I was sorry to learn of the sudden death of 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman. But his long and stormy career did offer some important lessons about party loyalty, which I wrote about at New York:
Joe Lieberman was active in politics right up to the end. The former senator was the founding co-chair of the nonpartisan group No Labels, which is laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign on behalf of a yet-to-be-identified bipartisan “unity ticket.” Lieberman did not live to see whether No Labels will run a candidate. He died on Wednesday at 82 due to complications from a fall. But this last political venture was entirely in keeping with his long career as a self-styled politician of the pragmatic center, which often took him across party boundaries.
Lieberman’s first years in Connecticut Democratic politics as a state legislator and then state attorney general were reasonably conventional. He was known for a particular interest in civil rights and environmental protection, and his identity as an observant Orthodox Jew also drew attention. But in 1988, the Democrat used unconventional tactics in his challenge to Republican U.S. senator Lowell Weicker. Lieberman positioned himself to the incumbent’s right on selected issues, like Ronald Reagan’s military operations against Libya and Grenada. He also capitalized on longtime conservative resentment of his moderate opponent, winning prized endorsements from William F. and James Buckley, icons of the right. Lieberman won the race narrowly in an upset.
Almost immediately, Senator Lieberman became closely associated with the Democratic Leadership Council. The group of mostly moderate elected officials focused on restoring the national political viability of a party that had lost five of the six previous presidential elections; it soon produced a president in Bill Clinton. Lieberman became probably the most systematically pro-Clinton (or in the parlance of the time, “New Democrat”) member of Congress. This gave his 1998 Senate speech condemning the then-president’s behavior in the Monica Lewinsky scandal as “immoral” and “harmful” a special bite. He probably did Clinton a favor by setting the table for a reprimand that fell short of impeachment and removal, but without question, the narrative was born of Lieberman being disloyal to his party.
Perhaps it was his public scolding of Clinton that convinced Al Gore, who was struggling to separate himself from his boss’s misconduct, to lift Lieberman to the summit of his career. Gore tapped the senator to be his running mate in the 2000 election, making him the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate of a major party. He was by all accounts a disciplined and loyal running mate, at least until that moment during the Florida recount saga when he publicly disclaimed interest in challenging late-arriving overseas military ballots against the advice of the Gore campaign. You could argue plausibly that the ticket would have never been in a position to potentially win the state without Lieberman’s appeal in South Florida to Jewish voters thrilled by his nomination to become vice-president. But many Democrats bitter about the loss blamed Lieberman.
As one of the leaders of the “Clintonian” wing of his party, Lieberman was an early front-runner for the 2004 presidential nomination. A longtime supporter of efforts to topple Saddam Hussein, Lieberman had voted to authorize the 2003 invasion of Iraq, like his campaign rivals John Kerry and John Edwards and other notable senators including Hillary Clinton. Unlike most other Democrats, though, Lieberman did not back off this position when the Iraq War became a deadly quagmire. Ill-aligned with his party to an extent he did not seem to perceive, his presidential campaign quickly flamed out, but not before he gained enduring mockery for claiming “Joe-mentum” from a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire.
Returning to the Senate, Lieberman continued his increasingly lonely support for the Iraq War (alongside other heresies to liberalism, such as his support for private-school education vouchers in the District of Columbia). In 2006, Lieberman drew a wealthy primary challenger, Ned Lamont, who soon had a large antiwar following in Connecticut and nationally. As the campaign grew heated, President George W. Bush gave his Democratic war ally a deadly gift by embracing him and kissing his cheek after the State of the Union Address. This moment, memorialized as “The Kiss,” became central to the Lamont campaign’s claim that Lieberman had left his party behind, and the challenger narrowly won the primary. However, Lieberman ran against him in the general election as an independent, with significant back-channel encouragement from the Bush White House (which helped prevent any strong Republican candidacy). Lieberman won a fourth and final term in the Senate with mostly GOP and independent votes. He was publicly endorsed by Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani, among others from what had been the enemy camp.
The 2006 repudiation by his party appeared to break something in Lieberman. This once-happiest of happy political warriors, incapable of holding a grudge, seemed bitter, or at the very least gravely offended, even as he remained in the Senate Democratic Caucus (albeit as formally independent). When his old friend and Iraq War ally John McCain ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, Lieberman committed a partisan sin by endorsing him. His positioning between the two parties, however, still cost him dearly: McCain wanted to choose him as his running mate, before the Arizonan’s staff convinced him that Lieberman’s longtime pro-choice views and support for LGBTQ rights would lead to a convention revolt. The GOP nominee instead went with a different “high-risk, high-reward” choice: Sarah Palin.
After Barack Obama’s victory over Lieberman’s candidate, the new Democratic president needed every Democratic senator to enact the centerpiece of his agenda, the Affordable Care Act. He got Lieberman’s vote — but only after the senator, who represented many of the country’s major private-insurance companies, forced the elimination of the “public option” in the new system. It was a bitter pill for many progressives, who favored a more robust government role in health insurance than Obama had proposed.
By the time Lieberman chose to retire from the Senate in 2012, he was very near to being a man without a party, and he reflected that status by refusing to endorse either Obama or Mitt Romney that year. By then, he was already involved in the last great project of his political career, No Labels. He did, with some hesitation, endorse Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. But his long odyssey away from the yoke of the Democratic Party had largely landed him in a nonpartisan limbo. Right up until his death, he was often the public face of No Labels, particularly after the group’s decision to sponsor a presidential ticket alienated many early supporters of its more quotidian efforts to encourage bipartisan “problem-solving” in Congress.
Some will view Lieberman as a victim of partisan polarization, and others as an anachronistic member of a pro-corporate, pro-war bipartisan elite who made polarization necessary. Personally, I will remember him as a politician who followed — sometimes courageously, sometimes foolishly — a path that made him blind to the singular extremism that one party has exhibited throughout the 21st century, a development he tried to ignore to his eventual marginalization. But for all his flaws, I have no doubt Joe Lieberman remained until his last breath committed to the task he often cited via the Hebrew term tikkun olam: repairing a broken world.
I predict that if the American’s pull out, the Bush Administration will be charged with the greatest flip flop since “Read my lips.”
Why did so many Americans die? Why did we spend so much money? First, it was because of terrorism. No terrorists. Then, it was about WMDs. No WMDs. Now, it’s about “liberating” Iraqi’s and protecting the rest of the region from “irrational” Saddam Hussein. Well, Saddam may be gone. But what good would the war have done if Iraq decends into chaos and another dictator takes over. Or worse, civil war envelops the country.
Bush will face a revolt by his neocon base. It will be the total repudiation of his own doctrine (The National Security Strategy, Bush Doctrine) and their philosophy.
> There is NO plan to remove the troops. They are
> building permanent bases in Iraq. No matter
> what people think the plan is for us to be there
> till the end of time.
That is undoubtedly what the Neocons are hoping, but what happens if the Iraqi government doesn’t want it? As this WaPo article explains [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34643-2004May17.html ] ordinary Iraqis are increasingly turning against the U.S. “liberators” simply because there is a general perception the Americans are unable or unwilling to make the country a safe place. This apparently goes for Iraqi government officials too, who will be assassinated if they are seen as collaborating with the Americans. So it is by no means a given the Iraqis will ask the U.S. military to stay since they supposedly fear a “civil war” would erupt. Let’s face reality: the country is almost there already and it’s clear a very significant, violent minority will continue the uprising as long as the “crusaders” remain in the country.
Interestingly, it seems the Bushies may in fact be planning to pull out after all! If the Iraqi government asks the Americans to leave, wouldn’t it be a golden opportunity for the Administration to cut its political losses while declaring “victory” in this battle in the war on terror?
MARCU$
Bush I and Bush II both seem to be proving Lincoln’s aphorism about fooling people. They used war to fool “all” of the people but it’s only worked some of the time.
There is NO plan to remove the troops. They are building permanent bases in Iraq. No matter what people think the plan is for us to be there till the end of time. Which may come sooner than we expect with this bunch running things.
I’ve got a real problem with the irresponsible Left that seems to assume that one can just remove the troops from Iraq and wave bye bye. There is something called “collective responsibility” even if you were a hard anti-war protester pre-Iraq 2003, and I simply don’t think that has sunk in to some proponents of just bring the troops home. Sadly, you cannot run the invasion backwards and depart.
What Kerry perhaps promises is a clean slate in dealing with potential allies. Bush is so profoundly unpopular abroad he has no hope of attracting any sort of meaningful help — but Kerry at least offers that possibility. To win Kerry is going to have to speak two languages — the one of Intnernationalization, cooperation, careful listening to the views of others, but at the same time he cannot forsake a strong identification with American Interests and all the rest of the “realist” language. It is a difficult order, and in many ways it depends on Bush proving himself most lnnept as a diplomat, as incapable of conducting advantageous foreign relations — and Kerry seeming to be very comfortable in that role, but at the same time retaining an authentic American character around himself.
I still think Kucinich offered a complete reversal of Bush’s policies. I wonder if he could really make his ideas a reality.
Kerry doesn’t seem to be different enough. He seems to be shrinking away from anything that may have made him more receptive to the progressive community.
Isn’t it only a matter of time before Bush’s numbers hit the 30s? Then he will be totally at par with Carter in 1980. How did that election turn out?
I think that 40% threshold will sink Bush. Politics is about perception. There are still people in disbelief about his not “being popular.” The GOP expected to campaign on his popularity. Now they have nothing. If he falls into the 30s, the realization will come about that he is not only “not popular,” but is actually “unpopular” (there is a difference). They will start seeing Bush as a liability.
Still want to know what a strategy would be if Bush DOES manage to run.
Please explain :/ re: lots of foreign ministers saying they will pull out if asked “(by who?) but…
TROOPS ARE NOT COMING HOME AFTER JUNE 30!!! I wonder just how many Americans are under the false impression that the “handover of sovereignty (to whom nobody knows) means that the troops will come home. If anything, troop numbers will be increasing over the next few months. If Americans are under the impression that we’re pulling troops out this summer, they’re going to be sorely disappointed and even angrier at Bush than they already are.
Kaus has been having much fun asking if it is too late for the Democrats to nominate someone other than Kerry. Maybe he should be asking if it is too late for the Republicans to nominate someone other than Bush?
I doubt many would compare Bush’s skill as equal to Lyndon Johnson’s (and I don’t want to get too hopeful), but it appears that this one is heading where the 1968 election was going until Johnson retired.
> But what do you think will happen when June 30
> comes and the US washes its hands of Iraq by
> means of the superficial handover of sovereignty?
Well, I think they need to pull the troops out of harm’s way as well and I don’t see that happening. As long as Americans are getting killed and as long as taxpayers (well, future generations of taxpayers — “read my lips: no new taxes!”) are being asked to foot the bill, I think Iraq will continue to be a liability. Besides, the dwindling but vocal neoconservative minority will scream like banshees if “Shrub” abandons the Great American Cause of creating democracy in Iraq. GOP voters and conservative pundits are grumbling a lot these days, but they still respect his “moral leadership” in the War on Terror. If “Shrub” starts backtracking on that crucial issue, what’s left?
I am much more worried about the economy: wouldn’t it be awful if the GNP and employment figures improved sufficiently for “Shrub” to squeak through in November? I hear the best guess is there won’t be a sufficiently long string of good news for “Shrub” to use it effectively in his campaign, but nor will Kerry be able to use the data to his advantage. So it’s most likely going to be a wash.
My greatest fear is Kerry will continue to stumble during and after the Demo convention when people finally start paying attention. That’s when succcesful challengers such as Clinton and Reagan took off. Will Kerry prove appealing enough? I think he likely will, if the U.S. is in the same funk as it was during Carter’s final months in office. But *if* the economy is doing acceptably and *if* Iraq/the Middle East is improving, I just don’t see how he can win even if he is running a much better campaign than he is doing right now…
MARCU$
I’ve been following the Zogby polls mainly because he was the most accurate during the last election. However, it’s become quite interesting to see all (or most) of the polls showing something that makes me want to read all of them. That being, GWB’s numbers tanking!!!!! Hopefully there isn’t time for him to recover. I certainly believe we haven’t seen the last of the other scandals (i.e. Plamegate, and 9/11 gate). There’s too much going on for this guy to survive all the negatives.
Hopefully, I haven’t jinxed this for Kerry by saying that.
Locally (Washington, DC) I listened to a political analyst on the way to work named Plotkin. He stated that traditionally people vote what they knew about the economy six months ago. I remember that from prior elections also. Other than voting machine fraud, I just don’t see how Bush can survive all the heat put on him to date and going forward.
Hey, and don’t forget that Bush’s big “Let’s go to Mars!” speech is coming up! That’ll screw him for sure. I can already hear the comments:
“So, Mr. President, do you believe that you will find the weapons of mass destruction there?”
I can’t wait.
If Bush does pull most of the troops out by July, and focus attention on the “economic recovery” and on the shameless 9/11 exploitation at the GOP convention, and on social issues, then these poll numbers don’t mean a lot. They can change at any time. The only thing that say is that Rove is having a harder time figuring out what to do. The bad news against Bush is now very diverse and hitting from him all sides (even the tobacco farmers are turning against him!).
Well, the current numbers certainly look good for Kerry when measured against past performances for incumbent presidents half a year before the election.
1964 JOHNSON-Goldwater: 59
1968 —
1972 NIXON-McGovern: 11
1976 Ford-CARTER: -6
1980 Carter-REAGAN: 8
1984 REAGAN-Mondale: 17
1988 —
1992 Bush-CLINTON: 6
1996 CLINTON-Dole: 14
2000 —
2004 Bush-Kerry: -6
Unfortunately, candidates have occasionally dug themselves out of deeper holes than this although no incumbent has ever managed the feat. In the spring of 1968, Nixon was trailing Hubert Humphrey by six points while the current moron’s father was fourteen points behind Dukakis in 1988. Let’s hope this election really *is* about the Administration’s track record rather than about Kerry.
—
BTW, how could Kerry neutralize the Nader problem? By offering him a job in the Kerry Administration in case he is elected? At least Ralph should stay away from battleground states and only appear on the ballot in safely “blue” or “red” states…
MARCU$
I wonder if Nader is drawing Republicans who can’t bear to support a Democrat — sort of a protest vote. His Reform Party endorsement probably helps that a little.
Of course when election day rolls around, I doubt they’ll be motivated enough to go out and pull a lever for Nader.
But what do you think will happen when June 30 comes and the US washes its hands of Iraq by means of the superficial handover of sovereignty?
Will the reporters go home? Will news reports on the debacle in Iraq dry up (like war reports in Afghanistan now)? Will that end the national attention on Iraq and cushion Bush’s fall?