In today's New York Times:

A Lieberman pick should help with ticket splitters. But can such a ticket hold the support of pro-lifers, conservatives and Republicans? If you're conscientiously pro-life, you will have reservations about a pro-abortion-rights V.P. If you're a proud conservative, Lieberman hasn't been one. If you're a loyal Republican, you'd much prefer someone from within the ranks.

But if you're pro-life, conservative and/or Republican, you certainly don't want Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid running the country. If a McCain-Lieberman ticket is the best way to thwart that prospect, you could probably learn to live with it -- even perhaps to like it.

Obviously, pro-lifers hate this argument, and for good reason. Underlying it is the idea that pro-life issues are tangential to electoral politics and it assumes that the GOP can take pro-lifers for granted. "Well, what are you going to do? Let Obama win?"

Kristol is right that most pro-lifers will hold their nose and vote for McCain-Lieberman, as will most other conservatives. At the same time, it's a dangerous gamble, much more so than I think Kristol appreciates.