Why Joe Lieberman is Fighting for his Political Life

Time ^ | 6/25/06 | PERRY BACON, JR./EAST LYME

[Matchett-PI]

FEC LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO:
FRIENDS OF JOE LIEBERMAN PO BOX 231294
STATE HOUSE SQUARE, Connecticut 06123

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:l_98fBVuEXYJ:herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00235515/U-Z/

[I_Like_Spam]

Politically speaking, a Lieberman loss would definitively be a point of positivity for the GOP, and a definite setback for the Clintons who are staking out the centre for their run in 08.

But for the general good of the country, Sen. Lieberman should win. For all of his defects and leftist ideology, at least Joe is rooting for the nation to win the WOT.

[Matchett-PI]

"..at least Joe is rooting for the nation to win the WOT."

That's big of him.

[kerryusama04]

We're going to get another RINO out of this one. The Dems are moving left so fast that they are taking the Republican Party with them "big tent" style.

[I_Like_Spam]

I don't know how big of him it is, but at least it demonstrates a modicum of sanity, which i think is useful for those in political life and is desperately in short supply among the dems.

[Obadiah]

Joe Lieberman is fighting for his Political Life because the left is unpatriotic and anti-American at best.

Lieberman is a liberal, but he isn't unpatriotic and un-Amercian, and THAT is the reason Democrats hate him.

[BoBToMatoE]

what is funny is i saw a poll where he is beating his opponent by a large margin (i think it was like 17 points).

Um, how is this fighting for your political life?

I think its hype from the left in the msm to make sure that the dems are nothing but a hard core left group.

[wildcatf4f3]

yeah, remember when the N Vietnamese blew up the Empire State Building....apples and oranges...I used to be a Dem, now I despise them.

[The Great RJ]

Joe Libermann is one the last of the last old fashioned Democrats who actually put the country ahead of partisan politics. The radical libs running the DNC will see him excommunicated from his own party.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

I'd be willing to see Joe go down. He has an exaggerated reputation based partly in the lecture (feather pillow beating) he gave Clinton on the Senate floor before he supported him in the Impeachment. A rabidly leftist Democrat for six years in that seat couldn't be much worse. And I like the prospect of a snapback effect in '12.

[Once-Ler]

The liberal blogosphere has made defeating Lieberman one of its chief causes of 2006, poring in thousands of dollars to Lamont's campaign and constantly bashing Lieberman, especially for his fervent support of the Iraq War and standing as the strongest Democratic supporter of President Bush’s policies there.

This is wonderful news. The story ignored by the drive-by-media is the deep division within the rat party over Iraq. It will be come clear in Nov that the rats are in far worse disagreement than the GOP.

[drierice]

During his run for VP, Lieberman showed he can be as hypocritical as any politician. But he still has some actual 'integrity' (a word that may vanish from the dictionary soon.) So I really hope he wins.

If he loses, it moves the Dems farther to the extreme left - but still good news for Republicans. But if he loses and the Dems all become Howard Dean clones, and if (heaven forbid) Pelosi then becomes Speaker of the House, I may redeploy myself to Canada. So, let's hope he wins.

[pollyannaish]

This is an interesting article. Not from the Lieberman standpoint, but from the VN vet standpoint.

Why are veterans of all people in his face about this? Aren't they the ones that have said over and over that the military should make the decisions, not politicians? And now that is happening and they don't like it because...

The one thing that Iraq has clarified is that the wounds from VN are so deep that unless we heal that wound by doing this conflict right and sticking it out until we win...we will never be able to win a conflict again.

Oh yes. And I HATE the media. Still.

[Gorobei]

If Lieberman became a Republican, he'd be a worse RINO than Specter is. He'll he'd be to the left of Maine's Doublemint Twins.

[quantim]

If Lieberman had sense, he'd be a Republican.

So too for Zell Miller.  And unlike Joe, he could be President.  

I'll never forget his fiery speech at the GOP convention.  But as long as he retains the same party affiliation as Pelosi, Fat Ted, Dirty Harry, and the rest he'll never be taken seriously.

[republicanwizard]

I don't care how liberal he is on domestic issues - on the one issue that really matters, national security, he is with us.

[baltoga]

Lieberman showed loyalty to his candidancy in 2000. He now show loyalty to our nation. He's is rare breed of senators who THINK what they say:

is it True?
is it Helpful?
is it Inspiring?
is it Necessary?
is it Kind?

[Southack]

Time Magazine is filled with know-nothing nutcases.

Lieberman *isn't* fighting for his political life. Polls show that he will win re-election by 64% when he runs as an Independent.

So he can lose the Democratic primary, run and win as an Independent, and then he'll still stick with his beloved Dems by caucusing with them in the Senate ala Senator Jumpin' Jim Jeffords (nominally an Independent Senator).

The good news in all of the above is that by refusing to join the GOP, Lieberman will remain locked out of committee chairmanships.

But to pretend (or worse, actually believe) that Lieberman is fighting for his political life is to not understand the first thing about American politics.

Then again, this is Time Magazine that we're talking about, so no sane adult should be too surprised...

[kabar]

Lieberman will win the nomination and be reelected easily. This is a tempest in a teapot. The MSM and the Dems like to exaggerate the story because it keeps the Dem reps on the reservation when it comes to the war and bashing Bush.