Lieberman gets what he deserves

[voyager12]

Joe Lieberman has very likely lost the primary against Ned Lamont Which is a good thing in my opinion. I wish I could have been a CT resident for one day so I could have voted against him. He was Bush's biggest cheerleader for that needless bloody horror show that only gets worse every day. Maybe if he had respected the majority of his constituents beliefs and opposed the war at the outset he would not be in this position. But not Joe "he" knows better than anyone else. Its this arrogance that is fueling his independent bid. Joe is going to call himself an "Independent Democrat". Sorry. Ned Lamont is the Democratic nominee. If he had any respect he would bow out now and endorse Ned for the sake of party unity. That was Lamont's plan if he lost. The fact that Joe is putting his own lust for power ahead of the wishes of the Democratic voters of his home state is truly sad and unexcusable, the Party is better off without him.

[waccamatt]

Joe Lieberman has very likely lost the primary against Ned Lamont Which is a good thing in my opinion. I wish I could have been a CT resident for one day so I could have voted against him. He was Bush's biggest cheerleader for that needless bloody horror show that only gets worse every day. Maybe if he had respected the majority of his constituents beliefs and opposed the war at the outset he would not be in this position. But not Joe "he" knows better than anyone else. Its this arrogance that is fueling his independent bid. Joe is going to call himself an "Independent Democrat". Sorry. Ned Lamont is the Democratic nominee. If he had any respect he would bow out now and endorse Ned for the sake of party unity. That was Lamont's plan if he lost. The fact that Joe is putting his own lust for power ahead of the wishes of the Democratic voters of his home state is truly sad and unexcusable, the Party is better off without him.

I agree; Joe is a sore loser if he runs as an independent.

[FromCityToRural]

My whole beef with CT notwithstanding, I think the Democratic party needs more moderates such as himself running. Being a fiscal conservative and a social liberal myself, I have a hard time voting for republicans today, but also have a hard time stomaching what the Democratic party does. Lieberman's a breath of fresh air for fencesitters like myself who make up the MAJORITY of the electorate in this country, most of whom are pretty sick of the polarization of both parties.

[MJLO]

I agree; Joe is a sore loser if he runs as an independent.

yes, but polls still show him winning the election if he runs as an independent. Does that make him a sore loser, or political stategist.

[Cotuit]

Oh this isn't going to be a pretty thread.

[Charlotteman]

I was an enthusiastic supporter of Gore/Lieberman in 2000. My voting patterns tend to favor the lesser of two evils startegy---but with Gore, I actually voted FOR a candidate.

So I guess I still have a little soft spot in my heart for Lieberman:)

It's remarkable how Lieberman has caught such intense fire for supporting Bush/Iraq. This is perhaps a rare one-issue election. Lieberman loses, and the word will be out that the war is NOT a popular thing~~~

[monsoon]

Liberman is a status quo career politician and the fact that he won't support his party after he lost the primary is a sure sign of it. We are in an unnecessary and unjust war because of do nothing politicians like Liberman and I am glad he he lost the election. I hope the people of Conn have the good sense not to elect him as an independent.

[drc72]

yes, but polls still show him winning the election if he runs as an independent. Does that make him a sore loser, or political stategist.

And he probably will win too. Many CT Republicans that called in on CSPAN said they will bypass their candiate and vote for Lieberman. And then you got the Dems that already voted for him in the primary too. I for one am gonna vote for Lieberman.!!!

[jack]

Screw party loyalty. If he can win as an Independent, I say go for it. He is supposed to represent the people CT. If they elect him as a Independent, then he has their support. I hope he wins especially since primaries tick me off.

[runawayjim]

party loyalty is what's wrong with the democrats as well as teh republicans. joe is a true moderate and truly represents his constituents more than most. i hope he wins this election as he really does fight for CT.

he might have voted for the war, but he is also in favor of a concrete plan to end the war, which is more than you can say for most republicans.

if i still lived in CT, i'd definitely be voting for him.

[michaelskis]

Maybe he should start is own party.

[monsoon]

This was a brilliant advert. I hope we see more of it.

[runawayjim]

This was a brilliant advert. I hope we see more of it.

i hope we see less attacking ads and more that deal with actual issues. but it was creative, i'll giev you that.

the issue i have with that ad, is it only deals with 1 issue. and that's why lieberman lost... because of 1 issue. he'll win the election in november because of the other issues, which can be considered more important to the people of CT (as a former CT resident of over 20 years, i know this).

john kerry voted in favor of the war, yet the democrats supported him. why wasn't there a huge fight about that? he also had a great majority of the votes in CT for president. i think it's funny that they can forget that now... lieberman might be in favor of the war, but he is also in favor of a plan to bring it to an end, something you can't say about most republicans.

[monsoon]

I lot of Democrats, especially Southern Democrats, did not support Kerry. I am one of them. I almost sat out the 2004 election because I almost could not stomach voting for him but eventually I thought that even he would be better than 4 more years of Bush. I hope the voters in Mass do the same to Kerry that CT did to Liberman when his term is up. The Democrats have been plagued by do nothing politicians for a long time and its good to see them being swept out of office.

[runawayjim]

I lot of Democrats, especially Southern Democrats, did not support Kerry. I am one of them. I almost sat out the 2004 election because I almost could not stomach voting for him but eventually I thought that even he would be better than 4 more years of Bush. I hope the voters in Mass do the same to Kerry that CT did to Liberman when his term is up. The Democrats have been plagued by do nothing politicians for a long time and its good to see them being swept out of office.

lieberman is hardly do nothing... he stands for what he stands for and makes it very clear what he stands for (almost all of which is what his constituents want).

i think him going independent will be a good start for a more moderate third party to come into play... we can't just think of this as republicans and democrats. the democratic party as a whole sucks just as much as the republican party. unfortunately, it's nearly impossible for third party candidates to get anywhere without money (like ross perot).

[voyager12]

Silly me, but I thought it was an elected representative's job to listen to the beliefs of their constitutents and work FOR them. CT is a very liberal state, the majority of residents are anti-war. Did Joe listen to his citizens? No. He criticized his fellow Democrats for even speaking in a negative manner about the hellish fiasco we are stuck in now. And then he expects to be reelected by Democratic primary voters who are the ones that actually pay attention? While Lieberman's defeat may have been based on anti-war anger, his loss is also emblematic of how far he has drifted to the right. He supported the inexcusable intrusion into family privacy in the Terri Schiavo case, along with fanatics like Tom Delay and Rick Sanitarium. When asked if hospitals should be forced to dispense birth control regardless of religious affiliation which is the LAW. He said no. In an interview, Lieberman said "CT is a small state and its just a short ride" to another hospital. Hence the moniker "Short Ride Joe". I know the liberal interest groups endorsed him: Human Rights Campaign, NARAL, Planned Parenthood because they do not want to lose the clout of an incumbent. I hope they decide now to endorse a true progressive like Ned Lamont and leave Joe twisting in the wind. Conventional wisdom says Joe will easily win with independents and moderate republicans flocking to him. But I would not underestimate the power of the anti-war, liberal movement. Ned Lamont has to fight for it but he has a good shot and I hope he wins.

[Snowguy716]

We tried the Independent thing here in Minnesota, and while it worked for a little bit (we have one independent in the state house and had an independent governor), it looks like this fall will be straight up democrat/republican like most races.

[runawayjim]

Silly me, but I thought it was an elected representative's job to listen to the beliefs of their constitutents and work FOR them. CT is a very liberal state, the majority of residents are anti-war. Did Joe listen to his citizens? No. He criticized his fellow Democrats for even speaking in a negative manner about the hellish fiasco we are stuck in now. And then he expects to be reelected by Democratic primary voters who are the ones that actually pay attention? While Lieberman's defeat may have been based on anti-war anger, his loss is also emblematic of how far he has drifted to the right. He supported the inexcusable intrusion into family privacy in the Terri Schiavo case, along with fanatics like Tom Delay and Rick Sanitarium. When asked if hospitals should be forced to dispense birth control regardless of religious affiliation which is the LAW. He said no. In an interview, Lieberman said "CT is a small state and its just a short ride" to another hospital. Hence the moniker "Short Ride Joe". I know the liberal interest groups endorsed him: Human Rights Campaign, NARAL, Planned Parenthood because they do not want to lose the clout of an incumbent. I hope they decide now to endorse a true progressive like Ned Lamont and leave Joe twisting in the wind. Conventional wisdom says Joe will easily win with independents and moderate republicans flocking to him. But I would not underestimate the power of the anti-war, liberal movement. Ned Lamont has to fight for it but he has a good shot and I hope he wins.

joe might be more moderate, but he is still left of center on almost all of the issues.

why are we still polarizing everything to right and left, democrat and repubican? i think that's the biggest mistake we are making as a country, and this whole lieberman thing is playing right into that. he'll win in november because most of CT wants him to win. he lost the primary not because most of CT was against the war but because most CT democrats were against the war (which is less than half of the population of CT) and put the war before all the other issues, which, in my opinion, should not have been forgotten about.

[monsoon]

Actually a lot of CT voters being interviewed on TV said they didn't vote for Liberman because he had lost touch with them. They said he was too focused on national issues and not paying enough attention to the needs of the state. The war was secondary to them.

[drc72]

joe might be more moderate, but he is still left of center on almost all of the issues.

why are we still polarizing everything to right and left, democrat and repubican? i think that's the biggest mistake we are making as a country, and this whole lieberman thing is playing right into that. he'll win in november because most of CT wants him to win. he lost the primary not because most of CT was against the war but because most CT democrats were against the war (which is less than half of the population of CT) and put the war before all the other issues, which, in my opinion, should not have been forgotten about.

Exactly!!! The primary is just a fraction of the democratic voters. The true test will come in November, when all the voters will get to decide who they want. Then if Lamont wins in Nov, I can accept that, since the majority of voters choose him. GOD help us if he does win!!! Another thing, Lamont's win wasn't a landslide by any means.

[voyager12]

I for one am sick of "moderates" or "centrists". Pick a side and fight for your core beliefs. Quit trying to straddle the fence and have it both ways...as Joe tried to earlier this week. By saying how he really thinks Bush is doing a bad job now about the war. A little bit too late and too transparent Joe. Nice timing too, right before his likely defeat he tries to move in the direction the rest of the Party has already gone to. I am a very progressive Democrat and loathe pretty much everything very conservative Republicans stand for but respect them for standing up for their beliefs just like me. This country is polarized for better or for worse and centrists like Lieberman are going to have to pick a side or get run over and tossed aside.

[Charlotteman]

Lowell Weicker, another Conn. politician, was able to go the independent route and win the governorship of the state. Of course he was a statesman.....he stood up to the vabid right-wingers of the early 1980s when he was a Republican.

I don't think of Lieberman as a statesman...just a pol.

Lieberman is definitely being a sore loser. He should bow out, and support his party's choice.

[runawayjim]

Lowell Weicker, another Conn. politician, was able to go the independent route and win the governorship of the state. Of course he was a statesman.....he stood up to the vabid right-wingers of the early 1980s when he was a Republican.

I don't think of Lieberman as a statesman...just a pol.

Lieberman is definitely being a sore loser. He should bow out, and support his party's choice.

why should he bow out if the majority of CT voters approve of him? because a bunch of people who don't live in CT think he should? that's what it's starting to sound like in this thread. the people from CT posting here are in favor of lieberman running as an independent. i lived in CT less than 3 years ago. if i was still there, i'd be completely in favor of lieberman, woudl have voted for him in the primary and would vote against lamont. i don't live in CT, so i won't be able to vote for lieberman... instead, i'll be voting for the moderate republican in RI... lincoln chafee.

[voyager12]

If all these "people" in CT are so enamored with Lieberman they should have registered to vote in the primary. Too bad for them if they were too lazy to care or disinterested. All the Democratic Senators that supported Lieberman during the primary and the Party at large are doing the right thing by pledging allegiance to Ned Lamont. Joe is a sore loser who only cares about maintaining his own power. I was listening to the political analysis on NPR this morning and CT is one of the few states were pols are allowed to run with one of the major parties and also have the right to run independent if it does not "work out". Its an anomaly that needs to be fixed. It would have prevented Joe's upcoming vanity tour. There is no such thing as an "Independent Democrat" Lieberman needs to convince the Republican candidate to step down so he can join that party and be their man. He would fit right in.

[Cotuit]

the issue i have with that ad, is it only deals with 1 issue. and that's why lieberman lost... because of 1 issue.

If he can't overcome one issue, if he can't properly explain why he voted for the war, and what his current position is, and how that position relates to his past support, if he can't move the dialogue beyond one issue to make the race about more than one issue, than how good of a Senator is he really? Senators need to be juggling a lot of issues and Leiberman in this race hasn't shown that he can even handle one thing at a time.