Hotline After Dark -- Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

VP speculation continued last night.

NBC's Allen talked with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) about the possibility of being John McCain's running mate.

Allen: "If asked to be vice president, would you say no?"

Lieberman: "You want me to answer that one? Well, I don't think -- I don't think I'm going to be asked. It's a hypothetical."

Allen: "Lieberman's appeal is that he could help McCain with independent voters."

Lieberman: "A tremendous experience that Senator McCain has, his record for bipartisanship, his willingness to take on his own party, is so much stronger than Senator [Barack] Obama's" ("Nightly News," 8/20).

Mike Huckabee: "I can't imagine Joe Lieberman being on the ticket. And I think John McCain knows that while Republicans could accept Joe Lieberman as secretary of defense or secretary of state, that's fine. ... Republicans want to elect a Republican not only to be president, but to be in the position should something happen and be the next president" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 8/20).

After the jump, more Veepstakes and CNN sits down with the WH '08ers

(KATHERINE LEHR)

New York Times' Herbert: "If he were to select Lieberman, I think that by them going and saying 'I'll only serve one term,' it mitigates the advantages of having Lieberman on the ticket. I mean on the one hand, you've got Lieberman there, which would be a move towards the center, trying to get these independent votes and some Democrats. And on the other hand, you have, 'I'm only going to serve one term,' which just highlights the age issue, goes to the idea of you're not going to be able to get much done. There won't be much in the way of change. I think those two things fight each other. If he were to go with Lieberman, I'd be very surprised if he decided to announce that he was only going to serve for one term" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 8/20).

CNN's Cafferty, on endless VP speculation: "We really need to get a life here" ("Situation Room," 8/20).

On the Dem side, Ralph Nader predicted that "a surprise nod" to Hillary Clinton "is actually what Obama has in store."

Huckabee, asked if Obama should consider Clinton: "He ought to. I don't think he will, but if he wanted to change the dynamics of this entire race, that's the place he needs to go because it brings the Democrats together and brings the wow factor that he had at one time, and he does not have it right now. ... He's more interested in winning than he is in his pride. I think it would be very, very difficult for him to make that decision, but I do believe that that's the one person that sort of just takes everybody's breath away" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 8/20).

Financial Times' Freeland: "I think that choosing Hillary Clinton is very painful for Obama, but it could be the pragmatic choice. And one thing that people say about Barack Obama is, he's not an emotional decision-maker and he is able to take decisions which are personally painful for him, but are politically the right ones. ... What Hillary brings, oddly enough, is somewhat she's machismo to the ticket. And what Obama I think needs right now is someone who is willing to go out there and fight McCain. And Hillary is the person who could do that" ("Verdict," MSNBC, 8/20).

CNN's Blitzer: "The downside of Hillary Clinton, what they say, is, she would really, by being on the ticket, bring out that Republican base, and do for John McCain what maybe he can't do for himself" ("Situation Room," 8/20).

Huffington Post's Sekoff: "I can imagine just getting the message, 'Yo, it's HRC, LOL,' and then you got to say, 'WTF'" ("Verdict," MSNBC, 8/20).

MY MOTHER'S EYES

And CNN aired two special programs, "John McCain Revealed" and "Barack Obama Revealed." Some highlights from both specials are below. First up, McCain:

CNN's J. King: "If you talk to most of your friends from those days, they say that John McCain post-Vietnam is a different person. He was more serious. He was more dedicated. He was focused on getting back in a plane. You hear that from 99 out of 100. The one person who has a different perspective was your wife at the time who says John McCain came back and I needed him to be 40 and he wanted to be 25. What happened?"

J. McCain: "I take full responsibility for the break-up of my first marriage. And I'm very grateful for the fact that Carol and I have a good relationship."

King, to Cindy McCain: "And how does it sit with you? To those who have over the years have said, John McCain comes home from Vietnam, you know, leaves his wife, then marries this younger, beautiful, wealthy woman."

C. McCain: "At the time I didn't really understand what they were saying because my husband had been separated and 6 1/2 years, it was a long separation."

King: "The chronology that has presented publicly doesn't necessarily match the chronology of the documents, that you had applied for a marriage license in Arizona at a time when your divorce wasn't final yet."

J. McCain: "It's 30 years ago. I have a happy marriage."

And Obama:

Obama, on what he learned from his mother: "Oh, she was spectacular. She was an only child. She had traveled a lot growing up. You know, she was born in Wichita, Kansas. My grandparents were from small towns in Kansas. She was a really loving, sweet person. She was somebody who had very clear ideas about what was right and what was wrong. She had no patience for bigotry. She had no patience for intolerance."

More: "One of the things that I always knew was that I was the center of her world and I've always believed that if kids know they're loved, if they know that in their parent's eyes they are special, that can make up for a lot of instability and a lot of change. And that's what she was always able to transmit to me" (CNN, 8/20).