August 04, 2006
Joe Lieberman and the Demise of Moderate Democrats
We're creeping up to the Connecticut Democratic primary on August 8. As a registered Republican, I obviously cannot vote on Tuesday, but I will be watching with great interest.
Challenger and newbie Ned Lamont has an edge over Lieberman in the polls. However, as we all know, polls don't mean squat when it comes down to nuts and bolts. It's election results that matter, and so it ain't over until the last vote has been counted.
Lieberman has said he will run as an independent if he loses the primary, something that may give Republican Chris Schlesinger a fighting chance in November. To me, though, this scenario isn't so much about whether a Republican or a Democrat will win the seat (although I want a Republican to win). It's more about a case study of the splintering of the Democratic party.
Joe Lieberman has been a model Democrat for most of his 18 years in office. What has proven to be his downfall is his support for our presence in the Middle East, specifically Iraq. He has not waffled like John Kerry and others, and is unashamed of his support of our president's policies on national defense.
Will social liberal Lieberman be ousted in favor of Lamont, whose main appeal is his anti-war stance? Does his hard work in favor of so many Democratic causes mean nothing because of one issue?
A liberal friend of mine said to someone we know who went to work for Lieberman's campaign, "Tell Joe that he won't have my vote unless he changes his stance on Iraq." The rest of his policies be damned, I guess.
So many politicians bend with the winds of the latest polls. Joe Lieberman is a man of principle, and he should be admired as such. Unfortunately, in today's Democratic party, it seems that men like Lieberman are few and far between. And if the hard liners have their way, they'll become nonexistent. So will the chance for bipartisan support on critical issues such as national defense.
Moderate Democrats are going the way of the dinosaur. And that doesn't make for healthy political dialogue. If Lamont wins the primary, it's a loss for Democrats.
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as a connecticut democrat i'll proudly cast my vote this tuesday for ned lamont not solely because of the war in iraq. ned represents many of the progressive causes which joe lieberman has let fallen by the wayside in his 18 years in office. in 18 years he has never once offered forward or signed onto a piece of legislation to offer universal health care for those who cannot afford it. he has signed onto the bush/cheney energy bill, a bill opposed by all other new england senators as one which was created by energy industry lobbyists and not energy experts. he has backed efforts to privatize social security, to steal funding from public schools in the form of vouchers and to force rape victims to travel from hospital to hospital in search of emergency contraception.
the war in iraq isn't the only reason i support lamont but, each day, it gives me 230 million reminders why we need change in washington, and that change will start with Ned Lamont.
Posted by: steve at August 4, 2006 03:49 PMGeez, they just don't make liberals like they did when I was one. I was a real liberal, in the classical sense, not a socialist.
Universal Health Care is just a sanitized word of Socialized Medicine. Most of our deficit is because of socialistic spending by Congress and not-vetoed by the President.
And I am sorry, but New England Senators just don't know much about energy production, perhaps except for hydropower. Conservation is important, but in the short run, we need increased production so as not to strangle the free-market system that will develop and nurture the energy-saving technologies of tomorrow.
Posted by: joe-6-pack at August 4, 2006 04:48 PM
