Old Joe, Why Don't You Know?

Joe Lieberman is about to have a political rendezvous with destiny. On August 8th, the Democratic primary voters of Connecticut will have their say as to whether Joe will continue to be the Democratic Senator from Connecticut or whether Ned Lamont will hold the Democratic banner in the upcoming general election.

This is the beauty of democracy. When asked by a reporter the other day whether Joe Lieberman ever faced so much opposition before in running for reelection, he recounted that he had "never faced a primary before." A United States Senator, representing nearly four million people, had never before faced a primary after three terms in the United States Senate? When Saddam Hussein ran unopposed for President of Iraq, we certainly did not call that a legitimate election.

But now Joe Lieberman is stunned, even angry that he has a primary opponent, who is causing him to raise all this lobbyist money from outside Connecticut and really have to work to be reelected this year. No Senator is entitled to be reelected, and when you lose touch with your constituents, you deserve a challenge.

Joe Lieberman is not a bad man. He has always been a Democrat and a pretty good one at that. His recent unabashed support for President Bush aside, Joe Lieberman has generally followed the Democratic line, and has fought for important liberal causes.

Democratic primary voters could probably be ok with Joe Lieberman's active effort to work with Republicans on issues. They could even excuse his very cozy relationship with President Bush, whom Democrats despise for good reason. They could even accept his moderation on a host of issues. The frequent Democrat-bashing that Joe does on FOX News and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity may even slip by in the minds of Democrats. Joe Lieberman's opposition to an immediate withdrawal from Iraq may even be overlooked by primary voters come Election Day. Any one of the issues might cause anger among Democrats, but in the end, they should not cause defeat.

But for Joe, it is not just one of these issues that plagues him. It is all of them. The majority of Democrats find all of these to be problems, and significant ones at that, and if the Democrats in Connecticut find Joe unacceptable, they have a right to throw him out, just as they would have a right to throw a right-wing Republican out.

But all of these issues aside, many claim that Ned Lamont is running a single-issue campaign on the War in Iraq. Many claim that if it weren't for Joe Lieberman's support for the war, he would not be seriously challenged. Even if these things were true, and I'm not sure they are, Joe Lieberman supports, not just mildly, but wholeheartedly, a war that the vast majority of Democrats strongly oppose.

The War in Iraq registers as the most important issue in the country today in every poll, as it should be considering that we have lost 2600 brave men and women and lost enormous credibility, moral authority, and standing in the world. The war has done major damage to our country and Democrats overwhelmingly oppose this war, with 3/4's of Democrats nationwide calling for an immediate withdrawal, according to most polls. Democratic primary voters in Connecticut want an immediate withdrawal, and not only does Joe Lieberman oppose that, he opposes any timetable or change of course whatsoever. The man simply defers to President Bush on all issues regarding the war and has not even criticized the President's management on the war. Joe Lieberman supports the war even more than most Republican Senators. And Joe Lieberman has become a rabid neoconservative, noting that the war in Iraq "will help to spread freedom throughout the Middle East."

Neoconservatives have been discredited, and so has Joe Lieberman. For a United States Senator to disagree wholeheartedly with his home state Party's constituents on the most important issue of the day, that literally involves decisions of life and death, is worthy of challenge. If a Democratic primary voter opposes the war vehemently, and views the war as the most important issue facing our country, he or she has an obligation to vote for Ned Lamont, not to spite Joe Lieberman, but because in a democracy, we are supposed to vote on public policy issues. And in this primary, Connecticut Democrats have a chance to change the course on Iraq, by voting for Ned Lamont, and by telling Joe Lieberman that he is being thanked with his years of service, but it is time to retire.