Signs Point to a Rocky Path for Lieberman

[Nambe]

By Mark Z. Barabak, LA Times Staff Writer

A staff shake-up and slap from the NAACP this week are just the latest signs of the problems facing presidential hopeful Joe Lieberman, whose strategy for winning the nomination faces deep skepticism from many fellow Democrats.

Although he sits atop most national polls as the party's preferred candidate — thanks in large measure to his status as the 2000 vice presidential nominee — Lieberman is lagging in the crucial leadoff states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Moreover, in a year when angry partisans are hungry for red-meat rhetoric from the Democratic candidates, the affable senator from Connecticut is taking a more subdued approach. "Democratic primary voters tend to be activists: environmental activists, civil rights activists, pro-choice activists," said Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign. With Lieberman, "there's a failure to connect on a basic level with Democratic primary voters." ---

This time is different, Lieberman strategists insist, and some analysts agree that may be so. If, for instance, Iowa and New Hampshire produce different winners — and neither seemed to have much momentum — it could provide an opening for Lieberman, assuming he still had the financial wherewithal. ---

By the time Lieberman entered the race, many of Gore's old backers were already committed. ---

He may get credit somewhere "in another life," she said. "But not in this one. This is politics."

[Larkspur]

1. Gore's old backers, like me, would never commit to Lieberman

It's the message, stupid!

Go Dean!

[Mechatanketra]

2. Joe's Woes in a Nutshell

I am a different kind of Democrat. I will not hesitate to tell my friends when they are wrong -- and to agree with my opponents when they are right. -- Joe Lieberman, Stamford, CT, 1/13/03.

Here we have the virtual mating call of the enabler Democrat. In an environment where the Republicans are getting more extremist, more hostile, and more prone to lockstep every day, Joe's announcement was built around a pledge to "rise above partisan politics" -- as if the great problem facing Americans today is those petty stubborn Democrats getting in the way of all the good ideas of the Republicans.

I don't (necessarily) think Joe's a DINO. I just think he's a damn fool, who doesn't understand that the Republican party is not on our side. He seems to think that just because the other guys say they want things which Democrats do -- because these are things the American people want to hear -- that they actually intend to work towards achieving those things.

Advice to Joe: those GOP guys are l-y-i-n-g. Grow up, learn to fight, or get the hell out of the way.

[David__77]

3. It's all about the neocons...

A warning sign is William F. Buckley's warm feelings for Lieberman. He's cavorted with fundamentalists and extreme-rightwingers for years. He criticized Clinton's efforts for a peace agreement in Israel/Palestine. Too much for me. I cannot support him. I won't vote "pro-choice" at the expense of the people of the whole world. We have to draw a line somewhere...

[DoveTurnedHawk]

4. Related Article

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=17178&mesg_id=17178&page=

DTH
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