Question about Senator Lieberman (no flames please)

[stuartrida]

I am trying to get information on Senator Lieberman. I am new here and I am not terribly knowledgeable about this race. I realize that only a few people here support him, and my question is more to you. Can you explain to me why it was good for Senator Lieberman to do this:

"Lieberman made a similar choice in the 2000 election. He hedged his bets then as well, by running for re-election as Connecticut senator while also running for vice president. It sent a great message of confidence for the ticket he was part of, but worse yet, had Gore won (as he would have without the Florida machinations), Lieberman would have had to resign his Senate seat and be replaced by Republican governor John Rowland. Given that the Senate ended up split 50/50 (until Senator Jeffords left the Republican party), this would have brought about a major political loss. But none of that mattered to Joe. His prime loyalty has always been to himself, from the first time he took money from William F. Buckley to run against moderate Republican Lowell Weickert."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070606G.shtml

I understand that it is legal, but I don't understand why he would risk subjecting the people of Connecticut to a Republican Senator, and I don't understand why he would risk subjecting America to another Republican in the Senate, and a stronger Republican majority. Am I looking at this the wrong way?

I'd like to hear from people who have more than just nasty things to say about Senator Lieberman.

Thank you!

[Taverner]

1. My guess is he wanted to keep his job

I don't hold that against him so much (although it is a bit telling of his character) but more how he has gone out of his way to support the neo-cons.

[Journeyman]

2. It's all about Joe. . .

Keep that foremost in mind and everything he does makes perfect sense.

It's all about Joe and only Joe.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[stuartrida]

6. I don't post much, but I have been reading for awhile

I still don't know enough to enter the debates here though.

[question everything]

10. What do you have against newbie? Did anyone attack you when you

were one?

And why the rabid Pavlovian reaction to Lieberman (and to Israel, and to anything Bush or H. Clinton?)

If you cannot reply to that question why even post?

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

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[SCRUBDASHRUB]

4. Welcome to DU.

[LiviaOlivia]

5. I recommend reading this LATimes op-ed. It says it best. IMHO

Why the Left Is Furious at Lieberman
A blogger's blast at the embattled Connecticut senator. Hint: It's not just Iraq.
By Duncan Black, DUNCAN BLACK writes the blog Eschaton www.atrios.blogspot.com under the pseudonym of Atrios and is a senior fellow at Media Matters for America.
July 18, 2006


http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-black18jul18,0,7362225.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

[dsc]

7. arguably he was preventing a 6 year hold on the Senate seat

by running for and winning the seat and then vacating it, he would lose it for two years but Dems would have 2 years to find a candidate. If he quit the race in August then he would have to be replaced and that person would only have a couple of months to run against the GOP nominee who had been running for over a year.

[stuartrida]

8. My understanding is that there were strong Democratic candidates

who would have easily beaten Giordano (sp?) if Senator Lieberman would have dropped out of the race? Wasn't the Democratic asking Senator Lieberman to drop out because the seat would be such an easy win for Democrats?

[dsc]

11. One has to wonder who they were and where they are now

governor O'Neil is cruising to election despite the fact she is only governor due to the fact her predecessor is in jail. If they can't find a statewide candidate to beat her, I wonder if they really had one to beat Girodano. Sure he looks easy to beat now that we know he is a child molesting scum, but we didn't know that back then.

[calico1]

13. Back then he was still a loser.

In fact, the then Gov. Rowland was asked who he would name to be CT Sen. when it was thought that Gore would win. He never even mentioned Giordano. Never campaigned for him or endorsed him. And yes, there were several Democrats who could have easily beaten Giordano had Lieberman dropped out. Atty Gen Blumenthal was the likely one and he would have won easily.

Oh and I was referring to Giordano being in jail, though Rowland is too. Giordano molested two little girls and is serving a life term. Our Gov.'s name is Jodi Rell by the way. O'Neil was our last Democratic Gov.

[dsc]

18. that is admittedly pretty bad for Giordano

Sorry about the name mix up.

[calico1]

12. Yes. The favorite and most likely to run was

the Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal. He would have won easily.

[question everything]

9. Except for Edwards, I don't know of a single candidate

at any level: city, county, state, country - who relinquishes his/her seat and taking his/her chances.

Both Clinton and Bush held their gubernatorial seats until they were elected. Kerry did not give up his, either.

There were also talks that if he won, the CT Governor who was a Republican, I think, was going to fill the seat with a Republican, of course. So this was a hedge for the majority on the Senate and it was wise as we had it only with Jeffords changing from R to Independent.

Had Lieberman gave up his seat and then lost the V.P. elections, we would not have had a majority even for that one year.

[Hoosier Dem]

14. This has happened before...

While I am no fan of Holy Joe, he isn't the first Democratic national nominee to hedge his bets.

It really started back in 1960, when the Texas State Legislature quickly passed a law that allowed Lyndon Johnson to run for his senate seat at the same time he ran as VP with Kennedy. (Given how close that race was, like in 2000, hedging his bets made sense to old LBJ.) The Texas law resurfaced again when Michael Dukakis tapped Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate in 1988. While Dukakis was getting hammered in Texas, Bentsen was re-elected to the Senate with over 60% of the vote.

There are several other states with "LBJ Laws" designed to give a home-state candidate a fall-back if they don't make it nationally.

[calico1]

15. There is one major difference between LBJ

and Lieberman. When LBJ ran for his Senate seat at the same time as VP, the Gov. of Texas was a DEMOCRAT. So while the person representing TX would have been different, it still would have been a Democrat. Lieberman did it with a Republican as Gov. so CT would have lost that seat had Gore won.

[mtnsnake]

16. He's going to do whatever it takes for a desperate person to keep his job

By desperate, he realizes that he might not even get the chance to run if he doesn't make it past the primary. He can't wait until after the primary takes place to start talking about an Independent run because he needs to get working on getting the necessary signatures BEFORE the primary takes place that he'll need to run as an Independent in the event he loses the primary.

Is it a selfish move? Most probably. Is it a smart move? Yup, if he wants to insure keeping his senate seat, it is. Polls have him winning as either a Democrat or as an Independent, so that's what's driving him to get into the race, one way or the other.

[saltpoint]

21. Lieberman's decision to run as an independent if he does not win the

Democratic party is entirely legal.

But it kind of stinks up the place, IMO.

His opponent, Ned Lamont, has promised to back the winner.

[melissinha]

22. Regarding running for two positions

He has had a unique position of being chosen to run for VP when his seat was up for re-election, Kerry didn't relinquish because he wasn't up for re-election.


That being said, here's what people at DU are on Lieberman.. its not about holding a seat and keeping it, its about sending a message to the DLC and good-old Democrats that the constituency has power to CHOSE a candidate that best represents our interests, Joementum has time and time again gone against the interest of his constituents and Americans at large.

[newyawker99]

23. Hi stuartrida!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: