. One thing is for sure Americans are finally waking up and taking notice of the BS. Look at the anthrax scandal. People are actually saying the govt’s story is BS. That is a big switch from a couple of years ago’s mentality.If by some remote chance Obama was faced with a surprise Patrues ticket, I don’t think he would have a hard time tying that giant albatross of Iraq around Patreus either. Just put him up as Bush’s boy, and a boot licker…and they are done.

I’m pretty sure it’d be illegal, if nothing else. I’m not an expert, but as I understand it, he’d have to announce his retirement before the Republican convention in order to be eligible at any point in September, as generals retire on the first of each month. So unless he wanted to disrupt the whole convention, he’d have to wait until October. That’d give him a month to campaign. I think we could handle that one.–d

How do you feel about either Sen. Leahy (Vermont) or Senator Levin (Michigan) as VP? I don’t know, I just trust them like I trust Obama. Both are younger than McCain I think.

McCain could pull out for health reason. I was half expecting it when he had the biopsy done recently. I think more than a few Republicans would be relieved. Don’t think Petraeus will be the one to step up, though. Possibly Romney and his magic underwear… And it won’t be Lieberman – his voting record isn’t far enough to the right. He’s rated 100% by NARAL, 86% by the NAACP, and 0% by the Christian Coalition.http://www.ontheissues.org/Joseph_Lieberman.htm

Thanks kid, dan, and oti for considering my scenario. I don’t mean to imply that I think it would make a GOP victory a fait accompli (sp), but it would be a huge game changer. McCain will lose if he is the candidate. None of the usual Republican suspects will do because none of them has appeal across all three “legs of the stool”. Petraeus wouldn’t “step up” — he’d be drafted.Kid, Obama’s base will do whatever it’s going to do regardless of the GOP nominee. It’s that “moderate undecided voter” support that is soft. Petraeus brings one huge advantage, which is already a meme in this election: he’s passed the “CIC threshold”. Also, the war isn’t Petraeus’ albatross, it’s McCain’s and Bush’s. Petraeus can run, like Nixon did in ’68, as the man with the “secret plan” for ending the war.Yes, dan, it would disrupt the convention, which would be one of the major benefits of the move: it would make the thing interesting and dramatic for people who get most of their political info from TV, especially those “moderate undecided” voters. Also, the legal technicalities of the General’s resignation would be simple for an administration that scammed us into an illegal war and has gutted our 4th Amendment protections. I’ve worked in government for almost 20 years; there is always a way to waive a procedural requirement, or petition for an exception. The President could likely issue an Executive Order to grant the retirement out of cycle.OTI: I understand what you’re saying about Lieberman, but his presence would appeal to the corporate media who like the “bipartisan” meme.I’ve written about this more at my blog, and particularly at:http://fifty50blog.blogspot.com/2008/08/revisiting-petraeuslieberman-08.htmlCheck it out if you like. I’ve got nothing to sell, no Paypal links, etc. But I’d like to see this scenario discussed in the public domain… just because….