Kristol: Lieberman Would Be a Good Choice for VP

( I have been saying for a long time that Joe Lieberman’s help in selling American Enterprise Institutes “New Way Forward” at the time of the surge was going to buy him a vice presidential nomination… with the republicans and John McCain. According to Think Progress’ Matt and AEI’s Bill Kristol, it looks like that may very well be the case.)

from Think Progress, here.

On Sunday night, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) gave the Norman Podhoretz Lecture at the annual dinner of the Commentary Fund, in which he claimed that the “Democratic party has completely lost its way on foreign policy.” The speech – and an “adapted” version of it published in the Wall Street Journal today – was enthusiastically received by conservatives across the board.

Conservatives were so pleased with Lieberman’s broadside against his former colleagues that they are now reviving talk of him as vice presidential choice for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

In an editorial yesterday, the New York Sun concluded from the Commentary speech that Lieberman “would be a fabulous running mate for Mr. McCain.” On Fox And Friends this morning, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol concurred with the Sun, saying that “after seeing Joe Lieberman’s speech Sunday night,” he really wonders whether McCain will pick him.

This isn’t the first time that a Lieberman speech attacking liberals has inspired Kristol to suggest him for vice president.

In Nov. 2007, after Lieberman lashed outat “left-wing blogs,” Kristol penned a Weekly Standard editorial declaring that the eventual Republican nominee should “offer him the vice presidency.” Former Bush adviser Peter Wehner quickly endorsedKristol’s thinking on the National Review’s blog, calling it “an intriguing idea” that would “scramble the political chessboard.”

In January, McCain appeared open to the idea of picking Lieberman, telling the Wall Street Journal that “he’d be a great partner in any endeavor.”