Veteran Senator Joe Lieberman
lost the Connecticut primary to newbie challenger Ned Lamont last night. This is amazing ... Lieberman came *this* close to being Vice President in 2000 (he won it, but the Supreme court was appointing Presidents that year, not the American people). That he could lose to a newcomer like Lamont says a lot about how sick the Democrats are of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. While Lamont ran on an anti-war platform, Lieberman made the fatal error of allying himself with Bush on the war, and it was his undoing.
Lieberman was no doubt thinking in the long term: that in order to win in 2008 he had to position himself as "tough on terrorism", and by proxy, hawkish on Iraq. Thanks to Bushco's spin machine, in 2004 a lot of voters saw terrorism and Iraq as related issues. But a lot's happened since then, and people are wising up. If this was a long-term strategy, it meant short-term disaster, because Lieberman first had to win the support of his own party before worrying about winning over fence-sitters and moderate Republicans. And there are few Democrats who see the war in Iraq as anything but an unmitigated catastrophe, so supporting it wasn't bound to win Lieberman many friends within the party.
He should have known better. Bush is so toxic to all but his most moronic base of rapture-right supporters that even fellow Republicans don't want to be associated with him. It naturally follows that Democrats would send packing anyone who supports Bush or his war. As Joe Lieberman discovered last night, even a hundred pictures with Bill Clinton won't undo the damage caused by one picture with George W.
Lieberman was no doubt thinking in the long term: that in order to win in 2008 he had to position himself as "tough on terrorism", and by proxy, hawkish on Iraq. Thanks to Bushco's spin machine, in 2004 a lot of voters saw terrorism and Iraq as related issues. But a lot's happened since then, and people are wising up. If this was a long-term strategy, it meant short-term disaster, because Lieberman first had to win the support of his own party before worrying about winning over fence-sitters and moderate Republicans. And there are few Democrats who see the war in Iraq as anything but an unmitigated catastrophe, so supporting it wasn't bound to win Lieberman many friends within the party.
He should have known better. Bush is so toxic to all but his most moronic base of rapture-right supporters that even fellow Republicans don't want to be associated with him. It naturally follows that Democrats would send packing anyone who supports Bush or his war. As Joe Lieberman discovered last night, even a hundred pictures with Bill Clinton won't undo the damage caused by one picture with George W.
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