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In September 2000, on a heated and very competitive campaign for president of the United States, Democrats were facing two fronts from the Republican right and their own party left. During that campaign, vice presidential hopeful Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) stated, “A vote for [Ralph] Nader is a vote for [George W] Bush.”
And it was Nader’s appearance on that national election, just another vital component, which cost the Democrats the White House. So, is it a surprise that Lieberman would, six-years later, turn around and potentially send another Republican to Washington by splitting his party?
 Writer Richard Ciccarone View his blog. |
If the history of this politician is any indication, you bet.
You see, when "Justifyin’ Joe" was tapped for the vice president position in 2000, he could have resigned his seat in Connecticut to allow the attorney general Richard Blumenthal to win.
There are no guarantees, but many political analysts claim this to be true. With an Al Gore and Lieberman 2000 victory the Senate would have been 50-50 with a Vice President Lieberman breaking ties in favor of a Democrat victory.
But in year 2000 the governor of Connecticut, Republican and now ex-convict John G Rowland, would have filled an empty seat vacated by a White House Lieberman victory with a fellow Republican making the Senate 51–49 in favor of the Republicans.
"Geronimo Joe's" decision of late, after losing the Senate primary race in Connecticut, was not the first time he has gone against the party grain. While former President Bill Clinton was under intense attack for his peccadillo (remember the good old days when that was our national nightmare?) Senator Lieberman was there to make sure he stood for family values decrying that sex in the White House was part of a “mind-set that has helped to threaten the integrity and stability of the family.”
So, where is his “deep disappointment and personal anger” at President George W Bush for taking his perennial vacation while his nation watches the Middle East burn to the ground?
And when Senator Lieberman said: “Except now these feelings have gone beyond my personal dismay to a larger, graver sense of loss for our country, a reckoning of the damage that the president’s conduct has done to the proud legacy of his presidency…” was he referring to the body bags flown home daily of our soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan?
Was Senator Lieberman referring to a war he voted for and to which we still have no clear understanding of its misleading origins or potentially disastrous end? Was he referring to the failed federal response to Hurricane Katrina one year ago? Illegal wiretapping? The scandals surrounding Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, or Tom DeLay?
When Senator Lieberman read that vicious diatribe against President Clinton was he referring to the indictment of Lewis (Scooter) Libby and the Valerie Plame affair, or the fact that this administration hired a gay porn actor to pretend he was part of the press corps? No. He was referring to illicit oral sex only.
I’m not saying that President Clinton had a right to hold prurient doctor exams in our nation's executive suite, what I am saying is that Senator Lieberman’s priorities are short-sighted, egocentric, and pointless.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican. It’s a matter of character and Senator Lieberman’s character is merely an exercise in expedience. The Democratic National Committee will of course attempt to dissuade Lieberman from running as an independent, but that won’t stop "Jumping Joe" from leaping to the independent ticket to make sure that he gives it one more shot at putting his flawed, myopic goals over those of his own party.
Text of Senator Joe Lieberman's televised campaign advertisement airing presently as an independent for the November 2006 election in Connecticut:
"I want to thank my supporters and explain to all of you why I've decided to fight on. I'm staying in this race because I want to keep working for the things that matter to you.
"I've led the Senate on issues like national security, the creation of the 9/11 commission, efforts to stop global warming, protect Social Security and find cures for diseases like cancer and diabetes.
"And I'm staying because I want to help end the war in Iraq in a way that brings stability to the Mideast and doesn't leave us even more vulnerable.
"So much needs to be done, but so little is actually getting done in Washington because our politics have become so partisan and polarized. My 30 years of experience has been about bringing people together.
"I'm Joe Lieberman, and I approved this message because it's time for a new politics of unity and purpose."
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