ABC: McCain wanted Lieberman, chose Thursday Night.

[SirNitram]

Link

ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg reports: It wasn't until Sunday night that John McCain, after meeting with his four top advisers, finally decided he could not tap independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to be his running mate. One adviser, tasked with taking the temperature of the conservative base, had strongly made the case to McCain that it would be a disaster for the party and that the base would revolt. McCain concluded he could not go that route.

The next day, McCain studied the three men at the top of his shortlist: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. All had different strengths and negatives, but McCain was not satisfied. None of them had what McCain believed he needed to do -- and would have done -- with Lieberman.

McCain wanted to shake up the ticket.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's name was in the mix as an unconventional choice for months, but she had not been considered a front-runner. So, over the next few days, with McCain continuing to believe he needed someone who had more of a maverick streak than his other choices, lawyers reviewed her vetting information. They kept their activities from even some in McCain's most senior inner circle.

Pawlenty had been the youthful pick advisers believed would represent a fresh direction -- and one they could use to argue the Republican VP pick was more experienced than the Democratic presidential nominee. But Pawlenty's flaw -- what cost him the VP -- was that he would not have stirred things up. He was safe, and McCain was not inclined to take the safe route.

The campaign secretly flew Palin into Dayton last night. She and McCain met privately for a couple of hours. McCain concluded she would "shake up the system" and was "a maverick," qualities he believed Lieberman would have brought to the ticket. But she also would appeal to conservatives -- which Lieberman most certainly would not have done.

After their meeting, McCain concluded he was comfortable with his choice. He notified Pawlenty this morning that he was going in a different direction.

Why yes, I saw that coming. Pity. JOEMENTUM!(Specifically, the momentum of someone whose political career has been declining...)

[Duckie]

I myself called it- Palin was an emergency pick on Thursday night to try to keep from being buried under Obama's speech.

However, I had presumed that the advisors had quashed his Lieberman idea much earlier. I wonder how it would have turned out had he picked Lieberman anyhow, or Pawlenty.

[Aratech]

I myself called it- Palin was an emergency pick on Thursday night to try to keep from being buried under Obama's speech.

However, I had presumed that the advisors had quashed his Lieberman idea much earlier. I wonder how it would have turned out had he picked Lieberman anyhow, or Pawlenty.

I wonder how this is going to get turned into ammunition to use against him.

[Guardsman Bass]

It's a pity that McCain didn't follow his "instincts" and pick Lieberman. The Republican National Convention would have been a fucking riot to watch (pun intended).

In any case, this would fit with what Roll Call, a news source on Congress and the Capitol, has said - they've claimed that in an earlier interview with Palin, she said she'd only met McCain one or two times as recently as early August 2008, both of those times back in 2006.

[Guardsman Bass]

They may be wrong on that, though. According to McClatchy, McCain's campaign is claiming that he met her at the 2008 National Governors Association.

[Block]

Yeah I think a lot of the fundies would've freaked out if McCain had picked a Jew. We like drink blood or something. I think it's just more evidence that she was picked for shock value more than anything actually worthwhile.