As we read, Senator McCain is saying goodbye to old friends, from former vice president Joseph Biden to others.

He is also saying that he should have chosen Senator Joseph Lieberman over Governor Sarah Palin in 2008:

His advisers reportedly had warned against choosing Lieberman, who was once a Democrat, stating that Lieberman's support of abortion rights could divide Republicans.  "It was sound advice that I could reason for myself," he writes. "But my gut told me to ignore it and I wish I had."

In a new HBO documentary, McCain goes on to say that not choosing Lieberman was "another mistake" that he made in his political career.

Lieberman told the Times that he didn't know McCain felt that way.

"It touched me greatly," he said of the film.

For the record, I was not in favor of Governor Palin in 2008.  Yes, Palin sparked our side and was a great campaigner.  But her lack of experience was obvious.

At the same time, she was not the reason that McCain lost.

The race was a dead heat around the first debate, but Senator McCain fell victim to that banking crisis in the last weeks of the campaign.  In other words, the spread between McCain and Obama grew after the banking crisis broke in the news.

It did not help that the media were in the tank for Senator Obama.

As for Senator Lieberman on the ticket, it would have been of little benefit.

I'm not sure that any V.P. choice would have made a difference for Senator McCain.  He lost, and that's all I can say.

It's really sad to watch an amazing life end with this kind of bitterness.  John McCain was one of the greatest and most consequential lives of the last 50 years, from war hero to a great senator.  Why mess it up talking about regrets?

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