Hey all - I'm writing an editorial to either the Stamford Advocate or the CT Post, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to tighten it up. It's a little long, but I'm struggling to make cuts. I'd appreciate your advice.
Text below...
Once upon a time, Joe Lieberman took up the "New Democrat" mantle, and our party owes that movement thanks for showing that one can be socially progressive, internationally-conscious, and fiscally responsible at the same time. But while Lieberman claims to be standing on principle today, it seems to me that he is instead stuck in the outdated politics of his formative years -- the existential battle against Communism.
This misguided focus was identified by Richard Clarke, who tried in vain to convince the Bush administration that focusing the "war on terror" on Mideast nations - a relic of our struggle with the USSR, and Condi Rice's academic expertise - would prove to be a tragic error. Our troubles in Iraq, as well as our inability to intervene in a meaningful way in the Israel-Lebanon conflict, are just the first of what will be decades of fallout from this failed ideology. The tragedy is that so many of our representatives haven't learned from our experiences in Iraq that this way of thinking no longer works in today's world.
However, this mindset goes beyond the puzzling desire to wage foreign wars: Connecticut's junior Senator also seems to view the greatest threat as being the influence of liberalism on American culture and politics. Sen. Lieberman takes up crusades against universal healthcare, judicial filibusters, video games, and patriotic dissent -- all the while lending support to causes like Bush's "Faith-Based Initiatives," Federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case, and Social Security privatization.
In reality, the "radical left" that Joe led the charge against all those years ago no longer exists. Those critical of him today are moderates and entrepreneurs who look to renew the quality of life and moral authority that will let America lead in the world again. Frankly, to bring our party and our nation out of the moral and economic wilderness that the Bush administration has led us into, the last thing we need is a Cold War Democrat like Joe Lieberman.
In these troubled times, Ned Lamont shows the ability to understand and the capacity to lead responsibly, and Connecticut Democrats would do well to offer him their vote on August 8th.