Regarding John McCain’s running-mate:

“We just started this process of getting together a list of names,” McCain told radio host Imus yesterday, telling reporters later they had 20 names.

Of course, we’re always curious if any Jews make the list.  But until we learn that officially, let’s check in with loyal reader William Daroff, and his thoughts on the selection process.  From the Jerusalem Post:

“There is visceral angst among Jews about the hard Christian right and their involvement in American politics, and if McCain picked the ‘wrong’ person, that would have a negative impact on how Jews would vote for the ticket,” said William Daroff, who heads the United Jewish Communities’ Washington office and is a former Republican Jewish Coalition official. He added that there might be some evangelical candidates who wouldn’t be problematic.

On the other hand, should McCain go full court press on the bipartisan front, he might maintain his current Jewish support and then some. One of the names frequently floated under this rubric is that of Joseph Lieberman, who ran as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000. The Orthodox Jewish senator is now an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, as well as a strong supporter of McCain’s who campaigned for him during the Republican primaries.

Daroff pointed out another quality that Lieberman would contribute to the ticket: “pizzazz” to compete with a Democratic candidate who would be either the first African American or the first female presidential nominee.

“If excitement’s important [to McCain], maybe having a Jewish Democrat with a Republican nominee would be something to show that he’s a maverick and that not just the Democrats, but also the Republicans, can make history on their side of the aisle,” Daroff said.