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-By Warner Todd Huston

Once again, the news media is trying to create reality instead of merely reporting on it. In this case, we have MSNBC trying to create a McCain-Lieberman ticket out of whole cloth with wild speculation not born of any real life news. What we end up with here isn’t any sort of journalism, but a wish list based only on the author’s desires and not any reading of reality. This fantasy does, however, fit in quite well with the media’s love of John McCain and his “gutsy” positions and their desires to override what Republicans want to instead have McCain anointed by the media as the GOP standard bearer.

I have an idea and I know that it’s a novel idea in most “journalist’s” circles. Let’s let Republicans decide who they want. The media should just report the matter not try to influence it. But, that advice aside, MSNBC’s Tom Curry floats his dream ticket anyway…

Will McCain, now a leading contender for the 2008 GOP nomination, borrow Kerry’s idea and offer the vice presidency to Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut’s self-styled “independent Democrat”?

What possible proof does Mr. Curry think he sees that would lead him to this question? McCain flatly turned down any offers from John Kerry in 2004 to be his VP and running mate. Lieberman has repeatedly denied that he’d ever jump Party lines and become a Republican. There is no proof or even a hint that this dream of Curry’s could be in the offing. But, Curry sees the possibility none-the-less.

The McCain-Lieberman duo showed a warm camaraderie Friday during their joint appearance at the American Enterprise Institute, an event where they both called for a substantial increase in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq in order to impose order, stop ethnic cleansing, and give the Maliki government a chance to succeed.

So they exhibited “warm camaraderie”? So, what? Are Democrats and Republicans not allowed to show camaraderie without eliciting rumors of becoming running mates? Further, should all Dems and Repubs be such enemies that they cannot appear together to support some bill or some plan or another? And what does that say of the claim for “bi-partisanship” that the media is always bleating for?

Curry goes on to explore some of the two candidate’s “affinity of personnel, as well as of ideology” as an excuse to say they should hook up to run for the White House. But Curry focuses solely on a small, unrepresentative handful of issues where they agree and ignores that they’re polar opposites on a host of others that would make them untenable as a ticket.

Curry quotes a Lieberman campaign spokesman to support his claims that a “maverick” team could sway “independents” to accept a McCain-Lieberman ticket.

“With the caveat that it’s far too early for this type of speculation, birds of a feather do flock together,” Cabrera said. “And in a nation as politically polarized as ours, a bi-partisan maverick ticket could be incredibly formidable. But before we all start counting our independent chickens, there would also be a significant downside: a pro-war, pro-surge ticket. Barring a radical turn of events in Iraq, I can’t imagine ‘Vote Hawk’ serving as an effective rallying cry in ‘08.”

What an absurd fantasy. Independents have only one power at the polls and that is as a swing block. They CANNOT, however, elect a president solely on their own voting power. There just aren’t enough of them and Tom Curry should know this. Chances are, he does, but he is floating this “maverick” balloon in hopes that he can create his own reality, anyway. Naturally, that would assure that the Democrat — who ever is to be their nominee — would win the 2008 elections.

Like I said, it would be nice if the MSM would just stick to real reporting and shy from trying to create their own news, wouldn’t it?

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