JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Another Jewish VP possibility? 

By Eric Fingerhut · August 12, 2008

How about Carl Levin for Barack Obama's VP? Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic makes a pretty good case–national security experience, attractive to Jewish voters–but doubts it will happen because we haven't yet heard the Michigan senator's name floated.

Meanwhile, over on the GOP side, Joe Lieberman's name is once more being bandied about as a possibility for John McCain's number two, with a report the other day that he's on the "short list." Lieberman seemed to say he wasn't interested a couple weeks ago on Meet the Press, and I'm willing to believe him. Sure, it might be historic to run for the VP nomination of each party in an eight-year span, but do you really want to run twice for vice president?

A top evangelical leader warns McCain that picking Lieberman would be a "catastrophe." But the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land likes the possibility of Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia because of his "pro-life" record. Land does say he would "love" Lieberman as secretary of state or defense in a McCain administration–but not as attorney general or on the Supreme Court.

Lieberman will continue to work on the Jewish vote for McCain: he's scheduled to be stumping Michigan tomorrow and Pennsylvania next week.

When he called Eric Cantor "wildly out of step" with the Jewish community's values, was National Jewish Democratic Council executive director Ira Forman implying that Cantor is not truly a part of the "Jewish community"? It sounded that way to Denver-area Rabbi Levi Brackman, and he doesn't like it.