alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

August 1, 2006

TPM: What Happened?

by AltHippo @ 2:38 pm. Filed under Uncategorized

I haven’t had much to say about the primary battle between Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman. Since I don’t live in Connecticut, it’s mostly none of my business. Or, at least that’s what I’ve been thinking.

After reading Josh Marshall’s note on Lieberman, I’ve got to say Lieberman’s behavior disturbs me. It’s made me wonder if this will play out like a Shakespearean tragedy, with Lieberman trying to take the party down with him:

Al Gore picked Joe Lieberman in 2000. And fairly quickly he starts thinking he’s better at running for president than Al. As one close-up Joe-watcher puts it (and I’m paraphrasing) Lieberman was terrible in 2000. And as he travelled the country he was more and more alienated from rank and file Democrats. Only he thought he’d done great.

Let me pick up the thread from another close-up Joe-watcher: “My guess. He watched Gore during the campaign and decided he could do better. He started thinking of the day he’d run on his own. This was first evidenced after the election when he sold Gore out on the soldiers vote issue. Here he’s on the ticket and he is pandering to the right to make himself look good. I think he decided that he wins even if Gore loses … Then he runs in ‘04 and sees that his success in 2000 as a candidate was not really his but Gore’s. He was a great #2 but not a free standing great man. He was rejected. And he became bitter. Very bitter.”

That is speculative, of course, but the explanation that seems most closely in line with Lieberman’s actions. I’m thinking in particular with his line during the 2004 primaries about how we’re safer because we invaded Iraq. Not only was that a suspect line, but it undermined a wedge issue for the Democrats.

Then, there’s the problem that if Lieberman loses the primary, he’s going to run against a Democrat. That’s an overtly hostile act directed at what is, allegedly, his party.

What I’m suggesting is that Lieberman feels rejected, and he’s more mad at the Democrats, particularly grass-roots Democrats, than the Republicans.

Bookmark on del.icio.us

4 Responses to “TPM: What Happened?”

  1. kob Says:
    August 1st, 2006 at 4:36 pm

    I was in Connecticut this weekend and Lamont signs outnumbered Lieberman lawn signs
    by a big margin. Hardly scientific. In talking with friends and family, the anger about
    Lieberman on Iraq is about equal to their anger over Bush. I don’t know if this bias sampling
    constitutes grass roots, but if he’s defeated in the primiary he will have no shot as
    as independent. Weicker ran as an independent for governor but he was widely popular even
    if his Gold Coast neighbors suspected he would champion an income tax (he did support
    an income tax once elected).

    If Lieberman looses the primary it will be because of his Iraq position and he won’t
    recover from that.

  2. AltHippo Says:
    August 1st, 2006 at 6:16 pm

    Thanks for that! It always pays to get the word from folks actually there.

  3. eRobin Says:
    August 5th, 2006 at 11:47 am

    My mom lives in Fairfield County, which is Lamont country as far as she can tell. She’s been voluteering at the local Lamont HQ. I’ve been phone banking for Lamont from here in PA via Move On and I’m getting a Lamont lead by about a third.

  4. AltHippo Says:
    August 5th, 2006 at 1:58 pm

    Phone banking sounds like a great idea.

    My impression is that the Lieberman/Lamont primary is like the Cindy Sheehan campout of last summer. It’s created positive energy going into the November elections in a way no one could have predicted beforehand.

Leave a Reply

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-Spam Image

« And Now, Your Moment of Gerson
Look Out Matt Drudge »

[powered by WordPress.]

hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.

contact

TBA 2008

The Alternative Hypothesis

the elephants of anwr

issues and insight

capitolists

alt media

sounds

critical resources

flora and fauna

law & order

events

cinema

literati

propaganda

use with extreme caution

internal links:

categories:

search blog:

archives:

August 2006
M T W T F S S
« Jul   Sep »
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  

other:

95. Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)
— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

comments

Recent Comments

HippoWire

  • Recent Trackbacks:

    • 27 queries. 1.072 seconds