Rove Versus Lieberman: Rove Tried To Kill Lieberman As VP Pick

Politico reports that Karl Rove tried to pressure Joe Lieberman into withdrawing his name from consideration as John McCain's running mate:

Republican strategist Karl Rove called Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) late last week and urged him to contact Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to withdraw his name from vice presidential consideration, according to three sources familiar with the conversation.

Lieberman dismissed the request, these sources agreed.

Lieberman "laughed at the suggestion and certainly did not call [McCain] on it," said one source familiar with the details.

"Rove called Lieberman," recounted a second source. "Lieberman told him he would not make that call."

The New York Times reports that McCain has decided who his running mate will be and will announce the decision on Friday.

Comments

[Paris68]

Hmm... I thought Rove was just an impartial commentator on Fox for this election...

[Beka13]

Didnt you know that FOX runs the Republican Party?

[gifu]

Roger Ales was George Bush Sr.'s campaign manager. What else could Fox possibly be other than a tentacle of the GOP.

[steeler5]

Fox is the RNC just as MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC is the Democratic Party. Anyone that denies that is in denial themselves. It's funny that Fox is treated as if it's "unfair" but the others are "balanced". The problem with Obama is that his shift to the center is harder to believe than McCains. However, the media is foaming at the mouth because they know that Obama is really like them in political belief so they can't help their excitement.

[loax]

Anothe bit of proof that Rove is making McCain his puppet, and Rove is the puppeteer! Vile bunch, aren't they?

[Heavenhelpusall]

McCandidate vs McMaverick must love his conflicted life.

[steeler5]

True, it reminds me of the two Obamas.

[Exit]

Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity run the Republican Party.

[ATL78]

This is BS. I don't believe that John is really considering Joe or Ridge. It's all smoke and mirrors to make him seem open-minded.

[Heavenhelpusall]

In 1999 he was in favor of leagalized abortion. His new spokeswoman, the jilted Clintonite, says so.

[Paris68]

Yeah, this leak seems way too coordinated. There is no chance in Hades that McCain is going with Lieberman.

[aznurse]

Could he pick Gen Petreaus? I was just wondering.

[Posterella]

No. Active military are not allowed to run for office.

[Posterella]

Prior to Rove, I never equated rolly-polly and porcine with evil.

[Lemmy]

Rove knows how to win elections - see 2000 and 2004 as data points. Getting Bush elected and re-elected was a big task as I'm sure most here would agree. Rove knows each county in each state and can read the tea leaves better than anyone.

[americanwhocares]

Lemmy, Rove knows how to steal elections, not win them.

[Lemmy]

Folks - results matter - Bush won - Rove did the heavy lifting and got him into the White House. The problem is you have to put aside the hatred you have for the guy and listen to what he puts forth in terms of analysis. Yes, that would involve Fox News which is like daylight to a vampire for you but give it a try.

[trynottogiveuphope]

Rove's skills are overrated. He LOST in 2000, and they were only able to steal it via the Supreme Court. Despite the economic upturn at the time, Clinton left with enough baggage that it should have been a cakewalk for Rove's boy.

And 2004? They beat a candidate no more adept at campaigning than Dukakis and only eked out a victory by 2%. If they hadn't been able to hide behind the war and the swiftboaters, they would've got trounced. By a Dukakis.

But then again, that's what the War on Terror was *really* ever all about: trying to secure a permanent Republican majority. Didn't work. Look at the political landscape that Rove has left in his wake.

[southernsepia]

Is it possible that they would pick a woman?

I've heard Kay Bailey Hutchinson is in contention.

Just a thought.

[MsLiz]

The comments mentioned that McCain and Hutchinson do not get along well. That made me think better of KBH. Hey, maybe McCain thinks her initials stand for Kellogg, Brown and Halliburton. Anyway, she better get used to being called vile names i he picks her.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

Bill Mahler asked Hutchinson this same question last year, except would she consider running for president. Her ansure was curious, but true, Hutchinson commented "why would the country want another Texan"?

[MajorKong]

Just thought I'd point out that Karl Rove is, you know, evil.

[tinatoledo31]

haha. is he evil because he ran two great campaigns and defeated the dems?

[MPeter]

No. Evil because he destroyed everything American. Our freedoms, politicized justice and politicized the public service. He is eveil because he is divisive.

[Posterella]

Um, no, tintaoledo31, he's evil because he was the "architect" of campaign and political policy that just about destroyed our economy, our civil liberties and our standing in the world, all done with malice aforethought.

[ElZagna]

While I was logging in I see that others have tried to explain Rove's "evil" reputation to you.

Rove placed political victories above everything else in America and the world. The fact that he was so go at achieving those victories places him above the great masses of evil people and into a truly world class of evil.

[MajorKong]

Because he's the living embodiment of "the ends justify the means".

Remember the push-polls in the 2000 South Carolina primary - "Would you be less likely to vote for John McCain if you knew he'd fathered an illegitimate black child?"

And that's what he did to a fellow Republican! Just because he's good at what he does doesn't mean he's not a slimeball.

[Opt1musPr1me]

Regardless of what is said about Rove, the man is smart. But I think he has met his match sans the evilness in David Axelrod.

[bmacmill]

Evil? Exactly how evil?

I suspect that, should the truth come out, Karl Rove may prove to be the most corrupt politician in American history, which is saying quite a lot given the competition from the Harding and Tammany Hall folks. His corruption is doubly scary for being about power alone and not wealth.

Of all the allegations the most chilling for me is the one related to the imprisonment of Don Siegelman. The following link is the relatively mild sixty minutes account.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/21/60minutes/main3859830.shtml

Imprisoning people for their political views??? That's pretty hard core. Maybe even worse than the vote tampering allegations relating to Diebold and their voting machines. Don't forget that criminal charges have actually been laid in Florida and Ohio over this and dozens of other elections were reputedly stolen. All in all a very bad crew, these republicans.

[beaupritchard]

If I were advising McCain I would advise him to pick a McCain/Lieberman ... McCain/Rove ... or McCain/Graham ticket

[MsLiz]

Billy Graham? Perhaps you are thinking Phil Gramm, whose name is probably a form of Graham.

[debrouillard]

Who is this Karl Rove any way,King maker in America? How come a known non-patriot,a known Criminal isnt just free but has so much power and free media time?

I mean Soldiers have to flee the country because they refuse going to Iraq for the 3rd time or more and they become wanted as unpatriotic.Yet Rove who led the country in to a war based on lies(unpatriotic) shows comtempt to the constituti­on(Unpatri­otic) is getting paid for doing just that.

[danoj]

Soldiers don't have to flee the country they make a choice to go AWOL; nobody holds a gun to there heads and tells them to do so. Furthermore, being unpariotic isn't a crime. If it was 95% of people posting on this site would be in jail, going AWOL,however, is a crime. Also, while your blaming repubs for the war don't for get the co-pilot Dems flying the plane towards war.

[schatsie]

These soldier are fighting under worse conditions than WW2 and should be considered the GREATEST GENERATION. And that is because the REPUGs refused to provide body armor, safe vehicles and virtually gave the ammo used in the IEDs away to anyone who wanted it ... Anyone who thinks these people have kept us safe is SLEEPING BEAUTY in DISNEYLAND!

[Heavenhelpusall]

Using a map the Rethugs crafted.

[bodo]

Well well, do Rove and Novak select McCain's VP now? But never mind, it does not really matter who gets picked. Any VP in tandem with McCain would make a dream ticket for OBAMA.

[trollsbwild]

JM will put on his mittens.

[WorkingClass]

Rove could trump up some charges against Lieberman and have a Republican judge throw him in prison.

[greeniefromOH]

I'm hoping Mitt Romney. He's just so wishy-washy and uninformed.

[MsLiz]

That's okay, he's handsome and rich, and he got rich the Republican way -- by firing Democrats! That's executive experience, Republican style!

[barriosbabe]

LOL