So Long, Joe (I hope)

Tomorrow, the voters of Connecticut will go to the polls. The race for the Democratic nomination for Senate has taken on a weight that very few primaries do. In fact, very few non-Presidential races hold the kind of portent of the race between incumbent Joe Lieberman and challenger, businessman Ned Lamont. Most times, a primary challenge to a sitting Senator, one elected comfortably three times and, in fact a former nominee for Vice President, would usually be a local issue. The rest of the country would shrug as the incumbent swatted away the fly and went about his business. But this one is different. For one, the incumbent is Fox News correspondent Joe Lieberman. For another, we’re mired in a costly and disastrous war abroad. (And another slightly less costly, slightly less disastrous other war abroad. Just think for a minute, it will come to you). But mainly, this race is important because George W. Bush is still residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

I had always liked Joe Lieberman. I was underwhelmed when Gore chose him to be his running mate in 2000. But then, it was the Gore campaign. Underwhelming was the order of the day. But Joe always seemed to be a decent guy. He was moderate, but he also seemed reasoned and principled. It’s sad that we have learned he is neither of those things. Somewhere along the way from defeating incumbent Lowell Weiker in 1988 and the re-election of George Bush, Joe became just another shady politician, too concerned with protecting his own little fiefdom to truly listen to his constituents. In fact, even after a blistering primary challenge, he still refuses to hear what Connecticut voters are saying: “We understand that you support the war in Iraq, Senator. We don’t. And we’re the boss.” His response to his constituents has simply been to ignore them and go back to making out with President Bush, usually figuratively, but occasionally literally.

So, it’s time for Joe to go. I don’t know as much about Ned Lamont as I do Joe, but what I know I like. He’s not a career politician. And while I don’t necessarily think that is always a selling point, in this case it is. He’s against the war, supports choice and doesn’t think the government has any business regulating who I choose to love. Joe is for the war, says he’s pro choice but opposes protections for young incest and rape victims seeking abortions. And he’s one of those “one man and one woman” people who can’t seem to understand what decade they are living in.

But, at the end of the day, they both have a “D” next to their name. Both would vote for Harry Reid as Majority Leader. Why do I care? Because it’s not enough to say you’re a Democrat in this day and age, you have to act like one. And somewhere along the way, Joe stopped. His initial support for the war can be forgiven. Many Democrats voted for it including John Kerry. President Clinton supported it. But it is one thing to support the war and quite another to act as President Bush’s mouthpiece, appearing on Fox News to rally support, walking in lockstep with the administration and refuses to admit, just like the Commander in Chief, that there have been any mistakes. Senator Lieberman has even come out in support of Donald Rumsfeld, pretty much marking himself as the only person outside the administration who doesn't think he’s a dangerous, senile loon.

This isn't a case, as many DC insiders have alleged, of a party purification based on idealogy. The Democratic Party really is the party of the Big Tent. The liberal blogosphere and the grass roots it has risen from is place for many ideas, some conflicting, some complementary. We are a party who can agree to disagree on a great many points. But there is one point which we must all agree on: George W. Bush is dangerous and wrong. You don't have to vote lockstep with Congressional leadership. You don't necessarily have to be pro-choice (see our candidate to defeat Santorum in PA, Bob Casey). You don't have to have the same opinion on gay marriage (virtually no one does). And you don't have to oppose military force in the Middle East (though agreement that Iraq is not going well is pretty necessary as it shows you have eyes and ears and they work). All we should have to agree on as a party is that America is moving in the wrong direction and George W. Bush and his cronies in Congress are the primary reasons. That's it. It's called being an oppositon party. But Joe is not willing to oppose the President, regardless of what his constituents in farily liberal Connecticut want. That's why I want to see him defeated. Senator Lamont will be a voice against the war; one more Democrat willing to back up his votes with words and action, not appeasement. And he will actually listen to his constituents.

This race is up to the people of Connecticut. And if Lieberman wins, I will support him as the party’s nominee in the General (we need those “D”s.) But I for one fervently hope that Ned Lamont wins tomorrow. And I also hope than when he does, Joe will read the signs his voters are giving him and abandon his petulant, Quixotic attempt to win in the general as an Independent candidate (In the ridiculously named Lieberman for Connecticut Party. Dude, you can't put your own name in the name of your party.) The very idea shows exactly how out of touch with his voters he has become. If you are defeated, accept it, Joe. And go back to campaigning for the job you really want: Secretary of Defense. God knows you’d be better there than its current occupant. But, then, the only person less competent to lead the Defense Department than Don Rumsfeld is his boss.

He’s the real enemy, Joe. And if you can’t see that, if you can’t look back on the last six years and not roil with anger over how much better things would be with you and Al instead of Dick and George. If you can stand idly by while they destroy our civil liberties, our military, our international reputation and take a collective shit on the Constitution and the Separation of Powers, then not only can you no longer call yourself a Democrat, you shouldn’t call yourself an American, either.

The Joementum is gone. Long live the Nedrenaline.