(WDCpix)

As a presidential candidate, Republican John McCain apparently saw former Democrat Joe Lieberman as a strong pick for running mate. Given McCain’s admission that he’s a computer “illiterate” and Lieberman’s cluelessness about technology — revealed at today’s confirmation hearing for Peter Orszag as Barack Obama’s head of the Office of Management and Budget — they might’ve made a fitting pair. On OMB transparency, Orszag said he’d like to “create a Web site that will contain information about the contracts and include PDFs or contracts themselves.” To that, Lieberman indicated he didn’t know the acronym for the ubiquitous file format: “Define PDFs.”

UPDATED with comment from Credo after the jump. 

Lieberman’s recent antics are already the subject of humor, but one observer who doesn’t find them funny is Brian at the Incertus blog, a Credo fan who called the company’s effort …

… a horrible ad, because speaking as a progressive, the last person I want to see on an ad for things that matter to me is Joe Effing Lieberman. And I really don’t want to see it with the tagline “switching is easy,” because I interpret that as an insult. … I’m guessing that Working Assets means this as a tongue-in-cheek joke, but it’s falling flat on me right now. It’s a little too soon for that kind of humor, especially since Lieberman is in a position where he can do great damage to progressive causes …

A few commentators at Democratic Underground show more forgiveness (to Credo) and willingness to crack a smile, but on balance they still seemed miffed:

Is this supposed to make me want to switch phone companies? It sooooo doesn’t. … I have Credo and this makes me think of switching back. Mission unaccomplished. … Lieberman can’t commit to a cell plan. I heard he switched to AT&T but still uses a Verizon phone.

Full disclosure: A past-due bill from Credo is sitting on my desk at the moment, unopened. (I know what it says: I received a “courtesy call” from the company yesterday.)

UPDATE: Here is comment from Becky Bond, political director at Credo, via email:

Before the Senate caucus vote on Lieberman, we urged a few hundred thousand
of our members (who were constituents of Senators or Senators-elect eligible
to participate in the democratic senate caucus vote) to ask the caucus to
strip Lieberman of his committee chair.

Lieberman has been a terrible chair of this critical committee. He has not
held the Bush administration accountable for its crimes. He has supported
endless war. He did not defend the American people from government spying.
This was an accountability moment for Lieberman, and we hoped the Senate
caucus would do the right thing. They did not. Likely, this campaign was
what the huff post commenter was talking about.

The ad was a tongue in cheek attempt to get the attention of people who,
like us, are infuriated by Lieberman’s stands on issues. The idea was this.
The nation’s eyes last week were on Lieberman, who is famous for switching
his liberal ideas for conservative ideology. You can switch too, but in
support of progressive ideals. The ad was successful in getting people’s
attention. But clearly some people did not get the joke.

To be honest, the first I heard of people not understanding the ad was when
I was checking my RSS feed of the Minnesota Independent. I’m reading you
constantly for news of the Senate recount!

By the way, Center for Independent Media is one of the 50 groups our members
are supporting this year.
http://credomobile.com/Mission/MissionCauses.aspx

Tell your readers who are members that they have until Dec. 31 to vote for
you in the distribution of our donations
http://www.workingassets.com/Voting/Default.aspx

On NPR’s “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!,” Lieberman was featured in a call-in quiz in which Oakdale resident Alissa Banff (unsure on the spelling; no transcript exists) had to name the news story from the past week that matched the song, “Let’s Kiss and Make Up.” Once she guessed the correct answer, host Peter Sagal said (taking oodles of creative license):

Lieberman did a lot of things this year to annoy Democrats, but he did one very smart thing: He annoyed Democrats rather than anyone who might do something about it.

Leiberman campaigned enthusiastically for John McCain, of course. He implied Barack Obama was an unpatriotic Marxist and he personally set fire to the Democratic National Committee offices and he wrote and performed the YouTube hit song, “The Democrats are a Bunch of Terrorist-Loving Weenies.” But, the Senate Democrats were feeling magnanimous. They welcomed Lieberman back and they let him keep his prized committee chairmanship. Lieberman reacted by actually slapping Harry Reid and then saying, “You still forgive me?” And Reid said, “Sure,” and Leiberman walked behind him and gave him a wedgie and said, “How ’bout now?”

WWDTM regular Adam Felber responded by saying Leiberman has “lost all credulity,” yet Democrats keep giving him second and third chances. He then likened him to Gollum, the character from the film adaptations made of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels: “And he’s actually started looking like him, too!”

Listen here (starts at 4:33).

In a web-only clip, Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg, playing a hot-tempered Rahm Emmanuel, Barack Obama’s selection for chief of staff, brought up Lieberman:

UPDATE: It apparently was here for today’s End the Fed rally at the Federal Reserve Bank. The sky advert was last seen in these parts at the tail end of the Republican National Convention. The timing and location made a certain amount of sense. But on a Saturday two-and-a-half weeks after the election, with a U.S. Senate recount in progress? What does Ron Paul have to do with that? Why here? Why now? Is this any better a use of fuel than Detroit’s Big Three auto execs each jetting into D.C. on private planes? Or does it simply signal that with the recount the Twin Cities have again achieved a critical mass of TV news crews? 

Granted, Franken’s presence now in Minnesota might not be necessary or even helpful. But his absence uncomfortably recalls Al Gore’s fiddling while George W. Bush’s forces burned through Florida during the 2000 presidential recount. Shouldn’t Al be here, if for no other reason than to make use of his USO chops to rally the troops from behind the front lines? But perhaps Franken went to D.C. for another reason altogether.

Franken has just learned a very hard lesson in how every single vote matters. Perhaps he took it upon himself to travel across the country to cast a provisional ballot in the Senate Democrats’ vote this morning on whether to strip U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., of his committee chairmanship. (It wouldn’t have made a difference after all — Lieberman won handily.) After all, Lieberman helped Coleman during the campaign, so a Franken “no” vote would only have been returning the favor. And Franken wouldn’t want to risk a homemade absentee ballot, mailed from Minnesota, getting improperly rejected.

OK, didn’t happen — as far as we know. But crazier things have been done and said. Franken’s tangled fortunes with Lieberman — the Dems’ hopes for 60 Senate votes rides on both their backs — go back at least as far as the simpler times of 2000, when each man joked about a Franken-Lieberman presidential ticket.

“I was eager to get to the bottom of the serious allegations against Halliburton and other contractors — potentially the biggest wartime rip-off in our country’s history,” the statement from Lautenberg reads. “But Norm Coleman and the Republican leadership of the committee simply refused to to investigate. Even after multiple requests from me and my colleagues to get the committee to do its job and get to the bottom of it — they refused.”

Lautenberg states that he wrote nine letters to the committee leadership seeking an investigation, but was rebuffed. He links the lack of scrutiny to the fact that VP Dick Cheney was formerly the chief executive of Halliburton, the largest recipient of Iraq contracts. “When it was time to choose between protecting taxpayer dollars and our troops or protecting Dick Cheney from embarrassment, Norm Coleman chose Dick Cheney,” the statement concludes.

The two campaigns are each running television ads sparring over the issue. Here’s the Franken spot:

And the Coleman rebuttal:

A parade of speakers in St. Paul, including Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a Hispanic businessman, an Arizona educator, and President Bush (speaking from the White House via video link) hailed the prospective nominee John McCain for his courage as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, his 26 years in Congress, even his decision to adopt a child from Bangladesh.

Partisan rhetoric was, for the most part, muted. “John McCain doesn’t speak the language of service. He has lived a life of service,” said Bachmann, presumably in reference to the too-eloquent Democratic nominee Barack Obama. In a clumsier swipe, President Bush averred that if McCain’s North Vietnamese captors could not break his resolve, the “angry left” could not either.

The crowd of 20,000 people responded with rapt attention and the occasional standing ovation, even as the last two speakers of the evening worked hard–Bush loyalists might say too hard–to distinguish the nominee from the man he hopes to succeed.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson noted with a hint of admiration that the party’s new standard bearer once dated a stripper. (The TV cameras mercifully spared us Cindy McCain’s reaction to her husband’s taste in female company.) Thompson reminded the Republican faithful that young Congressman McCain bucked Ronald Reagan on the wisdom of sending U.S. troops to the Middle East, an observation that seemed to send a ripple of unease through the crowd. And Thompson described the federal government, run for the last eight years by the already-forgotten incumbent, as “wasteful and too often incompetent.” No one was heard to object.

The solution to the “nightmare” of contemporary Washington, said lapsed Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman, was John McCain. Among the Arizona Senators’ many accomplishments, Lieberman explained, was his hostility to “corrupt Republican lobbyists”–some of whom were no doubt itching to exit the premises in search of strippers unfamiliar with public service. Lieberman added kind words for the various legislative accomplishments of Bill Clinton, the former Democratic president who warmly endorsed Obama just a week ago—and the confused crowd responded with applause.

To be fair, it has not been an easy convention for the GOP rank and file. On Monday, Republicans who pride themselves on traditional family values had to learn to scratch the phrase “illegitimate child” from their vocabularies, lest they be taken as less than loyal to prospective vice president (and grandmother) Gov. Sarah Palin. Last night, they began to learn another lesson: that McCain’s campaign slogan, “Country First,” also means “We got no brand.”

OMG: Lieberman?

TalkLeft is reporting that NBC says Joe Lieberman is in Dayton, Ohio, where John McCain is expected to introduce his running mate later this morning.

Politico’s Jonathan Martin says that Mitt Romney, like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, will not be in Dayton today.

There’s heavy speculation this morning about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (check this piece by the AP’s Liz Sidoti), thanks in part to a pair of posts from the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder [1] [2], but ABC reports that Palin’s press secretary claims the governor will be attending the Alaska state fair today.

Drudge is teasing the name of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin this morning. But remember–Karl Rove wants Romney on the ticket, and Roll Call reported yesterday that the Secret Service did a sweep of Romney’s sister’s house in Michigan.

As for Joe Lieberman, much rumored to be McCain’s personal favorite for the nod, I think we can infer it’s not Joe from the fact that Karl Rove has not kidnapped McCain and spirited him off to one of Dick Cheney’s bunkers for a weekend of deprogramming.

More from the political wire about John McCain’s impending VP pick:

David Drucker, Roll Call: “If security sweeps are the giveaway, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may be on the brink of being selected as Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) vice presidential running mate. According to sources with strong Michigan ties, the Secret Service has conducted a security sweep of the home of Romney’s sister. Romney was raised in Michigan, where his father served as governor.”

Gary Miller, Truth v. the Machine: [writing about a Pawlenty bloggers' conference call earlier today] “The Governor had some generic opening statements about Senator McCain’s experience and values over Sen. Obama — the usual boilerplate. An observation: Pawlenty seemed quite tired and his voice was just a bit raspy (A bit subdued? Down?).

Q: Do you plan on staying in Eagan tonight?

A: I am scheduled to fly back late afternoon and I am staying, I believe, at the Governor’s residence. Doesn’t plan on staying in Eagan because of possible conflict with the kids schedule.

Q: Any chance you will be flying to Sedona, AZ?

A: I am scheduled to be in Minnesota.

Q: Will you be in Ohio tomorrow?

A: I am scheduled to be in Minneapolis tomorrow and through the weekend. My sense is Senator McCain and the McCain campaign are close to making a decision.

Liz Sidoti, Associated Press: “Inside GOP circles Thursday, though, speculation swirled around Lieberman. It was fueled by reports that McCain’s advisers had asked for additional detailed information from Lieberman, by McCain’s close friendship with the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, and by word that Republican operatives had been told to prepare for the possibility of an “unconventional” choice. Lieberman supports the Iraq war but breaks with Republicans on most issues, notably abortion rights.”

WashPost The Trail blog: “One senior Republican who has talked personally with Romney, Ridge and Pawlenty during the past two days said none of them had been told yet by McCain. ‘All of them believe that it’s not them,’ the GOP source said.”

Jonathan Martin, Politico: “Republican strategist Karl Rove called Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) late last week and urged him to contact John McCain to withdraw his name from vice presidential consideration, according to three sources familiar with the conversation. Lieberman dismissed the request, these sources agreed. ‘Rove called Lieberman,’ recounted a second source. ‘Lieberman told him he would not make that call.’”

Chris Cilizza, The Fix: 1. Tim Pawlenty: So it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end. T-Paw sat atop our first Veepstakes Line and he claims the pole position in our last Line as well. Pawlenty has been the tortoise in this race — never really emerging as the buzz candidate but never falling too far off the lead pack either. His combination of Midwestern roots, conservative credentials (particularly on the abortion issue) and a longtime friendship with McCain make him the safest choice available. And, in an election that could well be decided (again) by a few percentage points, the “do no harm” pick seems to make the most sense for McCain. Is Pawlenty ready for such a big stage? Real doubts remain. (Previous ranking: 1)

Drudge: SOURCE: NAME MAY LEAK AT 6 PM ET… WITH SOME SORT OF CONFIRMATION AT 8 PM… DEVELOPING…

The GOP bloggers are all atwitter: “I just got off the phone with Andy Barnett, who informs me that he just recently spoke with Pawlenty Press Secretary, Alex Carey. While Mr. Carey did not actually state that Pawlenty was the choice, there was excitement in his voice, and he did state that Governor Pawlenty “cleared his schedule” for the weekend.”