Our Lieberman problem

Oh man are you hot

CT-Sen: Schumer and the DSCC apparently want war
by kos
Wed Jun 14, 2006 at 01:40:27 PM PDT

Schumer just gave Lieberman permission to quit the Democratic Party:

Schumer said that the DSCC "fully supports" Sen. Joe Lieberman in his primary bid, and he refused to rule out continuing that support if Lieberman were to run as an independent.

There were degrees of independence, Schumer said. "You can run as an independent, you can run as an independent Democrat who pledges to vote for Harry Reid as Majority Leader."

That's true, when there isn't a Democrat on the ballot, like in Vermont. Connecticut isn't Vermont.

The DSCC's mission is to support Democrats in elections.

Our mission is to elect more Democrats to the United States Senate. We are the largest organization committed to electing a Democratic Senate in the country. From grass-roots organizing to candidate recruitment to providing campaign funds for tight races, the DSCC is working hard all year, every year to increase the number of Democratic Senators.

Supporting Lieberman over Lamont would be a violation of this mission.

Schumer is a Democrat. He runs the DSCC. He needs to respect the will of the Democratic voters in Connecticut.

Now I wouldn't say it's a war, but there's a Lieberman problem.

If Lieberman goes and runs as an independent, it could lead to a virtual civil war as people take sides. Lieberman would have to build his own machine on the fly and people would ask why should they trust a man who abandons the party which nominated him for Vice President. Teddy Roosevelt he is not.

Lieberman has been Bush's best Democratic ally and to run from the party would be near suicidal.

The middle isn't going to work the polls for him, they aren't going to raise money and work the ED's for him. That's what the base does. Dems who used to fear him would have to explain why they're turning against the party. You could unleash all kinds of runs against incubents at all levels, each taking one side or the other.

And then Chuck Schumer refuses to pledge to do his job, which is to support the Democratic Candidate.

Which is a mistake. I know Schumer doesn't take the blogs seriously, but that's would be an error. The blogs drove the challenge to Lieberman. They could make things very hard for Schumer if he refused to back Lamont, and that would start in New York. Hillary Clinton already got booed.

I know they're all members of the Senate club, but I wouldn't want to be one of his staffers or at one of his Sunday standups if he doesn't back Lamont. He'd be dogged by protesters. Schumer already fucked up by letting Suozzi run, a man who promptly propose a toll road on the LIE, America's most crowded highway.

Elliot Spitzer, with a massive lead in the polls, could make life so hard for Schumer by tossing his arms around Lamont, talking about Democratic loyalty. Schumer tried to stop him and picked a clueless man to do it.

I think it's cowardice to run from Lamont and try an independent run. He is shit scared of Lamont and there isn't a good reason for it.