The past week or two have been pretty amazing to watch, and as a Democrat who thinks Joe Lieberman is in the wrong party, what I am seeing is quite encouraging.
In the past, I never heard any prominent Democrat talk about how they disagree with Joe Lieberman, or how Joe Lieberman doesn't speak for the majority of Democrats. But check out what's happened all within the last week or so...
Howard Dean:Dean tossed a parting jab at Lieberman, claiming Democrats are not as divided on Iraq as press reports say. "The differences are pretty small, perhaps, Senator Lieberman excepted," he said.
Harry Reid:
Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is troubled by Lieberman's comments, Reid's aides said. "I've talked to Senator Lieberman, and unfortunately he is at a different place on Iraq than the majority of the American people," Reid said yesterday.
Nancy Pelosi:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters this week that "I completely disagree" with Lieberman. She added: "I believe that we have a responsibility to speak out if we think that the course of action that our country is on is not making the American people safer, making our military stronger and making the region more stable."
Senior Senate Democratic Aide:
"Senator Lieberman is past the point of being taken seriously in the caucus because everything he does is seen as advancing his own self-interest, instead of the Democratic interest," said a senior Senate Democratic aide, who described discontent in that chamber as "widespread."
Jim Dean (Chairman of Democracy for America):
In his letter to Lieberman, Jim Dean said he disagreed and that, "as a member of the `world's greatest deliberative body,' it's time you stopped trying to stifle debate and instead become part of the solution by joining the majority of Americans in questioning President Bush's foreign policy."
That letter from Jim Dean and Democracy for America has been signed by nearly 40,000 members. Jim Dean will deliver it to Joe Lieberman's office tomorrow, so you still have time to
sign the letter!
Democracy for America took a survey of its 9,000 Connecticut members and found that 93% of them said that "Democracy for America should tell Sen. Lieberman to stop supporting Bush," while only 1% said DFA should support Sen. Lieberman.
In addition, MoveOn.org, which claims 10,000 50,000 Connecticut members, is considering supporting a primary challenger if the right candidate comes along.
Democrats are fed up with Joe Lieberman. Thankfully, it's no longer just the the blogosphere who's pissed, but now the Chairman of the DNC, the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, and the leaders of two major progressive organizations are publicly voicing their discontent. Hopefully this will encourage someone to step up to the plate and take on Lieberman in the primary.