In Middle Of Road, Lieberman Hits Bumps

[Dover]

In middle of road, Lieberman hits bumps

By BILL ADAIR
St. Petersburg Times
25-AUG-03

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- As John Durkin sits in a corner booth at the Merrimack Restaurant, eating scrambled eggs beneath framed photos of Bill Clinton, Al Gore and other presidential candidates, he has harsh words for the presumptive heir to Clinton-Gore, Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Durkin, a former U.S. senator, says Lieberman brought an important spark to the Democratic ticket three years ago. Lieberman's son even worked on one of Durkin's campaigns. But Durkin is unhappy with the Connecticut senator's recent comments that the party is becoming weak on defense and wants to raise taxes.

"He's intimated that almost everyone who doesn't agree with his right-wing perch is part of the 'loony left,' " says Durkin, who is uncommitted in the race.

"He's on a tear, he's criticizing everyone," Durkin adds. "Joe just seems to be on a self-destructive binge."

Lieberman has lots of advantages for his presidential campaign: sky-high name recognition, a top-notch staff and close ties to party activists around the nation. He's using the same centrist approach that helped Clinton win.

Yet he is struggling. He is fourth in the latest polls in New Hampshire and Iowa and his support has dropped in the past few months. Some voters say he lacks pizzazz and isn't offering enough new ideas....>> MORE

http://204.78.57.12/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=LIEBERMAN-08-25-03

[lcordero]

1. name recognition????PULEEZE!!!!

The average person couldn't name one person in the race for the Democratic nomination. If name recognition was a factor then Sharpton would be leading the polls by miles and miles.

[Forkboy]

2. Joe is a bump

[mmm]

3. a speed bump :)

[calimary]

4. Wouldn't it be great if Holy Joe's implosion means

that you CANNOT diss or dismiss the liberal wing of the Democratic Party> Seems to me that's the ONE THING they haven't yet embraced - being true to our liberal/progressive roots - which would explain the wholesale failure last November.

To ME, anyway, that's what the handwriting on the wall says.

[cosmicdot]

5. Dear Joe ... please read Jim Hightower's book (for starters)

There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos

[Larkspur]

6. Lieberman brought energy to Gore's 2000 campaign?

When Lieberman was picked as Gore's running mate in 2000, he brought energy to a campaign that was floundering.

Actually, I thought that it was Gore's populist roots that brought energy to Gore's campaign. Lieberman was trying to uproot Gore's populism.

[billbuckhead]

7. He hit a bump so hard, it knocked his alignment out, now he pulls to the..

right real hard.

[Larkspur]

8. That's a good one

Ha Ha Ha Ha

[burr]

9. During the Lieberman/Cheney lovefest, I knew something was wrong...

But I guess we already knew Senator...you're no Lloyd Bentsen.

On top of this Lieberman did nothing to help Gore win in close states and certainly not in the Senator's state, which Gore would of won anyway. The argument can be made that Lieberman hurt Gore among Nader voters in close states like New Hampshire and Florida. And he did nothing to help Gore among blue collar union voters who were being hit with a new wave of unemployment and losses in health insurance. And yet Lieberman was picked in order to play down these problems in favor of a message that promoted the Millennia Act and government lockboxes.