Lieberman agrees to speak at the Republican National Convention

August 20, 2008

Eight years ago, Joe Lieberman was the Democratic Party’s vice presidential candidate. Four years ago, he was a Democratic presidential candidate hoping to defeat George W. Bush. Two years ago, he was seeking the Democratic nomination for Connecticut’s U.S. Senate seat and begging Barack Obama to campaign with him.

And this year, he’ll be addressing the Republican National Convention.

Will this be a Zell Miller moment?

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, one of Senator John McCain’s closest confidants and a frequent companion of his on the campaign trail, has earned a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention, according to a G.O.P. official.

Mr. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut and former Democratic vice-presidential nominee to Al Gore, still maintains ties with the Democratic Party. In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month, Mr. Lieberman indicated that he would attend the Republican Convention, but that he was not going there to “spend my time attacking Barack Obama.”

“I’m going to go there really talking about why I support John McCain and why I hope a lot of other independents and Democrats will do that,” he said on the program. “And frankly, I’m going to go to a partisan convention and tell them, if I go, why it’s so important that we start to act like Americans and not as, as partisan mudslingers here in Washington.”

This, of course, from the same partisan mudslinger who attacked Barack Obama’s patriotism, with the McCain campaign’s imprimatur, just last week.

The former Democrat contributed $100,000 to the DSCC recently, and soon after, a Lieberman-friendly Democrat explained why Lieberman made the donation: “Basically , he doesn’t want everybody to hate him. Plus he wants to keep his committee.”

By addressing the Republican convention, Lieberman has effectively ensured that Dems everywhere will hate him and he’ll lose his committee.

Greg Sargent noted:

There’s simply no chance whatsoever that Lieberman will have his plum committee slot come 2009, presuming he’s still calling himself an “Independent Democrat” by then.

Agreed. Senate Dems made it quite clear that this was one line Lieberman couldn’t cross — and he’s crossing it anyway.

Following up on an item from last week, I’d just add that this is, quite obviously, the end of Lieberman’s relationship with the Democratic Party.

Back in June, Josh Marshall made a compelling case that Lieberman has burned a bridge that won’t be rebuilt, and that argument looks even more accurate now than it did at the time.

What does seem clear to me is that Lieberman’s days in the Democratic caucus, or more specifically, his days with a committee chairmanship courtesy of the Democratic caucus are numbered in months.

My assumption is that after the November election, regardless of the outcome of the presidential campaign, Joe will be stripped of his chairmanship. (This seems even more certain to me if Obama wins the general, but I suspect it will happen regardless.) Whether he’ll actually be expelled from the caucus I don’t know and probably doesn’t really matter. Once he’s stripped of the benefits he gains from it

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, presumably he’ll leave himself and become an actual non-caucusing independent or

, more likely, start caucusing with the Republicans.

What that tells me is that Lieberman has no incentive not to make the maximum amount of trouble over the next five months both for his senate colleagues and for Sen. Obama.

I still wonder, though, if Lieberman has considered the implications for his reputation — not with the party, and not with his constituents

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, but with the media establishment he loves (and which loves him right back). Lieberman’s interesting to pundits and talking heads because he’s unusual. The media can’t get enough of unusual. Lieberman was on the Democratic ticket eight years ago, he had Obama campaigning for him two years ago, and now he’s McCain’s Mini-Me. The media can’t get enough.

But come January

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, if he’s just another Republican hack, he’s not quite as fascinating anymore.

Interestingly enough, Lieberman doesn’t seem to care.

A suggestion for an Obama ad about McCain’s character from the Democraticstrategist.org

“John McCain says this election is about character – and he‘s right.

In the 2000 presidential race the Bush campaign – led by Karl Rove – viciously attacked John McCain’s wife and child – they said his wife was a drug addict and that the child he and his wife adopted from an orphanage was actually his illegitimate Black daughter. On election night, his wife was in tears.

Back then, McCain was disgusted. He said there was “a special place in hell” for rumormongers like these people. He made a promise to his family and to his supporters that he would never run a dirty campaign like that. Never.

But early this year John McCain hired Charlie Condon, the very same man who was behind those vicious smears to run his South Carolina campaign. And then several weeks ago he brought Steven Schmidt – leading protégé of Karl Rove and master of the political hit job – on board to be his campaign manager and write the talking points for the new negative campaign against Barak Obama.

It’s sad to watch, McCain’s willingness to humiliate himself by hiring the same gang of people who horribly insulted him and his family. It shows that he has become so desperate to win this election that he is willing to sacrifice his principles and his personal honor in order to do it

Let’s face it. A real man would have said to those people – “Get the hell out of my office before I throw you out” the minute they walked in. A person would not have to be a tough guy like John Wayne to say that. A gentle, decent man of character would have told them the same thing.

But what did John McCain say about Bush’s dirty politics gang?

He said: “I had to get over it … it was a long time ago”

It’s sad, genuinely sad
.
John McCain – he’s no longer the man he used to be.”

  • Steve! Am I hallucinating (significantly possible due to lack of sleep), or are you repeating posts from the last two weeks almost word for word?

  • Silver lining:

    If McCain wins, he’s bound to put Lieberman in a cabinet position, as no way Lieberman would want to stay in the Senate as persona non grata.
    And that would free up a senatorial seat.
    That’s my prediction, but I hope Obama destroys its possibility.

  • He didn’t just burn those bridges, he nuked them, then sent in the bulldozers to completely crush to dust any remnants which may have survived.

    Buh bye, Joe. And good riddance!

  • “Senate Dems made it quite clear that this was one line Lieberman couldn’t cross — and he’s crossing it anyway.”

    Big deal. Dems are famous for drawing lines in the sand and having that sand kicked in their faces anyway. FISA, drilling, judges, torture, you name it. They’re going to punish LIeberman? Hah. I’ll believe it when I see it.

  • RE:1:

    Well I’m frankly not convinced Mr. McCain ever was a man of genuine integrity (referring to his time after his military service). I agree though that he’s built up quite an image of one, much of that developed with the media.

    And the bottom line is, he could’ve chosen to run his campaign now on an honorable fashion – instead of all the mud-slinging happening now – but chose not to. I think the reasons why are pretty clear. Running on issues and being honest will result in him losing, because on the majority of issues, the American public appears to side with the Democratic Party.

    But as far as Lieberman is concerned, he’s betting on McCain winning and the GOP gaining ground in both Houses. Should those events hypothetically happen, he’s looking for a position in McCain’s administration. It’s a simple bet, but one I’m not sure will pay off for him.

    Plus, it seems more and more people seem to regard Lieberman with no much respect these days. Speaking at the convention of the party one faced off against only eight years ago doesn’t make for a good solid consistent reputation.

  • i’d go ahead and throw him out of the party now: what difference does it make whether the dems have a majority for the rest of 2008?

    it would certainly be satisfying if he couldn’t be labelled a democrat at the republican convention.

    and no, i don’t expect this to happen.

  • Explain again why Harry Reid lets that former Democratic Vice Presidential prick keep his committee chairs?

    If I hear one Democrat, much less the majority leader, say they’re “disappointed” in Joe’s decision, I’ma gonna scream. Anyone who couldn’t see this coming a gazillion miles away has no business as an elected official.

  • Um, McCain can reach across party lines. What can Barry do? Unify them? I doubt it. Which Republicans of note are speaking at the DNC? Be reminded, I said ‘of note’.

  • RE 8/9:

    Well Lieberman’s only value to the GOP is as a (albeit straw) ‘Democrat’. He’s used in a similar fashion like Zeil Miller was in 2004: he provides the GOP a straw talking point on ‘bi-partisanship’ (i.e. whenever McCain talks about working across the floor on issues, he can point to Lieberman).

    The value in that disappears once Lieberman actually leaves the Democratic Party.

    As to why the Democratic Party doesn’t react to him or kick him out now or any time soon, my guess is that they going to leave it to Lieberman to sink his own career, rather than do it for him by kicking him out of the party.

    Once the election is done, Obama takes office, and the Democratic Party has firmer controls of Congress, I think one will find Lieberman will not be relevant to either party.

  • i’d go ahead and throw him out of the party now: what difference does it make whether the dems have a majority for the rest of 2008?

    My understanding is that Reid and McConnell agreed there would be no committee shakeups during this Congress. In January, all bets are off. Is that correct?

  • Lieberman didn’t leave the Democratic Party. the Democratic Party left him. It’s not the Democrats anymore, it’s the Socialist party of America. Tax the hell out of the rich, redistribute the wealth, force Americans into new,unviable energy. Yep, that’s not the Democratic party I remember.

  • Senate Dems made it quite clear that this was one line Lieberman couldn’t cross — and he’s crossing it anyway.

    Indeed. And what is the line after this one? How about six-figure “consultant” to one of the fine corporate criminals that are the real backbone of the GOP?

  • Um, McCain can reach across party lines.

    Entertaining a chickenhawk flack’s illusion of grandeur is worlds away from ‘reach[ing] across party lines.’ Senator Lieberman is much a Democrat as Senator McCain. Republicans can pretend that this is somehow indicative of bipartisan activity, unfortunately that is all it is: pretense.

    Senator Lieberman will follow Zell Miller’s path into obscurity when Connecticut voters kick his sorry ass to the curb in 2012, unless he steps down first to do the Republicans bidding in a McCain administration.

  • It’s pure propaganda that McCain “reaches across party lines”. That is only when he can get some blue dog dem to agree with his position which is never a compromise with dems, but pulls only the DINOs support. Name one ‘reach across the isle” legislatiion that McCain didn’t end up reversing his position on. You’d be hard pressed to find even one .

    Lieberman is just as ruthlessly ambitious as McCain, willing to say or do anything to make himself look good. He’s never let his committee be anything except a Bush protection organization unlike his equivalent committee in the House belonging to Henry Waxman. Lieberman knew he was out long before sticking his head up McCain’s ass. Best buds with Lindsay Graham who is to the right of Genghis Khan only not nearly as bright.

    Lieberman knows that as soon as dems get an even larger majority in the senate (with a dem president they don’t need a veto proof majority) that he is out. He’s a liar to his constituents and certainly cares little for good government, ruled only by profit motive, he represents the worst of the Bush enablers. He now has all his eggs in one basket and it will be a happey day when the likes of him and his two buddies are no longer in government.

  • The present Senate is organized under a Rule that would have the same proportion of each party on committees, and the same committee chairs and ranking members, regardless of changes in the numerical strength of the two caucuses, until the new Senate comes in in 2009. They didn’t boot Lieberman because they didn’t want to boot Lieberman, not because they couldn’t.

    This all came up when Sen. Johnson was stricken.

    The Senate Democrats have been hiding behind this canard for two years, because it served their interests.

  • Ah yes, Zell Miller. And where is he today? Crickets.

    The only affinity the bottom feeders have for Lieberman now is borne of our disdain for him, but it won’t matter.

    Chad, do you have a Sore Loserman sign I can borrow in November after the SS Mcain sinks along with whatever barnacles are attached to it? I just don’t think Joe got enough ridicule from your side the last time he lost.

  • How about six-figure “consultant” to one of the fine corporate criminals that are the real backbone of the GOP?

    Sheesh, I forgot all about the fascists on K Street. And that’s a two-fer, for if Senator Lieberman resigns his seat to start cashing in his blood money, Governor Rendell is certain to appoint another Republican to fill out the term. It would offer an ironic capitalist refinement to Rovian philosophy: “Paycheck Before Party, Party Before Country!”

  • As I said in the other thread, I want to extend a big thank you to all the Dems who campaigned for Joe in the Connecticut primary, helping him retain enough Democratic bona fides to scrape by in his third-party run.

  • normally, i just ignore nitwits like chad, but i do have to compliment him for reaching a height of stupidity with his “not the democratic party i remember” remark: given that FDR wanted to tax the hell out of the rich, redistribute (in the sense that morons like chad use the term), and force america into new energy sources (“unviable” being, of course, completely meaningless in this context), that would make chad at least 95 years old or so to remember a different democratic party.

    what a maroooooooooon.

    as for reality, maria, davis x. machina already answered your question, so i’ll simply say “second.” or i’ll say yes, there’s no reason not to kick lieberman out of the party today.

  • Benedict Joe. We’ll kick him to the political curb (and rightfully so, by the way)—while the ReThugs show their true colors by leaving him there. His only value to them is to provide a non-GOPer talking head that supports McCain’s Forever War.

    Future scenario—Obama wins in November. Reid immediately adjourns the Senate to Pro Forma sessions, and the Dem caucus kicks Benedict Joe to the curb—after stripping him of all Committee assignments (not just Chairmanships, either). It won’t matter then if he joins up with his ReThug buddies; he’ll have no power, and he’ll go home to Connecticut for Christmas with an empty portfolio, because no realignment will occur until the 111th convenes in January ’09—because the Senate is not in formal session.

    The only logic for the fool to be doing what he’s doing is to shift the balance of power in the waning days of Bushylvanianism—pack as many appointees into the Federal system as is possible, and maybe help to justify their “Iran Extermination Doctrine….”

  • It’s entirely feasible that the spineless Senate Dems would still allow him to keep his committee chair.

  • The present Senate is organized under a Rule that would have the same proportion of each party on committees, and the same committee chairs and ranking members, regardless of changes in the numerical strength of the two caucuses, until the new Senate comes in in 2009. They didn’t boot Lieberman because they didn’t want to boot Lieberman, not because they couldn’t.

    Okay, bear with me, Davis. According to your description (“same committee chairs and ranking members”), they could have kicked him out of the caucus (not the “party,” howard), but not relieved him of his committee memberships. Have I got that right, or do you mean that the committee chairs and ranking members stay with the same parties rather than with the same people? And if the former is the case, why should Lieberman care? It’s not caucusing with the Democrats he wants; it’s his committees.

  • Liebershit is gambling on a McSame victory. If not, he’ll probably leave the Senate and have a lucrative sinecure waiting for him in some israeli related business. One way or another he will continue to be the Senator from Jerusalem. Connecticut has a Republican governor, which means a Republican will replace Liebershit, and how would we know the difference anyway.

  • So, if McCain announces Lieberman as his running mate (a long shot, sure, but not impossible), will the Democratic caucus kick him out?

  • If McSame wins, Lie-ber-man will get a cabinate post, Sec Homeland Insecurity?
    He will bemoan the partisan grid lock and negative tenor of the Senate due to it loosing its only true “middle of the road” voice.

    I say YIPPIE! I just hope McCentury picks him to be on the ticket!
    Then he can crap all over the hopes of both parties!

  • What abunch of flip-floppers. 8 years ago you wanted him to be the Vice President, and now you’re throwing him under the bus. I say a flip-flop, flip-to-the-flop, and you don’t stop…

  • Ha ha. First, the dems backstabbed Ol’ Joe when he wouldn’t spew their party line re: Iraq, and now that he’s returning the favor they wanna cry like victims of evil. What a hoot! Will be nice seeing Obama loose the general and handing the dems a three-peat, in the election year they couldn’t loose no less. Obama is USC ’05! Ha ha ha!

  • In a just world, the Lieberwhiner would be laughed at until he cried, then run away to some cabin in the woods where he could mumble to the birds and the bears. Maybe next incarnation.

  • This is a no brainer. Like many in high level government positions, especially those with dual-citizenships, Lieberman flaunts his support for Zionism (as opposed to support for Israel) regardless of U.S. interests (economy, etc.) Hillary is a Zionist “camp follower
    who owes her power and the Clinton wealth to this same bunch. As an American, I don’t
    resent Lieberman’s right to support whomever he likes; BUT, if he is nothing more than a foreign agent, he should register as such and immediately be expelled from government office (U.S. government, that is!)

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