Say it ain't so, Joe!
What ever happened to losing gracefully? Yesterday Senator Joe Lieberman lost in his Democratic senate primary in the state of Connecticut and almost immediately announced that he was still going to run for senate as an independent. When will these politicians learn? Running as an independent basically serves the opposition party that district on a silver platter. Didn't Lieberman learn the lesson that Ross Perot taught everyone? When Perot ran in 2002, Bush was struggling, but he still had a conservative nation supporting him. Perot somehow got 18.9% of the vote and singlehandedly won Bill Clinton the presidency. Among the "red" states that went Democrat simply because Perot split the vote were: New Hampshire, Montana, Arkansas (this one was a given because Clinton was from there...though Gore somehow lost his "home state" of TN in 2000), Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Colorado and Nevada. The current situation with this country dictates that we NEED all the liberal people we can get in the Senate and splitting up the Liberal vote in a powerful "blue" state would be devastating.
Lieberman isn't exactly a liberal icon, even if he was nominated for Vice President. His support for Bush and the war is what killed his canidacy and probably his political career. But instead of going the classy route and bringing attention to real issues while conceiting defeat, he decided that he still hadn't lost yet, even though his own party has backed off from supporting him and placed their support in the hands of Lamont. Lamont is not exactly the kind of guy I would vote for. He's a sleazy businessman from Greenwich CT (THE home of the white, old-blood, WASPY money types) who was educated at the finest schools in the world (including my alma matter, Phillips Exeter) and comes from old (the library at Harvard is named for his great-grandfather) money. His campaign tactic was basically to show "the kiss" to everyone in the state to get all of the anti-war and anti-Bush voters to swing his way...it worked.
For those of you who don't know, "the kiss" is a perfect capture of Bush and Lieberman looking like they're about to make out and it's a real picture! Lieberman has stood behind Bush from day one and was the main voice of opposition for the Democratic party in their effort to end the war. Lieberman may have been a Democrat in name, but he had been more Republican in policy for the past few years. The simple fact that he has never wavered in his support for Bush and has taken numerous photos while holding Bush's hand made him a sitting duck in the election. Lieberman either has a huge ego, or he's working with the Republican party to destroy the Democrats. Why else would he risk splitting the liberal vote down the middle when his party is already facing an uphill battle? You don't see Dwane Wade guard Shaq after he grabs an offensive rebound from a Wade miss, so why is Lieberman putting the press on Lamont? I thought the reason why you affiliated with a political party was because you wanted to be a part of a team. Otherwise you'd be in your own party, or 100% independent.
What will the ramifications be if he does run? Connecticut will elect a Republican senator who will further throw the balance of power towards the right-wing. There are a lot of rich white people in Connecticut, and they usually vote for Republicans. But what is the real impact of this election? Is it going to change anything if Lamont wins? The Democrats haven't really been behind Lieberman ever since he expressed his love for Bush, so his influence was basically non-existent. His support for the war made him, in essence, a Republican in the Iraq debate. Lamont, at least, seems to have liberal Democrat values: he's against the Iraq war and the PATRIOT ACT, supports gay marriage and universal health care, and seems to believe that the government shouldn't reach into personal lives. He also was (supposedly, politicians can't ever be 100% trusted) against the nomination of Samuel Alito (I think the #1 worst thing so far done by Bush), which is a direct opposition to Lieberman who refused to go against the Alito nomination.
Lieberman is basically a politician who made a lot of wrong choices, alienated his voter base and his party and he lost because of it. His loss was not a surprise to anyone because he deserved to lose. It's great to see a powerful incumbent take a fall like that because it shows that sometimes the voters actually pay attention. However, running as an independent is going to do nothing to help his legacy. If he had accepted the loss gracefully and used his connections and former influence, he could become a very important person, like Al Gore or Jimmy Carter. But instead he is going to get in the way of his own party, whine and cry about losing when he really set himself up for a fall and solidify his legacy as a loser. I never really supported him, even when he was Gore's running mate, but it's always sad to see how these great men fall. If 18 years in senate isn't enough to teach him that he needs to support his own party and be a voice of opposition, it's definitely time for a change.
Lieberman isn't exactly a liberal icon, even if he was nominated for Vice President. His support for Bush and the war is what killed his canidacy and probably his political career. But instead of going the classy route and bringing attention to real issues while conceiting defeat, he decided that he still hadn't lost yet, even though his own party has backed off from supporting him and placed their support in the hands of Lamont. Lamont is not exactly the kind of guy I would vote for. He's a sleazy businessman from Greenwich CT (THE home of the white, old-blood, WASPY money types) who was educated at the finest schools in the world (including my alma matter, Phillips Exeter) and comes from old (the library at Harvard is named for his great-grandfather) money. His campaign tactic was basically to show "the kiss" to everyone in the state to get all of the anti-war and anti-Bush voters to swing his way...it worked.
For those of you who don't know, "the kiss" is a perfect capture of Bush and Lieberman looking like they're about to make out and it's a real picture! Lieberman has stood behind Bush from day one and was the main voice of opposition for the Democratic party in their effort to end the war. Lieberman may have been a Democrat in name, but he had been more Republican in policy for the past few years. The simple fact that he has never wavered in his support for Bush and has taken numerous photos while holding Bush's hand made him a sitting duck in the election. Lieberman either has a huge ego, or he's working with the Republican party to destroy the Democrats. Why else would he risk splitting the liberal vote down the middle when his party is already facing an uphill battle? You don't see Dwane Wade guard Shaq after he grabs an offensive rebound from a Wade miss, so why is Lieberman putting the press on Lamont? I thought the reason why you affiliated with a political party was because you wanted to be a part of a team. Otherwise you'd be in your own party, or 100% independent.
What will the ramifications be if he does run? Connecticut will elect a Republican senator who will further throw the balance of power towards the right-wing. There are a lot of rich white people in Connecticut, and they usually vote for Republicans. But what is the real impact of this election? Is it going to change anything if Lamont wins? The Democrats haven't really been behind Lieberman ever since he expressed his love for Bush, so his influence was basically non-existent. His support for the war made him, in essence, a Republican in the Iraq debate. Lamont, at least, seems to have liberal Democrat values: he's against the Iraq war and the PATRIOT ACT, supports gay marriage and universal health care, and seems to believe that the government shouldn't reach into personal lives. He also was (supposedly, politicians can't ever be 100% trusted) against the nomination of Samuel Alito (I think the #1 worst thing so far done by Bush), which is a direct opposition to Lieberman who refused to go against the Alito nomination.
Lieberman is basically a politician who made a lot of wrong choices, alienated his voter base and his party and he lost because of it. His loss was not a surprise to anyone because he deserved to lose. It's great to see a powerful incumbent take a fall like that because it shows that sometimes the voters actually pay attention. However, running as an independent is going to do nothing to help his legacy. If he had accepted the loss gracefully and used his connections and former influence, he could become a very important person, like Al Gore or Jimmy Carter. But instead he is going to get in the way of his own party, whine and cry about losing when he really set himself up for a fall and solidify his legacy as a loser. I never really supported him, even when he was Gore's running mate, but it's always sad to see how these great men fall. If 18 years in senate isn't enough to teach him that he needs to support his own party and be a voice of opposition, it's definitely time for a change.
posted by Dan Pasternack at 5:02 PM
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