Look who's still on top in Connecticut
National Democrats denounced Joe Lieberman for resuming his re-election campaign as an independent after losing the party primary.
Now they need the veteran Connecticut senator after his strong victory over Ned Lamont today.
Make them crawl, Joe.
Look, there's no question Lieberman is a Democrat. He should stay in the Democratic caucus. I doubt he's the type to hold grudges.
But he shouldn't forget, either, how badly the left wing of the party (which is to say most of it) wanted to get rid of him.
Comments (7)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
May I please just re-inject a note of reality to this whole Lieberman/Lamont discussion, since I've got family and friends who live and work and vote there?
It wasn't just "the left wing of the Democratic Party" that wanted him gone, it was a significant majority of the party along with a fair number of independents. Connecticut's a pretty moderate place (notice how its Republicans are so seldom implicated in some of the loonier theocratic initiatives?). Residents don't perceive Bush as moderate, and to the extent that Lieberman was aligning himself explicitly with Bush and calling on other Dems to do the same -- heck, criticizing other Dems for NOT doing the same -- he was only creating trouble for himself.
Add to that the fact that irrespective of his legislative record, a lot of residents felt he had gotten out of touch after 18 years in the Senate.
So, yes, the antiwar left wing of the Connecticut Democratic Party wanted Lieberman gone, but that is far from the whole story.
I'm curious: Why do you think Lieberman should "make the Democrats crawl"? Where is it written that any incumbent, anywhere, should be immune to a primary challenge?
Posted on November 8, 2006 1:06 PM
Crawl maybe isn't a good word. If Lieberman gives the Dems a working majority in the Senate, he should make them come to him with some nice offers, like an important committee chair.
Posted on November 8, 2006 2:01 PM
I believe he's in line to resume chairing the Homeland Security and Govt'l Affairs Committee if the Dems retake the Senate. I would call that important.
Posted on November 8, 2006 2:43 PM
Did he get out of line when he became an independent?
Posted on November 8, 2006 2:48 PM
As long as he has continued to caucus with the Dems, which he has, I think he retains his seniority (which normally determines chairmanships), subject to the one-chairmanship-per-senator limit and to any trades the senators might want to make among themselves.
Posted on November 8, 2006 4:45 PM
Lieberman can be counted on to do what's best for Lieberman.
Posted on November 10, 2006 11:15 AM
In contrast to whom?
Posted on November 10, 2006 11:23 AM