During a moment of small talk last night at a “McCainic for Lieberman” party outside Manchester, New Hampshire, Joe Lieberman told me, “I was just joking. My staff wanted to whack me over the head. I was saying, `Gee, now that I’ve got the endorsement of The New Republic, wouldn’t it be great if I got the endorsement of National Review?’ They said `Stop!’” I mention that it had worked for him once before when NR endorsed him against Lowell Weicker. “That’s what I told them!” Lieberman said. Alas, we’ll never know the effects of a NR Lieberman endorsement, since NR has already committed to Howard Dean in this race.