Lieberman bolts

Lieberman Plans Independent Bid if Primary Fails

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut said on Monday that he would run as an independent Democratic candidate if he loses the state Democratic primary next month. The announcement by Mr. Lieberman, a political moderate and longtime party leader seeking his fourth term, underscores the increasing vulnerability he feels over his support for the Iraq war.

According to Jane at Firedoglake, Lieberman offered this gem of a quote:

I have loyalties that are greater than those to my party.

An interesting question now is what the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) will do. As representatives of entrenched machine politics, they have been supportive of Lieberman up until this point. Now they are faced with a difficult choice: either abandon Lieberman (who has in essense abandoned the party) and support the said principles of the Democratic party, or continue to support Lieberman, in essense using money and energy collected from Democrats against their chosen candidate.

Firedoglake commenter zibgy writes an email to the DSCC:

I sincerely hope and expect that the DSCC does not provide one dime of support to this campaign — surely, the DSCC should be concerned with promotion of DEMOCRATS.

Prior to this announcement, Lieberman’s stands on issues such as the war, and his willingness to cozy up to the current White House administration, have alienated many Democrat voters such as myself. However, I would never have suggested the party withdraw funding from him — because for the past 18 years, he has clearly had the support of the party members of his state. Until today, I would not have thought he was capable of abandoning his party in such a disgusting and self-centered manner — not only overruling the will of his constituents, but also endangering prospects for both himself and Lamont in November.

Now that he has, however, determined that the will of the registered Democrat voters of his state should not actually determine or limit his personal political prospects, I expect the Democratic party to stand up and support the prerogatives of the Democratic party voters of Connecticut. Failure to do so will project a systematic disregard for the voices of the people that actually form the party you claim to represent and are supposed to be supporting in the upcoming election. Again, I certainly do not agree with all Democrats all the time, but what Joe Lieberman has done today goes far, far beyond that, betraying a fundamental lack of regard for the party and voters that have supported him for 18 years.

As is no surprise to many, the fundamental problem with today’s Democratic party is a basic lack of unity of vision and voice. If the DSCC fails to jettison Lieberman, as he has clearly abandoned his party (in the most tangible, concrete manner possible, with a clear statement that his priorities and loyalties are not to the Democratic party or its voters), I will never — ever — contribute directly to the Democratic party, and I will remember this stain (along with those who would be responsible for it, such as Senators Schumer and Reid) for a long time to come.