Huckabee: Lieberman Pick Would Be Disastrous

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said pro-life Republicans like himself would not take too kindly to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) as a running mate for John McCain.

“Let’s be honest with each other. It would be disastrous choice because, first of all, it’s going to alienate many people in the Republican Party, particularly the conservative pro-life, pro-family base,” said Huckabee, the last active candidate to win a Republican primary against McCain. He made his remarks in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity.

Huckabee added: “Look, I like Joe Lieberman, and I would join with many others who would say that if John McCain picked him to be secretary of state or secretary of defense or put him in the cabinet, that’s fine. But vice president? You know, Republicans want to elect a Republican president, and that means if something happens to the president, they’d still want a Republican on the job. Joe Lieberman would not be somebody that I think most Republicans would jump up and dance up in the aisles over in Minneapolis.”

Huckabee said that Barack Obama should pick a running mate that provides a “wow factor.”

“He’s really not had a good month and he needs to sort of shore up his credentials and a VP pick could do that,” Huckabee said. “I don’t think Evan Bayh, who again is a safe choice, maybe is the wow factor that he needs. And I’m not sure who it is. Or he could pick [Sen.] Hillary [Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)], but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”