John Nichols: Democrats see Mr. Right as Mr. Wrong

[Larkspur]

Anyone who has spent much time on the 2004 Democratic presidential campaign trail is familiar with the phrase "Except Lieberman." When grassroots Democrats gather to talk about the crowd of candidates for the party's nomination, there is plenty of disagreement about the merits of the various contenders, but the activists invariably come around to saying, "Of course, I'd support anyone against Bush." Then, as an afterthought, they add, "Except Lieberman."

In reality, most Democrats who attach the "Except Lieberman" qualifier are so angry with Bush that they probably would vote for Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman if he won the party's nod. But not all. And that reality should be a serious concern for leaders of a party that cannot afford to suffer slippage from its base in 2004.

While Lieberman likes to claim that his center-right politics make him the surest Democratic prospect for 2004, the reality is that he is the prominent Democratic contender who would have the hardest time uniting the party. Among the leading contenders, none inspires such antipathy as Lieberman. The latest Iowa Poll of likely participants in that state's first-in-the-nation caucuses found that, in the "least-liked candidate" category, only the Rev. Al Sharpton ranked higher than Lieberman.


<SNIP>

And my favorite line from this piece is highlighted in bold.
While all the other candidates are trying to pick up on Dean's call to arms -- with varying degrees of success -- Lieberman continues to preach a Republican-lite line that is so out of touch with political realities on the ground in America that it inspires laughter at Democratic gatherings. Lieberman thinks he is in a fight for the future of the Democratic party, but the truth is that he has already lost that fight. As Donna Brazile, the manager of the 2000 Gore-Lieberman campaign, explained to the Washington Post in May, "The bottom line is, he is defined as a conservative U.S. senator." While Lieberman disputes that definition, his continued defense of the war with Iraq and his refusal to back off his support for Wall Street's free-trade agenda has pegged him in the minds of many Democrats as a candidate who is way out of step with a party that questions the war and complains about the loss of more than two million manufacturing jobs in recent years.
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EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

I'm not the only one laughing at Lieberman.

[wryter2000]

1. link please?

TIA

[Larkspur]

5. Sorry, it's on Commondreams.org

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0805-11.htm

[sfecap]

2. His Iowa campaign chief resigned?

Buh bye, Joe...

[Kolesar]

3. How about "Joe Lieberman needs to be played by someone else" in Slate.com?

http://slate.msn.com/id/2086592/

This is very uncomplementary:

...excerpt...
Today's speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., illustrates the conundrum. Essentially, Lieberman is here to declare war on Howard Dean and the left. He starts off with a boxing metaphor: "Today I'm in training for two bouts. The first is a fight for the future of the Democratic Party. The second, the main event," is against Bush. Since Bush "is covering up on his right, a left hook is not going to knock him out. We've got to go right up the middle," says Lieberman. He vows to stay in the fight for the full "15 rounds." He speaks more than a dozen times of "strength" and "fighting."

That's the message. The messenger, however, looks unconvinced. The first question he gets is whether he's aiming his remarks at Dean. Lieberman replies that he "respects" Dean's opposition to the Iraq war, "but I just plain disagree with it." Disagree? This isn't some Iowa town hall where candidates have to suck up to an anti-war crowd. This is the epicenter of Beltway moderation. Yet Lieberman can't pull the trigger.

Lieberman's body language is even more incongruous. He speaks of "strength" in a faint, creaky voice. He makes a fist but never clenches it and seldom raises it above the podium. When he does swing it forward in an attempt to look forceful, his head reclines away, as though he's the one getting punched. "My campaign has a lot of energy," he asserts in a voice trailing off. "I'm standing for something," he insists as he leans on the podium. In the flattest tone imaginable, he drones that he's "stunned" by Bush's lack of preparation for postwar Iraq. He accuses Bush of "tighten the noose around working families' necks" and tries to illustrate the noose, but somehow can't manage to close the distance between his hands to less than 18 inches. He threatens to hit Bush "right up the middle" but defuses the gesture with an avuncular grin.
...end excerpt...

This is hilarious:

Half the time, he looks bored and tired. The rest of the time, he tries to be funny but ends up playing Shecky Lieberman, a smut-fighting, pro-invasion stand-up comic.

...end excerpt...

[ThorsteinVeblen]

4. Lieberman is a clown and a SOB

This article says it all beautifully - it rings with truth.

He is a disgrace to the Democratic Party and completely out of touch.

[Terran]

6. Larkspur

Please review DU's rules regarding posting of copyrighted material--a maximum of four paragraphs may be excerpted.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html#copyright

Thanks,

Dirk - DU Moderator