Liebermann is in trouble. He has now fallen behind Ned Lamont, Connecticutt businessman and challenger for the 2006 Democratci primary. The latest polls have him listed at about 53% support against 47% for Liebermann.
True, that is close. But it is astounding, given that Joe Liebermann, former 2000 Vice-Presidential candidate, had started out over forty points ahead of Lamont, who has received grass roots support amongst hard core anti-war activists within the Democratic Party who are unsatisfied with Liebermanns record.
And so Bill Clinton, still very popular in Connecticutt, was called in to save Liebermann. However, the word is, he has made it clear to Liebermann that if Lamont wins the Democratic primary and Liebermann runs as an independent, he will support Lamont.
It is the greatest of possible ironies. One of the major reasons Al Gore chose Joe Liebermann to be his vice-presidential running mate in 2000 was due to concerns over the Democratic party image after the Clinton/Lewisnski fiasco, in which Joe Liebermann personally criticized Clintons behavior on the floor of the US Senate.
"It was not only wrong", Liebermann said, "it was immoral".
Reality bites. Somehow, amazingly, it escaped the managers, (if you want to dignify them as such), of the Gore campaign, that the longer Clinton was dragged through the mud by way of the press, the higher his poll numbers went up. Gore, for his part, refused to avail himself of Clintons services during the campaign, in which he was impugned throughout by George W. Bush in an amazing bit of guilt through association. When Bush talked about the Clinton Administration of which Gore was an integral part, you would have thought he was talking about the Imperial Court of Nero.
Partially as a result of this, Bush won the election, though even with all the myriad of problems that seemed to conspire against Gore in Florida especially, Gore still won a majority of the popular vote. Even with all Gore had going against him-for example, the ineptitude of his campaign-Bush only managed to win due to skullduggery in Florida.
But it should be obvious to all that Gore did as well as he did not because he disassociated himself from Bill Clinton, but becasue he had been associated with him from the start. Liebermann had been absolutely no help to the Gore campaign.
Still, Clinton obviously felt he was doing the right thing by campaigning for Liebermann. Liebermann is not only a Democrat-he is a liberal Democrat. His votes on traditional Democratic Party ideals are not to be questioned. He has supported the rights of women, minorities, gays, the environment, labor, and has been dependably pro-choice in his votes.
Most legitimate liberal groups tend to give him a libeal rating of more than 80 %.
That, however, is beside the point. The Democratic Party, as usual, is in dissaray, and Liebermann has been transormed into, suddenly, a symbolic battleground for control of the party's soul.
Just today, I received this in my e-mail, from a group known as "Democracy For America", a grass roots activist group headed by Jim Dean, who is himself the borther of DNC Chairman Howard Dean:
Three months ago, Joe Lieberman led Ned Lamont in the polls
by more than forty points. But you took a chance on Ned and
thousands of DFA members around the country pitched in to help
his insurgent campaign. The result? Two new polls show that Ned
Lamont has surged into a narrow lead over Lieberman.
Now we have the chance to put Ned Lamont over the top. Ned
has recorded an exclusive video for DFA members to give you an
update on the final 14 days. Click here to watch the video and
find out how you can get involved:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/nedlamont
The story of an insurgent, people-powered candidate moving to
the top of the polls against the Democratic establishment is not
new. My brother, Howard, was in a similar position three and a
half years ago in the 2004 presidential primary. I don't need to
remind you about what happened when the Beltway Democrats placed
a giant target on his back and took aim. Let's make sure that
history doesn't repeat itself with Ned Lamont.
We have a plan to fight back and win. Over the next few
weeks, we'll be working closely with DFA members in Connecticut
towards a Lamont victory on August 8. DFA members will be
pounding the pavement and knocking on doors in a massive effort
to get out the vote. Click here to watch Ned's video and find
out how you can get involved:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/nedlamont
It's going to be close -- now let's close the deal.
Thank you again for everything.
Sincerely,
Jim Dean
Well, you're welcome, but I didn't do anything. This e-mail ended with the following advice:
P.S. After you watch the video from Ned, don't forget to
sign-up for tonight's DFA Night School workshop about breaking
into the Mainstream Media:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/nightschool
Evidently, Mr. Dean and LaMonts other supporters are unaware that as a Connecticutt aeemblyman, Ned LaMonts' voting record is
seemingly as conservative as Liebermanns record as Senator is overall liberal.
He has even bragged about voting with the conservatives in his state 80% of the time. Yet, he is now being supported by the radical left wing of the Democratic Party against a candidate who, most of the time, has represented their issues and overall concerns more than, if the past is a guide, LaMont can ever realistically be counted on to do.
They just don't get it. Or maybe I don't.
