# So, is Lieberman really gonna do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 10, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111 "2006-08-10T03:37:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/81 "2006-08-22T15:54:03Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] The nightmare scenario: 1 Lieberman wins as independent. 2 Bush appoints Lieberman as Defense Secretary, replacing Rumsfeld. 3 Gov Rell appoints a Republican to complete Lieberman’s term The Republicans wind up picking up a seat in the Senate in one of the bluest of states. [/QUOTE] And, as a bonus from Lieberman’s POV, he wouldn’t even have to break his [pledge to caucus with the Dems](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20325800.htm) if he won re-election. [Laura Rozen of War and Piece](http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/004787.html) claims that Bush has asked at least one person if s/he was interested in replacing Rummy, and was turned down. (No surprise about the rejection: who’d want the job, in the shape it’s in right now?) Take that with the appropriate shaker of salt. I’ve yet to hear a bad word about Rozen from anyone, but I’m only an occasional reader of her blog myself, so I can’t vouch for her reliability. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/82 "2006-08-22T20:16:07Z")
[Lieberman and right-wing radio talker Glenn Beck find a shitload of common ground.](http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/aug/22/ct_sen_lieberman_tell_right_wing_radio_host_were_in_world_war_iii) Yeah, he’s a Dem. I mean, practically _all_ of us Dems can find plenty of common ground with Glenn Beck. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/83 "2006-08-22T20:48:50Z")
I’m not up on my bylaws, but can’t the Democratic Party just give Joe the heave-ho already? I mean, it’s their party, they’re supposed to set the membership rules… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/84 "2006-08-22T21:19:21Z")
[QUOTE=rjung] I’m not up on my bylaws, but can’t the Democratic Party just give Joe the heave-ho already? I mean, it’s their party, they’re supposed to set the membership rules… [/QUOTE] Nationally? I doubt the Democratic Party at the national level has any criteria for membership; generally how it works with political parties is that you participate in one if you agree with most of what they say and do; it hardly makes sense to do otherwise. Just like no one expects the Spanish Inquisition, one doesn’t expect someone to be part of a party and spend most of his energy slamming that party while cozying up to another one. The national party leadership _could_ say something like, “As long as Lieberman is running against the Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Senator from Connecticut, we do not recognize him as a member of our party, and will not regard him as a member of our caucus,” but they’re too chickenshit to do that. So it’s apparently up to local Dem activists in New Haven to use state laws delimiting party affiliation to do what the national party lacks the gumption to do. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/85 "2006-08-22T21:28:03Z")
[QUOTE=rjung] I’m not up on my bylaws, but can’t the Democratic Party just give Joe the heave-ho already? I mean, it’s their party, they’re supposed to set the membership rules… [/QUOTE] Don’t you think the Pubs would have expelled David Duke if they could? It doesn’t work that way, not in the Big Two. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Tichy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e7dd6/32.png) [@I\_Tichy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Tichy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/86 "2006-08-22T21:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Form his own ad-hoc party and keep running as an indie right up to e-day? Whatever the consequences? Even if he ends up a pariah in the Dem Party? His [website](http://connecticutforlieberman.com/) certainly seems to indicate that intention . . . [/QUOTE] This is his actual website: [http://www.joe2006.com/](http://www.joe2006.com/) connecticutforlieberman is an anti-lieberman site. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/87 "2006-08-22T21:52:10Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] The national party leadership _could_ say something like, “As long as Lieberman is running against the Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Senator from Connecticut, we do not recognize him as a member of our party, and will not regard him as a member of our caucus,” but they’re too chickenshit to do that. [/QUOTE] Or too smart. What do they gain by doing that, other than a great big “attaboy” from their hardcore base. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/88 "2006-08-22T22:00:01Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] The nightmare scenario: 1 Lieberman wins as independent. 2 Bush appoints Lieberman as Defense Secretary, replacing Rumsfeld. 3 Gov Rell appoints a Republican to complete Lieberman’s term The Republicans wind up picking up a seat in the Senate in one of the bluest of states. [/QUOTE] Do you really believe Lieberman would rather be DefSec than a very senior senator? Or that he would be willing to do something that would completely burn his bridges WRT to ever again being accepted as a “Democrat”? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/89 "2006-08-22T23:00:41Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] [They’re trying to fix that.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/21/AR2006082101427.html) [/QUOTE] Um, I was referring to whatsisname, Schlesinger, the GOP’s _official nominee_, not getting supported by his own party. > [@rjung](#): > > I’m not up on my bylaws, but can’t the Democratic Party just give Joe the heave-ho already? They’re supporting their nominee with the full force of their funding and organizing, and doing jack for some independent who’s not even using the party’s name. What else do you want them to do? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/90 "2006-08-22T23:07:00Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Or too smart. What do they gain by doing that, other than a great big “attaboy” from their hardcore base. [/QUOTE] Indeed. Already the Republicans are trying to portray this whole thing as an example of how beholden the Dems are to extremists. This is unfair, but it’s their strategy. The best Democratic response, IMO, is to ignore it as the silliness that it is. If they expel Lieberman, it’ll serve no material purpose except to make their enemies cackle with glee as they put together new talking points. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/91 "2006-08-22T23:09:05Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] They’re supporting their nominee with the full force of their funding and organizing, and doing jack for some independent who’s not even using the party’s name. What else do you want them to do? [/QUOTE] Are they? How much funding is Lamont getting vs other condidates? It’s an honest question, **Elvis**. I really have no idea what’s going on, but I suspect it’s a bbit too early to tell. Won’t the real funding come (if it does come) after Labor Day? You don’t really campaign in these elections until all those white shoes are put away… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/92 "2006-08-22T23:16:07Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Are they? How much funding is Lamont getting vs other condidates? [/quote] Among Connecticut Senate candidates, 100%. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/93 "2006-08-22T23:19:49Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] Among Connecticut Senate candidates, 100%. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] IOW, you have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. I should’ve known better than to ask you an honest question. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/94 "2006-08-22T23:20:07Z")
But can Lieberman survive Bush’s endorsement? [Today’s Hartford Courant](http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-lieberman0822.artaug22,0,1581072.story?coll=hc-headlines-local). > [@](#): > > Monday, President Bush for the first time spoke publicly about the Connecticut Democrat’s bid to win the seat as an independent, telling a nationally-televised news conference: “I’m staying out of Connecticut. You know, that’s what the party suggested, the Republican Party of Connecticut, and plus there’s a better place to spend our money, time and resources.” > > By not distancing himself from Lieberman - or endorsing the Republican nominee - analysts say that Bush’s statement, which echoes earlier comments by White House press secretary Tony Snow, sends an important signal to Republican voters. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/95 "2006-08-22T23:22:56Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] IOW, you have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. I should’ve known better than to ask you an honest question. [/QUOTE] Try asking a _coherent_ one, after first getting the point that is. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/96 "2006-08-22T23:39:21Z")
[The newest poll I found](http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/situation.room/blog/2006/08/poll-lieberman-lamont-running-neck-and.html) - and I don’t know anything about the American Research Group - shows a dead heat. 44 percent for Lieberman, 42 percent for Lamont, 3.5 percent for margin of error, and 3 percent for Schlesinger. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/97 "2006-08-23T00:03:44Z")
[William Greider’s take on the situation.](http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=114118) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/98 "2006-08-23T00:10:17Z")
The alternative stratagem being murmured about: Lieberman wins, accepts post as Sec Def, and Republican governor of CT picks next Senator. Hey, them’s the rules! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/99 "2006-08-23T00:11:48Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [William Greider’s take on the situation.](http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=114118) [/QUOTE] Too Machiavellian. It makes Lieberman look to be driven more by ambition for power and less by sheer ego than I suspect is the case. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111/100 "2006-08-23T00:25:19Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] The alternative stratagem being murmured about: Lieberman wins, accepts post as Sec Def, and Republican governor of CT picks next Senator. Hey, them’s the rules! [/QUOTE] I doubt it. See post #88. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-lieberman-really-gonna-do-it/368111.md?page=6)