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| Donks to Disown Lieberman? |
| 2006-08-18 |
| A group of Senate Democrats is growing increasingly angry about Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (D-Conn.) campaign tactics since he lost the Democratic primary last week. If he continues to alienate his colleagues, Lieberman could be stripped of his seniority within the Democratic caucus should he defeat Democrat Ned Lamont in the general election this November, according to some senior Democratic aides. In recent days, Lieberman has rankled Democrats in the upper chamber by suggesting that those who support bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by a certain date would bolster terrorists’ planning attacks against the U.S. and its allies. He also sparked resentment by saying last week on NBC’s Today show that the Democratic Party was out of the political mainstream. Democrats are worried that Lieberman may be giving Republicans a golden opportunity to undermine their message. The issue of Lieberman’s seniority would arise most dramatically if Lieberman wins re-election and Democrats recapture control of the chamber. That would slot Lieberman to take over as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the panel primarily responsible for investigating the executive branch. Democrats think their chances of taking back the Senate are growing more and more likely. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last week said he was more confident that Democrats would pick up at least five Senate seats. Allowing Lieberman to retain his seniority could put the senator now running as an independent in charge of the Senate’s chief investigative committee. If Democrats took control of either chamber they would likely launch investigations of the White House’s handling of the war in Iraq and homeland security. “At this point Lieberman cannot expect to just keep his seniority,” said the aide. “He can’t run against a Democrat and expect to waltz back to the caucus with the same seniority as before. It would give the view that the Senate is a country club rather than representative of a political party and political movement.” The view that Lieberman should lose his seniority is likely to become more ingrained among Democrats if Lieberman continues to align himself with Republicans, as he has in the last few days. Lieberman took a call from senior White House political strategist Karl Rove on the day of his primary election. And since losing, he has adopted rhetoric echoing Republican talking points. “If we pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England,” Lieberman said about U.S. troops in Iraq and the recently foiled terrorism scheme. “It will strengthen them, and they will strike again.” Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.) called Lieberman’s statement “regrettable” and said Lieberman “doesn’t get it.” Asked yesterday about the race, Dean said, “Ned will win,” adding that Democratic turnout for Lamont will help the party in other Connecticut races. Lieberman is expected to make a hard sell to Republican voters. Sean Smith, who stepped down as Lieberman’s campaign manager after the primary, told Lieberman as he was resigning that the candidate would have to pursue Republican voters in order to win the general election, said sources familiar with the conversation. Lieberman said he agreed with the analysis, according to the sources. So far, at least 26 Democratic senators have said they are supporting Lamont, including Reid, according to a survey conducted by The Hill. Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Democratic leaders would make no decisions about committees until after the election. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #13 Every bomb in Baghdad, every dead US soldier in Anbar, is another nail in the coffin for the Presidential ambitions of the Dem Senators who voted for the war. Which, after all, is all that matters to Democrats. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-08-18 20:03 |
| #12 Lieberman will win in November and the KOS kids will be in full uproar mode; their Lamontations will be heard all across the country. Even in the Governators Mansion in California. It will be best. |
| Posted by: Conan 2006-08-18 19:01 |
| #11 "Joe's an outsider now; he thinks he can fix this by winning re-election, but the Dhimmis will never consider him part of them again." Nah, hes not JUST useful against the GOP in an evenly decided Senate. Hes also useful for the Bidens, Bayh, Clintons, against their opponents within the Dem caucus. Now with Kos riding high, and Lieberman running as an indie they cant say that out loud. But they all know that the forces that gave the nod to Lamont have no love for them. Theyve got a tricky game to play. If Lieberman does well, that changes things. Also Cantwell. And also, it depends on what happens in Iraq. Every bomb in Baghdad, every dead US soldier in Anbar, is another nail in the coffin for the Presidential ambitions of the Dem Senators who voted for the war. To the point where, Im afraid, Hillary may not run in 2008, let the Kossacks have their day, and lose, and then try in 2012. Kinda the flip side of the Cuomo dilemma in '92. Course he turned out to be wrong, and Iraq war one turned out to be a minor issue. And of course Joe running as an indie bothers some dems. How do y'all feel about McCain? If he ran as an indie against the winner of a GOP primary, would that increase your love for him? I mean it would boost MY respect for him - as Joes run undoubtedly respects yours for Joe. Of course i realize some of you cant see the symmetry between Joe and the RINOs, cause Joe is leaving the "nest of treason and socialism" and McCain is insufficiently loyal to the great hope of the Republic. you cant expect others to share those views though. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-08-18 17:43 |
| #10 No matter how this plays out Joe will not put an R after his name and he won't caucus with the Republicans. IMHO this is just a Donk Side show that we should not spend too much time on because either way we will not pick up this seat. OTWH I do love it when they turn on each other and I hope that this pushed the Donks more to the LLL. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-08-18 15:49 |
| #9 Coming from the same Dem leadership bunch that thought Kerry was going to win, I think ol Joe has a pretty decent chance. Pass the popcorn, this is going to be interesting..... |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-08-18 15:34 |
| #8 It will be interesting to see what happens when he wins. Taranto's been keeping count and something like 6 or 7 current Donk Senators are on record endorsing/supporting Lieberman against Lamont, including all of them that signed the Judicial filibuster "compromise." Could very well get interesting if some of them jump ship, or at least call themselves "Independent". |
| Posted by: BA 2006-08-18 14:38 |
| #7 Additionally, if they anger him, he isn't likely to feel the party-line loyalty he's thus far evinced, when he votes. On matters of conscience no doubt he will continue to vote as he has, but most votes are merely about politicking, after all. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-08-18 13:05 |
| #6 Don't kid yourselves on this one. If the Dhimmis get to 52 seats, they'll strip Lieberman of everything -- seniority, committee assignments, and his name on the coat hook in the Senate cloak room. If the Dhimmis are at 50 or 51, they'll grudgingly tolerate Joe so as to hold a parity or majority, but few of them will go out of their way to work with him. Joe's an outsider now; he thinks he can fix this by winning re-election, but the Dhimmis will never consider him part of them again. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-08-18 13:01 |
| #5 The Angry Left wants a Judenfrei Democratic Party. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-08-18 12:59 |
| #4 Of course, they fail to realize that when Lieberman wins the election, they lose a seat. He won't count as a Donkey anymore. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2006-08-18 12:56 |
| #3 I don't care much for Lieberman anyway, except for support on Iraq and war on terror. He grabbed the ankles of Hollywierd when running for vice president, and he has been a strong "progressive" on other major issues. Last I checked, he didn't want to kill babies like the other donks. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-08-18 12:32 |
| #2 the Dem party is like an aircraft being shot down. The pilots are desperately trying to keep it flying but the damage is done and it will soon self destruck. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-08-18 12:24 |
| #1 Polls are looking good for Lieberman. Looking like 0 for 30 for the Kos Kiddies. Now, the latest poll shows Lieberman at 49 percent, Lamont at 38 percent and Schlesinger at 4 percent. But Poll Director Douglas Schwartz stresses that those numbers only scratch the surface of how voters really feel about this race. One potentially troublesome indicator for Lamont lies in voters' opinions of the candidates: Only 23 percent in the new survey had a favorable opinion of Lamont, while 28 percent had an unfavorable opinion and the rest were mixed. Meanwhile, 43 percent viewed Lieberman favorably and 28 percent viewed him unfavorably, with the rest mixed. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-08-18 12:17 |