Losing Faith in Joe Lieberman
I have stirred all day long about what to post on the big Democratic issue of the day. This may be th hardest post I have sat down to write because of my strong defense of former Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Lieberman. After debating with Democratic activists on my belief that Democrats need to keep Joe Lieberman in the United States Senate, the Connecticut Senator announced that he is allowing signatures to be collected that would put him on the ballot as an Independent should he lose the Democratic primary. Oh Joe! You have gone too far on this one and made yourself, and your supporters, look pretty damn stupid!
If you believe in democracy and open-ballot primaries, then you must accept there will be challenges from people representing diverse concerns. I have said in my previous posts that I do not believe Lieberman should be voted out because of a single issue, but in a democratic system that allows issues to be debated, that possibility is always there. It is the nature of our system, and one I would not dare to advocate changing.
Joe Lieberman's actions today are unacceptable. I find it silly to think Lieberman, who stated today he is a Democrat, would turn his back on his party. If voters in the Connecticut Democratic Primary choose Lieberman's opponent, the honorable course to take would be to endorse the party's nominee. That is how democratic primaries work Joe!
I now do not care if Joe Lieberman loses the nomination. I no longer have faith in him as a spokesperson for my party. I held him in high regard until today's announcement, but now realize he is less committed to the party than once thought.
posted by BlueDog Democrat at 7:41 PM
1 Comments:
From a party loyalty standpoint, it obviously looks bad for Joe Lieberman to be holding open the possibility of a independent candidacy. Still, I don't blame him at all. The Moveonner Left lynch mob is forming and there is a strong possibility than Lieberman will lose the Democratic primary. The hard line left is likely to turn out in the primary for Ned Lamont. It's much more difficult to get centrists and other mainstream Democrats out to vote for Lieberman.
Even if Lieberman loses the primary and runs as on a independent ballot line, he is expected to remain in the Democratic Senate Caucus if re-elected. A vote for Joe Lieberman, even running without a party affiliation, will still be a vote for Democratic Senate control.
There was a similar situation like this in Virginia back in 1970 when conservative Democratic U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr. faced likely defeat in his party primary. Byrd opted to run on a independent ballot line 1970 and 1976 but remained in the Democratic Senate caucus until his retirement in 1982.
I expect that the same will be true of Joe Lieberman if he is defeated in the primary but chooses to continue his campaign as a non-party affiliated candidate. That is unless the Democratic Senate Caucus bows to likely pressure by the Moveonners and decides to shun Lieberman. If that happens, Lieberman may be pushed into the arms of the Republicans even though his overall voting record and background is clearly more in line with the Democrats.
Of course, Lieberman would show greater party loyalty if he were willing to accept the decision of the primary voters as the final verdict. Given the vicious attacks by the Moveonner Left, I can understand why Lieberman is not willing to step aside in favor of their candidate Ned Lamont.
Supporting Lieberman as a independent is not truly an act of party disloyalty. A vote for Democratic control of the Senate counts the same regardless of how the member was elected.
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