July 7, 2006
W GOT BLAMED FOR JEFFORDS; WHO GETS BLAMED FOR JUMPIN' JOE?:
Democrats divided over Lieberman (Eric Pfeiffer, July 7, 2006, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)
The split of support for Mr. Lieberman among Democrats centers on a battle for the party's national identity. Mr. Lieberman has been a vocal supporter of the war in Iraq, which has drawn the ire of many liberal bloggers.
"The most radical fringe is running the show," said National Republican Senatorial Campaign spokesman Brian Nick. "Hillary Clinton and John Kerry want to be president, so they have abandoned him."
Such important liberal voices in the Internet "blogosphere" as DailyKos, MoveOn.org and Arianna Huffington have endorsed Mr. Lamont, often condemning Mr. Lieberman in very harsh terms as a political sellout. Mr. Lamont's campaign has run an ad showing Mr. Lieberman morphing into President Bush.
John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc. ought to go to CT and campaign for him. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 7, 2006 9:52 AM
Such important liberal voices in the Internet "blogosphere" as DailyKos, MoveOn.org and Arianna Huffington
Which is why the right is ascendant.
Posted by: AC at July 7, 2006 10:37 AMcondemning Mr. Lieberman in very harsh terms
"Harsh" doesn't begin to describe it.
Posted by: Mike Morley at July 7, 2006 11:04 AMIt's Bush/Rove's fault of course.
Posted by: Dave W at July 7, 2006 12:01 PMRE: Rudy, McCain et all
1) A bit off topic, but Rudy is campaigning for RICK SANTORUM, of all people, right now. Therefore, to speak the obvious... Rudy IS running, and I'd bet on him over McCain. Executive vs. Legislator for one reason. Another is that I think the Christian right might be plateau-ing of sorts, still powerful for the remainder of Bush, but I think the GOP will move to the center on social issues in '08. A whole 'nother post, so I'll just leave it at that. Rudy stands a very good chance of being President of the US.
2) Re: campaigning in CT (at least for this primary). No. Remember the adage of staying the hell out of the way when your adversary is sawing his own feet off with a hacksaw. This primary fight is devastating to the Democratic Party, and the ones in office know it. The Nutroots are tellling the whole world that George McGovern IS their hero, his world-view IS theirs, and by golly, that's what they're gonna run on. And McGovern got stomped (not beaten, but CRUSHED) in 1972!! of all times, at the tail-end of a losing war (57,000 dead, not 2,500), with the counter-culture at it's ascendance.
And that's who they want to run again, state and federal, and are willing to purge Lieberman as some sort of Menshevik to Stalin's Bolshies in order to do it.
Oh, no no no no no.... Stay outa this one. Wide berth. Just make some popcorn and enjoy.
Posted by: Andrew X at July 7, 2006 12:13 PMI particularly love the fact that Lieberman is considered a "political sellout" for believing the same things he has always believed with respect to foreign policy (we'll just forget about Joe's actions after being picked for VP when discussing the strength of his political convictions)...
Posted by: b at July 7, 2006 12:29 PMMcCain will do to Rudy what W did to him. You can't be pro abortion and pro sodomy in the GOP primaries.
Posted by: oj at July 7, 2006 12:45 PM"Here at DailyKos, we believe that our dissent is the highest form of patriotism. That means anyone who dissents from our dissent, like Lieberman, is a filthy traitor and must be crushed and destroyed."
Posted by: Mike Morley at July 7, 2006 1:15 PMMcCain will do to Rudy what W did to him. You can't be pro abortion and pro sodomy in the GOP primaries.
Alternatively, Rudy will have a very public come-to-Jesus moment and embrace the pro-life position. This will send people like E.J. Dionne and the NYT editorial board into screaming fits of rage, which will only enhance Guliani's standing with the conservative--ooops, excuse me, OJ, I meant mainstream culture.
Posted by: Mike Morley at July 7, 2006 1:19 PMYes. He'd win if he got right with God.
Posted by: oj at July 7, 2006 1:24 PMOJ -
RE: Rudy and the McCain-Dubya race. The difference here is that the McCain-Dubya race was at the end of eight years of Clinton. This one is after eight years of Bush, a whole bunch of conservative judges, including two (three?) Supremes, and a lot of other social victories for conservatives. Thus it's a different playing field.
As I said, whole other post, and I'll delve if asked, but the bottom line is that my antaennae (sp?) tell me that middling to right voters who were inclined to lean right (and will lean right against a Democrat) may not be as inclined to do so in GOP primaries in '08, and that Rudy pushes a lot of excellent buttons when it comes to "leadership" as opposed to specific social policies. AND, he's campaigning for Santorum, hello.
Just my call, take it or leave it, after eight years of a lot conservative success, I don't think the hard right will be as effective as it was in '08.
My call, takes it as ya gets it.
Now, does anyone dispute that Rudy IS in fact gonna run? The guy is all but sending up flares.
Posted by: Andrew X at July 7, 2006 1:38 PMThe playing field is always the same in GOP primaries.
Posted by: oj at July 7, 2006 1:42 PMb. ...we'll just forget about Joe's actions after being picked for VP ... Why are Lieberman's flip flops different from Kerry's?
Posted by: erp at July 7, 2006 3:00 PMerp: Has Kerry ever held a firm position on anything? Lieberman has been quite consistent AFAIK, except for those couple of months in 2000.
Posted by: b at July 7, 2006 3:45 PMJoe's going to stay a Democrat come what may. Joe's not made for jumpin'.
Posted by: David Cohen at July 7, 2006 4:59 PMI don't understand your argument. Lieberman flip flopped when it was worth his while, so how can you be sure, if the reward is great enough, he won't flip flop again.
Posted by: erp at July 7, 2006 5:14 PM