Office of the Independent Blogger

The situation in Lebanon is the same as it’s been for the last week, and so I’d like to, instead, talk about Senator Lieberman for a moment. Bill Clinton has gone out of his way to endorse him, and Lieberman is trailing his primary opponent. Joe has vowed to stay in the race as an “Independent Democrat” if he loses the Primary, but I don’t think he will. The powers-that-be simply won’t allow it, and he’d be talked out of it, I think. It’s possible that he’ll lose the Primary and run as a third party in the General, but I doubt it. That doesn’t happen very often in today’s day, and iron-clad promises aren’t strong enough to resist the pull of the Party.

Regardless, it’s a shame that Lieberman is going through this, and I compare it to Arlen Specter’s situation in Pennsylvania. I don’t think it’s unfair to Lieberman, per se. You see, he’s a candidate with money and an entrenched base, and this is a Democracy. People have every right to challenge him, and if they beat him, all the power to them. I, frankly, wish Lieberman were a smoother man in public relations, both because it might’ve helped Al Gore in 2000 and because it might help him now. I just kind of feel bad for him, because he’s been engulfed in a War with the Democratic Party’s Liberal wing when he is, in fact, about as Liberal as they come. It’s the Lyndon Johnson treatment.

I’m willing to say that, if Lieberman were opposed by a stronger candidate (not politically stronger, but as far as Liberalism goes) I’d support him. But his opponent just doesn’t do it for me, as he’s not quite as Liberal as Joe (but nevermind that: he opposes the war, so he must be Liberal) or as smart, to boot. If Lieberman’s Joementum sputters to a halt, I’ll be very sorry to see it, and I hope that, if he loses, he doesn’t drag it out by insisting on running as a third party.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 at 9:31 am and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).