The fear of losing Joe

The only people Lieberman can trust, his legion of Space
Marines

There has been a constant drumbeat of support from the Washington press corps and their friends about how poor Joe Lieberman is being attacked by the far left over the war.

Why are they so scared?

Because if you can unseat a sitting Senator, you can damn near do anything. The Washington people like Joe, because he's reasonable to them. Like the servant who worries about massa's health, while selling everyone who wants to escape, he's beloved in the big house.

Out in the field, it's a different story.

They want to know what the hell's he's playing at.

I think the depiction of Lieberman's opposition as a bunch of bloggers and fringe voters is a political mistake of a tremendous error. Many of the people who oppose Lieberman have a myriad of reasons, including poor consitutent service. If Joe was actually serving the people of his state, this run would be a protest and nothing more. But it isn't.

People need to read the columns running in the local papers there. They need to see how that online poll blew Joe out of the water.

Washington reporters have been wrong about damn near everything they have reported since Clinton. They thought he was going to be tossed from office when people laughed at that idea.

They keep talking about Bush's popularity, when it's clear he's not popular. Laura Bush does her best Marie Antoinette imitation by saying "they don't show the good polls on the front page" and "that isn't what we see when we go around the country". No shit, you never see any protests because they're shunted away and arrested on the slightest pretext. The secret service is being sued over this now.

Bush is an unpopular president and any tie to him is risky at best. Lieberman is paying for this.

I love how the DLC meme of "party loyalty" as a sin is being tossed about. I'd love Al From to get out of his office, drive to Alexandria and have a town meeting. I don't think he'd expect the raw anger he'd be met with. The same anger which is smacking Lieberman in the face to a degree which surprises me.

People dislike being sold out. Lieberman delivered one too many lectures without enough services. Now, Margaret Carslon is calling Clinton's decision to back the winner of the Democratic
Primary as an act of revenge on Lieberman sandbagging her husband.

Whoh, now, does Ms. Carlson have a phone? Hillary Clinton may have a clear shot at reelection, but if she went Lieberman uber Alles, people would picket her in the streets. Lieberman is distinctly unpopular in New York because of his near blind support for Bush. Schumer is being pressed every day to make sure he backs the winner. There is a great deal of pressure to make sure Lamont isn't sold out by the backer of Tom Suozzi.

The Beltway crowd is shocked that real people might want to get rid of one of their favorite housepets, therefore they have to be fringe leftists demanding a loyalty test. Instead of disgusted at the way he only attacks fellow Democrats and makes nice with Republicans who's values he supposedly doesn't share. People outside Washington aren't stupid they know when they're being sold out. Lieberman does things to get the support of the Beltway in crowd, who are slaves to power. And then he comes home and he's got problems.

One thing, I think if he runs independent, he's gonna lose. In fact, he's gonna be pressed to drop out of the race. I don't think the local papers are going to take kindly to electoral second chances.
Now that he's vunerable and running scared, they are gonna jump all over him.

Among the things that people haven't reported outside of Connecticut, is that he couldn't even hold the regulars in the convention. Which is a big sign of trouble. And is not war related. But remember, the loyal Democratic voters are now fringe voters looking to have a vote on the war and led by outsiders.

The same people who sent Lieberman back to Congress three times are now crazed and need to be saved from themselves by him and two chances to vote for him. Because they're too stupid to vote for him in a primary, after sending him to the Senate three times.

I've never seen a more frightened successful experienced politician not facing indictment in my life. He's totally lost his nerve. He's insulting the voters who sent him to Washington.

Oh, and I read on piece comparing an independent Lieberman run to Weicker's independent run. Wow, history is allergy to some people. Weicker ran to the left, not the right. But Lieberman is going to try to run to the right in a move far riskier than he realizes. He's going to lose much of the support he's taken for granted. The more Lamont's name recognition grows, the more trouble Lieberman is in. The last thing he wants is a referendum on the war, becuase if that's the case, he's gonna lose and lose badly.

posted by Steve @ 4:06:00 AM