Senator Lieberman,
It was just this past Tuesday in your "concession speech" that you announced to the world that you were an "independent Democrat". In this world of the Internet and soundbites, Tuesday seems like months ago. We haven't heard much from you, though I was able to log onto you website this morning (finally unhacked?) and watch your latest commercial wherein you highlight first and foremost your experience on national security and on the 9/11 commission before going on to talk about protecting social security and cancer research.
And I also saw this quote from you this morning in the New York Times: "If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England."
I suppose your attack of Ned Lamont is not unexpected since he's your opponent, but what has surprised me is your unwillingness to defend your fellow Democrats, many of whom stuck with you until the very end.
Your silence at this time has been deafening given your proclamation that you are an "independent Democrat". During the 72 hours that followed your loss to Senator Ned Lamont, the Democratic Party has been under attack. The chorus from the right has repeated the same refrain "the Democratic Party has been hijacked by supporters of the enemy."
I don't have to read the full list of their comments, but here's a sampling. Vice President Dick Cheney, the man you ran against in 2000, claimed that Mr. Lamont's primary victory would "embolden al Qaeda types". Columnist Cal Thomas went a step further and said that Mr. Lamont's victory completed a takeover of the Democratic party by "Taliban Democrats"--a statement which shows how little Mr. Thomas knows about either the Taliban or how a Democratic primary election works.
In the same New York Times article where you saw fit to suggest Ned Lamont would weaken us in our fight against terrorists you emphatically refused to discuss the effect of the GOP's remarks about your fellow Democrats--the Democratic Party you still proclaim to be an independent member of.
"Mr. Lieberman said yesterday that he was trying to stay above the fray of partisan politics and sidestepped a reporter's question about Vice President Cheney's remarks about Democrats. The senator said he was focused on Connecticut, not on the rest of the country."
With all respect, Senator, do you think that it is fair to be focused on Connecticut and not on the nation at this time? First of all, you are running for Senate, not for Governor of Connecticut. While that means you will be representing the people of Connecticut, your job entails, as you well know, dealing with issues of national importance. I would think that if you are truly an "independent Democrat" it would be important for you to get as many Democratic allies elected this November as possible so that when you are an "indepent Democrat" and a member of the Senate, it will be easier for you to represent your constituents who elected you as an "independent Democrat".
More importantly Senator, as an experienced national leader, I would think you would want to take this opportunity to show the citizens of Connecticut what you are about. To show them just how these devisive partisan remarks by the Vice President and GOP operatives are exactly the sort of thing you've been speaking out against when you have talked recently about the growing partisan divide in this country. And yet you don't find these incredibly partisan statements worthy enough to discuss with the New York Times?
Senator Lieberman, you have an incredible opportunity before you to silence your critics. All you have to do is to come forth and state emphatically that this sort of partisan rhetoric is destroying this country and that you won't engage in it as an independent Democrat, nor will you tolerate those statements from extremists in the Republican Party attempting to paint your Democratic colleagues, the men and women you've served with for so many years, as radicals when you know that to be untrue. Why then are you silent?
President Bill Clinton, a man you assailed during the Lewinsky scandal campaigned for your primary bid. That to me said a great deal about Bill Clinton. The guy wasn't going to let some petty disagreement (even one that could have ended his presidency) stop him from helping out a fellow Democrat who he felt earned his support and respect. That's what a leader does, they can see the forest through the trees. Mr. Lieberman, now is the moment where you show whether you are still a leader and whether you are truly an independent Democrat worthy of that description.