VP Lieberman

Ah, yes. Another "Gore Wins in 2000" thread. Because we obviously haven't discussed this before.

I want to take things in a slightly different direction. The means by which Gore is elected are irrelevant (the election was so close that nearly anything could tip the balance). But one of the consequences of a President Gore is a Vice-President Joseph Lieberman. Now, IOTL, since that election (and the events of 2004), Lieberman has slid further and further away from the mainstream of the democratic party. He still caucuses with them, but is a republican in all but name and affiliation.

My question is, what becomes of VP Lieberman? Does he toe the line for the Gore Administration? Does he get put on the Presidential ticket in 2008? Does he still break with the administration, or with the liberal wing of the party?
 
Jonathan Chait at TNR has written that Lieberman went bad after he did so poorly in the '04 presidential primaries--he won barely a fraction of John Edwards' vote of four years later, very unimpressive. That was the turning point, getting primaried by the Left just completed the process of his political 'realignment'.

I just can't see him winning the Democratic primary in 2008 if Gore had two terms in office.

Maybe if McCain beats Gore in 2004, and somehow is reassured a landslide reelection in '08?

But I can't see that. There would always be a Mark Warner or Evan Bayh or suchlike who would be willing to run if Hillary doesn't--and she probably will run.

In terms of personality Lieberman gives off a real weak vibe, too much like Mondale and Dukakis (John Kerry could at least fall back on his central casting senatorialness). The party won't let Joe be the sacrificial lamb in an election which can easily be made competitive.
 
A lot would depend on a Gore presidency, but Lieberman would still be Lieberman. Yes, his relations with the party would be better, and more of the Democratic establishment (which, in RL, has totally deserted Lieberman by now) would still be on his side.

Still, if Gore serves two terms, I could see Lieberman getting a VERY serious primary challenge - far stronger than Bob Dole's in '88 or Bradley's in '00. Keep in mind too that if Gore managed to preserve Democratic rule for four straight terms, the pendulum would be swinging very much away from the Democrats in '08. And it's likely that having been in power so long, there would be a fairly strong internal Democratic civil war between New Democrats/DLC and progressives over issues like foreign policy, trade, and lax financial regulation.

Of course, this also means that whether Lieberman or someone else - John Kerry? John Edwards, if his affair gets butterflied away? - gets the nomination, the Republicans probably win in '08. Mitt Romney could be a possibility, although only if you assume that his close '02 gubernatorial victory isn't butterflied out.

Also both Bill Frist and even Chuck Hagel could be credible Republican nominees (both were rising stars and were "ruined" by the Bush Admin - Frist by his perceived closeness to the admin and disastrous Senate majority leadership and Hagel by his opposition to the Iraq War). I can't see George Allen succeeding, mainly because of the sheer number of skeletons in the guy's closet.
 
Well, Gore wouldn't go into Iraq- just keep the sanctions on.
And, there is a chance that Bush could pick Lieberman as VP or get Lieberman as his VP after a deadlock in the Senate or Dick Cheney being ruled ineligible due to his Texas residency.
 
If Lieberman became VP in 2000, he would have no reason to leave the party as an independent to stay in the senate. He simply will be regarded as a conservative democrat, one of many recent VP's the electorate would not support as president. Unless he becomes president by succession, he will simply retire as an ex-VP in 2009 at the age of 67, assuming two terms.
 
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