Lieberman Should Get What He Deserves.

Lieberman's a fool to have been sucking up to Bush over the last five years. Sure he's Jewish and is more supportive than most of the cause for Israel. But that doesn't mean he should kick the Democratic Party in the teeth and ride the Bush "shock and awe" campaign against the American public and our country's ideals.
I hate that he may run as an independent if he loses the Connecticut primary. That could mean a worse Republican might win as Lieberman and the Democratic nominee split a progressive to center vote. Nevertheless, the times are far different than they were when Bill Clinton ran as a DLC centrist candidate. The D Party and the country has faced a continuous attack from the Bushies on all things that make America great since 9/11... and Lieberman helped them! He and others must know this is no longer acceptable!

Bush Baggage Could Cost Lieberman Primary

Connecticut Democrats fume at his centrism and unbending support for the war. A poll shows the senator's rival surging. The vote is next week.

By Ronald Brownstein, Times Staff Writer
August 1, 2006

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — When Sen. Joe Lieberman stopped to campaign at a busy brew pub here Friday, Linda Rogozinski was perched at the bar. As far as Lieberman was concerned, however, she was sitting on the fence.

Rogozinski, a scientist at the Yale University School of Medicine, voted for Lieberman in his three previous Senate races. But he can no longer count on her support — a sign of the troubles Lieberman confronts as he struggles to avoid defeat in a Democratic primary Aug. 8 that has focused squarely on the war in Iraq.

Rogozinski said she has long admired Lieberman as a man of principle. But his unwavering support of the war increasingly seems to her a stubborn refusal to face facts three years after U.S. forces overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein.

"Lieberman is a good guy … [but] I just wish he could modify his position on Iraq," Rogozinski said. "I need to know why it's so important for him to maintain a position he developed three years ago."

Such comments explain why Lieberman, 64, faces the risk of repudiation from his fellow Connecticut Democrats six years after Al Gore selected him as his running mate in the 2000 presidential campaign.

Overwhelming discontent in the state about the Iraq war created the opening for a strong challenge by political newcomer Ned Lamont, 52, a wealthy cable television entrepreneur.

But Lieberman is also being battered by a widespread belief among critics that his long-standing commitment to working with Republicans has become counterproductive at a time when President Bush and the GOP congressional majority pursue an aggressive conservative agenda.

"I want a senator who's out there challenging them … instead of working with them on their crazy policies," said Cheryl Curtiss, a West Hartford School District employee, as she waited for Lamont at a rally Saturday night.

With such sentiments in play, the race has spotlighted broader choices that Democrats face nationwide — not only in this fall's election, but in the 2008 presidential campaign. Beyond measuring the depth of anger about the Iraq war, the Connecticut primary has offered competing visions of how Democrats can revive their fortunes in a deeply polarized political era.

Lieberman presents himself as an inheritor of President Clinton's strategy during the 1990s, arguing that his party must ground itself in the political center while seeking opportunities for bipartisan agreement with Republicans.