For Lieberman, the 'I' Stands for 'Ignored'

The Washington Post ^ | September 7, 2006 | Dana Muilbank

[libstripper]

You could feel the temperature drop as Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut entered the Senate chamber yesterday for the first time since he lost his Democratic primary last month and became an independent candidate.

Democratic leaders Richard Durbin (Ill.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) kept a safe distance. Christopher Dodd (Conn.) gave him a perfunctory handshake. Harry Reid (Nev.), the minority leader, turned his back; when Lieberman approached, Reid indulged him in a quick handshake then quickly busied himself in another conversation.

Republican Susan Collins (Maine), spying Lieberman alone in the center aisle, rushed over with a hug and a kiss -- and a pledge to campaign for him in Connecticut. Could she feel the daggers in his back when she hugged him? Collins chuckled. "I told him I'm going to get him a dog named Harry," she told reporters later.

Harry Truman's famous adage -- If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog -- has never been truer. After Lieberman was vanquished by antiwar candidate Ned Lamont in last month's primary, 40 of the 45 members of the Senate Democratic caucus abandoned their longtime colleague and their party's former vice presidential nominee. In this town, partisanship is thicker than friendship.

[libstripper]

The Hezbocrats' internal Battle of Verdun heats up. What's most interesting of all about this article is that the whole Hezbocrat establishment is irreversibly marrying itself to Red Ned. If the Pubbies can't use this against them throughout the country, the Pubbies can't do anything.

[mewzilla]

[Aussie Dasher]

Lieberman's going to caucus with these Rats if he wins????

[Non-Sequitur]

So how warm a welcome did the GOP give Jim Jeffords?

[msnimje]

But how are these fair-weather friends (and Americans) going to react the morning after the election if Joe wins?

[Spktyr]

He's got to be having second or third thoughts about this. After all, if he stays as an independent, even if he does caucus with the Rats, he'll still lose all of his prized committee seats.

[ClearCase_guy]

Lieberman will support the rats completely if he wins. He will forget how much they wanted him gone. Because Joe is a far-left ideologue. He's not as crazy as Lamont, but Joe will side with the socialists, no matter what the socialists do to him.

[Spktyr]

Thing is, though, the rest of the Rats won't forget how he showed them and their chosen candidate up and they'll continue to backstab him. The Rats are singularly unforgiving of failure in general.

[saganite]

Joe's already wrapped it up. He's way out in front of Lamont and has overwhelming Republican support in Conn. The Republicans have abandoned their own candidate in favor of Lieberman. The Dem's are going to have to live with the fact that they abandoned Lieberman and he got re elected.

[paudio]

At this moment, I think it would be wiser for him not to announce with whom he's going to caucus next year if he's re-elected. He has said he'll be with the Dims, and I think it's fine. Having him back will be like status quo (well, perhaps a bit positive albeit very little) as far as CT senator goes, while having Lamont will be a big negative.

[dawn53]

No, no. You can't compare Jeffords to Lieberman.

Jeffords ran as a Republican, won, and then switched to an Independent.

Jeffords abandoned his party.

Lieberman was abandoned by his party, and now he is running as an Independent to save his "political skin."

[when the time is right]

Jeffords abandoned the Republican party and gave the Democrates control of the Senate. Liberman was abandoned by the Democrate party which did not affect control of the Senate. There is a BIG difference there and if you can't understand that you don't under stand politics.

[stocksthatgoup]

Having a left wing freak in the Senate makes for better laugh lines! Unfortunately it makes for great danger too.

[Aussie Dasher]

Is Lieberman currently sitting as a Rat or Ind Senator?

[Shery]

Hopefully he'll see the 'light' and ignore them! What a bunch of snobs. They're really mad because they'll lose the seat in November to him, and he'll be free to vote whatever way he pleases instead of following the party line. LOL! The best thing is that they did it to themselves. Gotta love it!

[fortheDeclaration]

Lieberman's going to caucus with these Rats if he wins????

You will see how 'warm' the Democrats get after he wins.

Lieberman's only fault with the Democrats is actually believing that the nation should be defended!

In every other area, he is a true blue liberal.

Yet, to the Democrats, this is the worst of all crimes.

That should be a wake-up call to all Republicans who want to sit home in this next election.

[Raycpa]

He will adapt his issues to whatever restores his power.

[Non-Sequitur]

There is a BIG difference there and if you can't understand that you don't under stand politics.

Near as I can tell there is a BIG difference because you say so. In either case it's a question of party loyalty. Of course the Democrats are going to support the nominee of their party, regardless of years of support of Lieberman. If Chaffee loses his primary in Rhode Island and announces he's running as an independent then who do you think the Republicans would get behind? He, too, could make the case that the Republican party abandoned him but he wouldn't get a whole lot of sympathy and even less support from the party. In any case it's not going to make a bit of difference. Assuming Lieberman wins in November I give the whole independent nonsense 6 months before he's back in the fold as a Democrat once again.

[mr_hammer]

Hey, does anybody think that the two parties are crumbling and will morph into some other party. Like for instance the Socilaist / Globalist party. We can through the Rats and Rino's into that party and the solid Conservatives can form their own party or purge the GOP.

[srmorton]

There is a BIG difference between what Jeffords did and what Lieberman did. Jeffords won the election in Vermont as a Republican and was needed for their slim one vote majority in the Senate. He chose to switch to an Independent and caucus with the Democrats after the election, creating the 50-50 split that led to Trent Lott's stupid decision to "share" power.

Even though Joe ran in the primary as a Democrat, he has now officially switched to an Independent and will be elected as such. This is what Phil Gramm from Texas did years ago. Instead of switching from Democrat to Republican after an election, he resigned his Democrat seat and ran as a Republican and was re-elected.