Sen. Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic nominee for Vice-President, the loser in the 2006 Connecticut Democratic Senate primary, who refused to let those results stand and won reelection as an Independent, will endorse Sen. John McCain for the Republican presidential nomination later today.
The plan here, it seems, is to help sway a few New Hampshire Independent voters (who can vote in either party's primary - and who turned out in big numbers for McCain in 2000) from taking a Democratic ballot in the state's January's primary election. Polls show them leaning strongly in the Democratic column this time out, and that would put the kabosh on any hopes McCain may have of performing well on primary day. But I believe Independent voters are so thoroughly disenchanted with Republican leadership - and quite frankly with Lieberman's whining - at this moment that the former Democrat's endorsement will mean little.
A side note: The Democratic Party needs to be careful in how they respond to Lieberman's crazy-headed endorsement. The sad state of affairs is they need him in their column until next year when, should the party gain another seat or two in the Senate, they can then tell him to go to hell and join the Republican Party. But right now, he caucuses with the Democrats and that parliamentary procedure keeps them officially in control of the chamber. Should he switch that vote, he would swing the chamber back to Republican control. And that is the last thing this country needs.
