The Bush administration values Joe Lieberman because he has been a crucial ally in efforts to free Enron-style corporate crooks from regulation, transfer wealth to the wealthy, hound gays, trample on the rights of government critics and sacrifice the lives of thousands of Americans and Iraqis to dishonest, dangerous military adventurism.
Lieberman understands how, in campaigns, you can make people forget all that. You can change the subject by making fun of your opponent for being rich. Then, with millions of dollars from wealthy donors, you can reinvent your record. (Bass)
There's much, much more. One of the principal defenses of Joe Lieberman has been his high ratings from liberal interest groups. Bass dismantles that notion:
Now it's true that Lieberman earns high marks on Democratic interest group "report cards." That's because he plays a shell game in which liberal interest groups are complicit. He gets the "right" mark for voting against Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination, for instance. But he gives the Bush administration the vote it needs to make Alito a judge, by voting to stop a filibuster.
Similarly, he held back on voting for Clarence Thomas's nomination until the first Bush administration saw it had the votes. Then Lieberman could safely vote against Thomas and earn the "right" grade. (Bass)
Bass describes Lieberman as the quintessential Washington politician, who will do anything to stay in power while simultaneously turning his back on the people who put him there. Bass says "Good people do awful things when power tempts." He's right. They do.
The list of charges Bass brings against Lieberman is exhaustive. What's worse is that I'm sure it's only scratching the surface. I know there's more.
Lieberman's greatest strength is that he appears to be a decent, honest, regular guy who fights for what he believes in. He appears to be a man of conscience, a rare statesman in a time of partisanship.
But what if that's not entirely true? What if Bass is right about Lieberman, even only just a little bit? What if Lieberman has become too much a creature of Washington, and too little the New Haven attorney general we sent to the Senate eighteen years ago?
If so, Lieberman has arrived at a very, very dangerous moment. This is one of those rare years when national winds are blowing against incumbents-- all incumbents-- and Connecticut Democrats could find themselves hungry for change for the first time in a generation.
Read the article. Then tell me: is this the end of Joe Lieberman?
Source
Bass, Paul. "Seasonal Memory Lapses." Hartford Courant 4 June, 2006.
7 comments:
Heres what you folks are missing,
Go stop at a Truck stop on I95 for breakfast and just sit at the counter and listen.Don't say a word.
Better Yet,Stop at the Diner where all those Municipal Public Works guys you love to hate for getting time and a half to plow snow for 50 hrs. straight and Listen.
When your done with that ask the next guy you see who owns a very small Cape and has a couple of kids and a wife and mows his own lawn which way he's voting in Aug or Nov.
Then go to your local Senior Center During your lunch Break.Be Prepared though because alot of these guys saw action in WW2 and they're pissed as all hell.
Reagan Republicans are Flooding back home and that may be the Biggest Legacy yet of George W Bush.
Have a sparkling Sunday Evening Derby Conservative.
I'm not convinced that even in a three way race, the Republican would win. It'd be a closer race, of course, but not a guaranteed win. There just aren't that many Republicans.
If Lamont wins the election, he'd be one of the most liberal senators in the country, although Bernie Sanders of Vermont would likely be more left-wing.
Nationally, it looks like the Republicans are probably going to hold the Senate. The Republicans have a good chance to pick up the Minnesota and NJ seats, and pretty much every single contested Senate seat has to swing Democrat. It could happen, but it's not likely to happen.
But the Democrats in the Senate would likely be more to the left than they are now. Certain elements within the far-left side of the Democrats, such as DailyKos et al, would likely threaten more primary fights if Democrats didn't move more to the left.
And if the Democrats do recapture the Senate, don't expect DailyKos and the rest to not be relentless in trying to push the Democrats further to the left.
This will probably end up being good for the Republican party, because the Democrats would likely be driven further to the left of the American mainstream. However, it would almost paradoxically not be good for the "conservative movement" in the country, because if the Democratic party moves closer to the "fringe left", then the Republicans will move more to the center.
If Lamont loses the primary to Lieberman, then this would likely cause many Lamont supporters to stay home on election day, therefore assuring Rell of a large victory. This would be especially true if Rell were up by 10% or 15% in the polls leading up to the election.
So in any event, I don't think Lamont's running is going to push Connecticut's senate seat to the Republican side, his run will help Republicans.
TrueBlueCT said... "
The majority of the country is to the left of the current GOP leadership."
Okay - but the majority is not to left of Lenin which is where Lamont seems to be headed.
It all about who comes out to the polls.
Look, Kenneth Dautrich has been saying something I've been screaming since the beginning...it's all about the turnout and when you think about who votes in primaries, the only conclusion you can come to is that Joe is screwed.
Primary=hardcore Democrats=small town voters=Lamont supporters.
Ned's campaign stroke of genius was having Ned go to every small town in the state and make his case to the people. Go back and check the delegate count and see which towns support Ned. You think people in Hartford are going to the polls? Bridgeport? Norwalk? Hard core liberals are going to show up to the polls in busloads for Lamont and they live in small to mid size towns.
For Ned, it's not about beating Joe in the primary, at this point, it's about getting his supporters to the polls and beleive me, they're going to show up. I can't say the same about Joe's buddies (many of whom say one thing in public and will do another thing in the privacy of a voting booth).
Joe's campaign hasn't had a good day let along a week since Lamont's campaign announcement. With less than 10 weeks to go, where is Joe? Is he campaigning anywhere? Where's his supporters? I'm looking around...can't find anyone standing up for him.
I say, Joe jumps ship by July and take a gamble on the general election. If he loses the primary adn then goes for the indy route, he'll REALLY piss off Democrats and his "supporters" will cut him loose in a heartbeat (or else they'll be next on the chopping block). I think the nail in the coffin might be the next round of polls.
My two cents.
I suppose that Lamont Digital Systems will be the state cable provider. Well, it can't be as bad as Cox.
Thanks Patricia,
I heard you were chosen as the new Spokesmodel for Sean Smiths low information voter strategy.
and you don't even have to give up that patronage Job? SWEET!!
BRubenstein said... "
you accuse Lamont of possibly communism and having positions " left of Lenin"..have you no shame? you owe an apology bud."
Why not just call the FBI?
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