Seasonal Memory Lapses ( Lieberman)

[cal04]

Medical researchers have identified a host of causes for amnesia, from encephalitis to traumatic brain injury.
I've discovered another cause: political campaigns. Exhibit A: The current campaign in Connecticut for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination. In the wake of challenger Ned Lamont's surprisingly strong showing at last month's Democratic convention, the race has begun to take shape. Both candidates are trying to define the race - and each other - early. Lamont seeks to cast incumbent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman as an out-of-touch apologist and crucial helper of President Bush's Iraq war and environmental, economic and health-care policies.

Lieberman seeks to identify his opponent as an out-of-touch plutocrat. (Lamont, a tech entrepreneur, is worth between $90 million and $300 million.) Meanwhile, in ads and public statements, Lieberman portrays himself as Regular Joe, a fighter for the little guy, in touch with blue-state Connecticut and mainstream Democrats on all issues except Iraq. And somehow we - not just Lieberman - keep a straight face, as if he hadn't just spent 18 years helping Republicans hijack the Constitution and pick on little guy after little guy. The Bush administration values Joe Lieberman because he has been a crucial ally in efforts to free Enron-style corporate crooks from regulation, transfer wealth to the wealthy, hound gays, trample on the rights of government critics and sacrifice the lives of thousands of Americans and Iraqis to dishonest, dangerous military adventurism.

Lieberman understands how, in campaigns, you can make people forget all that. You can change the subject by making fun of your opponent for being rich. Then, with millions of dollars from wealthy donors, you can reinvent your record. Watching Lieberman and Lamont these past few weeks, I had to wonder: Am I the one with amnesia?
So I went up to the attic and pulled out my Lieberman file, with clippings and documents collected from covering him during his three terms in Washington.

It was true. My memory was faulty. I had remembered that, out of the eye of voters back home, Lieberman developed working alliances with the most hypocritical and dangerous right-wingnuts like Ralph Reed and Charles Murray and Bill Bennett. But I had forgotten just how extensive a record he had accumulated. I had forgotten how he played the leading role in 1993 to thwart Democrats who tried to close loopholes allowing companies to cook the books on millions of dollars of stock options. Thus began the regulatory abandonment that spawned Enron and its sibling rip-offs.

more
http://www.courant.com/news/local/northeast/hc-pbass0604.artjun04,0,7611693.column

[movonne]

1. Good article...

[jaysunb]

2. Lets hope Conn voters all see this.

A pretty powerful indictment, I'd say.

[heartofthesiskiyou]

3. DLCer's shouldn't be

so worried about Lieberman's employment. I'm sure Exon will take him back. He's also got the McCain VP option. Hell if he works hard enough for the neocomms and the neocomms win he could even get a cabinet. So the supporters should cheer up.

[Demeter]

4. Connecticut Is Lucky to Have A Candidate WhoCan't Be Bought

Or better said, doesn't need to be bought?