Hmm... according to Game Change, McCain wanted Joe Lieberman to be his running mate very badly but scrapped the idea when Karl Rove blew a gasket. Suppose he tells Rove to go *uck himself and picks Liberman anyway.
Joe Lieberman agrees to run and is allowed to be McCain's running mate after a brief struggle at the GOP convention, where the right-wingers become outraged and walk out. This strengthens McCain's position as a maverick and a different kind of Republican that steps out of the shadow of George Bush. It also reinforces the experience argument that he threw under the bus OTL by choosing Palin. McCain does much better in 2008, making the election very close, but probably still loses to Obama and Biden due to a combinaiton of voter fatigue with the Republicans that comes from Independents and due to pissing off an entire faction of his own party.
Sarah Palin continues to be the Governor of Alaska with no changes (probably voting for McCain and Lieberman in the General Election) and runs for re-election in 2010. She wins a second term, which ends in 2015. After that, it's wide open. She could retire from politics and stay home with her kids, she could try to enter the naitonal stage by running for the US Senate/House of Reps in the next election after her term, or heck, she could even try running for President in 2016, when McCain's/Obama's theoretical second term would be up. If she chooses the second option, she'd probably win and continue on as a Senator/Congresswoman until she retires. If she chooses the third option, I could see her being either a surprise darkhorse candidate, or an anologue to Tim Pawlenty. Has a somewhat strong showing in the polls and looks good on paper, but ultimately loses to a stronger candidate like Jindal or Huntsman.
Joe Lieberman agrees to run and is allowed to be McCain's running mate after a brief struggle at the GOP convention, where the right-wingers become outraged and walk out. This strengthens McCain's position as a maverick and a different kind of Republican that steps out of the shadow of George Bush. It also reinforces the experience argument that he threw under the bus OTL by choosing Palin. McCain does much better in 2008, making the election very close, but probably still loses to Obama and Biden due to a combinaiton of voter fatigue with the Republicans that comes from Independents and due to pissing off an entire faction of his own party.
Sarah Palin continues to be the Governor of Alaska with no changes (probably voting for McCain and Lieberman in the General Election) and runs for re-election in 2010. She wins a second term, which ends in 2015. After that, it's wide open. She could retire from politics and stay home with her kids, she could try to enter the naitonal stage by running for the US Senate/House of Reps in the next election after her term, or heck, she could even try running for President in 2016, when McCain's/Obama's theoretical second term would be up. If she chooses the second option, she'd probably win and continue on as a Senator/Congresswoman until she retires. If she chooses the third option, I could see her being either a surprise darkhorse candidate, or an anologue to Tim Pawlenty. Has a somewhat strong showing in the polls and looks good on paper, but ultimately loses to a stronger candidate like Jindal or Huntsman.
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