But there must a angle somewhere that is not apparent on the surface.
The angle is actually quite out in the open. Lieberman, being Jewish, places
Israel's situation in the Middle East ahead of party allegiance. He has been
one of the staunchest supporters of the war in Iraq, despite not being a
republican.
As we have seen with the evangelicals going bananas over Palin, faith trumps
everything else when it comes to one's belief system.
...have you "posted out" yet?
--- On Wed, 9/3/08, John <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: John <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [FairfieldLife] What's Up with Joe Lieberman Anyway?
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 2:54 PM
To All:
Lieberman is playing with fire by endorsing McCain which obviously
repudiates his previous loyalty with the Democrats in the Senate. It
would appear foolish to make such a move. But there must a angle
somewhere that is not apparent on the surface.
******
ON DEADLINE: Lieberman facing payback from Dems By WALTER R. MEARS,
AP Special Correspondent
Wed Sep 3, 6:05 AM ET
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Joe Lieberman might have trouble getting a Senate
parking pass next year.
The Senate Democrats who control perks and, more importantly,
committee chairmanships won't need his tie-breaking vote any longer.
Democrats are on track to win a solid majority in the Nov. 4
elections, so time is running out on Lieberman's power as the senator
whose vote kept them in control of a split Senate.
Since Lieberman's re-election in Connecticut two years ago, when he
ran as an independent and beat the Democratic nominee, they've had to
tolerate his dissent from the party and now from its presidential
ticket because his vote was crucial.
That won't be so next year, and that's when the bill will come due
for his effusive embrace of John McCain and his attacks on Democratic
presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Lieberman was not in attack mode in his prime-time performance at the
Republican National Convention on Tuesday, chiding Obama but
concentrating on praise of McCain in terms the Arizona senator likes
to hear: independent, maverick, bipartisan.
He called Obama "a gifted and eloquent young man" with a promising
future. "But eloquence is no substitute for a record — not in these
tough times," Lieberman said. He pitched a special appeal for McCain
votes to independents and Democrats, saying his is "the real ticket
for change this year."
"I'm here, as a Democrat myself, to tell you: Don't be
fooled,"
Lieberman said.
While Lieberman has angered Democratic leaders, they haven't been
able to do anything about it.
Lieberman, who describes himself as an Independent Democrat, endorsed
McCain for president on Dec. 17, 2007, when his friend was struggling
for a comeback in the campaign for the Republican nomination. McCain
called it "a courageous act."
At the time, Lieberman was asked whether he was concerned about
Democratic punishment for his defection to the GOP candidate. "I'm
the 51st vote," he said, smiling. In a tied Senate, Democrats would
have been the minority because Vice President Dick Cheney would have
had the decisive vote.
Now, 35 Senate seats are up for election, 23 of them currently held
by Republicans. The Democrats are defending 12 seats. What's more,
six Republican senators are retiring, leaving open seats that include
prime targets for Democratic takeovers.
So the odds are that the Democrats will gain a clear, perhaps
commanding majority.
After they do, it will be payback time for Lieberman unless McCain
becomes president and he gets a Cabinet appointment. That would seem
a likely reward from his old friend.
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-
Nev., said Tuesday: "Sen. Reid was very disappointed in Sen.
Lieberman's speech tonight, especially when he appeared to go out of
his way to distort Sen. Obama's record of bipartisan achievements in
the Senate.
"He can give all the partisan speeches he wants, but as the American
people have made very clear, the last thing this country needs is
another four years of the same old failed Bush-McCain policies of the
past."
Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, sought
the party's presidential nomination in 2004 but got nowhere. So he
went back to the Senate, where his backing for President Bush's Iraq
war policy made him enemies at home.
Challenged by an anti-war candidate, Lieberman sought help from
national Democrats, and one who delivered it was Obama, then an
emerging political star. Obama told Connecticut Democrats on March
31, 2006, that he knew Lieberman's coziness with the Bush
administration was "the elephant in the room," but that they should
nominate him for a fourth term anyhow, for his character,
qualifications and abilities. He said Connecticut should "have the
good sense to send Joe Lieberman back to the U.S. Senate."
That's what happened, but only after Lieberman was defeated in the
primary and ran as an independent candidate. Obama endorsed the
Democratic nominee, Ned Lamont, in the general election.
When the Illinois senator went to Connecticut to help him in the
primary campaign, Lieberman called Obama a blessing for the Senate
and for America. "I look forward to helping him reach to the stars
and realize not just the dreams he has for himself, but the dreams we
all have for him and our blessed country."
That was then; 2008 is now.
Campaigning with McCain, Lieberman knocked Obama's lack of military
experience — Lieberman didn't serve in the military, either — and
said the election is "between one candidate, John McCain, who has
always put his country first, worked across party lines to get things
done, and one candidate that has not."
Lieberman appeared on a conservative talk radio show in April and was
asked whether Obama sounded like a Marxist. "I must say, that's a
good question," Lieberman said. "During this campaign I've
learned
some things about him, about the kind of environment from which he
came ideologically. ... He's got some positions that are far to the
left of me and, I think, mainstream America."
Lieberman is 29th in seniority in the Senate, 17th among Democrats,
rank that made him chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee. He's also chairman of an Armed Services
subcommittee. Chairmen get more than titles and authority; they get
extra staff members.
But what seniority gives, the majority party can take away. And the
Democrats almost surely will take it away from Lieberman.
------------------------------------
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