(From the diaries. Incredible. As if we need more evidence that Lieberman has completely left the Democratic Party and is merely doing his best to hide that fact lest he lose the crucial support of Democrats he has bamboozled into thinking he's still one of them -- kos)
Unreal. Sen. Lieberman tells the Hartford Courant - with an assumedly straight face - that he "hasn't thought enough" about whether he thinks Democrats should win back the house, or about who he's endorsing for Governor:
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat and student of politics, blanked when asked if America would be better off with his party regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A Democratic victory would immeasurably boost the influence of two Connecticut friends, U.S. Reps. Rosa L. DeLauro and John B. Larson, and provide a counterbalance to the Republican Senate and White House.
"Uh, I haven't thought about that enough to give an answer," Lieberman said, as though Democrats' strong prospects for recapturing the House hadn't been the fall's top political story.
He was similarly elusive about the race for governor. Is he voting for John DeStefano Jr., a Democrat and mayor of the city where Lieberman has lived since the 1960s?
"I'm, uh, I'm having," he stammered, then laughed and said his decision would remain private.
These are not hard questions. Or they weren't until the night of Aug. 8, when Lieberman conceded losing the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont and in the next breath launched an independent candidacy.
It will be a very fun debate if Lieberman can't come up with an answer to these questions before tomorrow afternoon. (Debate airs Monday at 1pm and 7pm on WVIT-30 in CT.)
He hasn't "thought about that enough to give an answer"? Even Jodi Rell's answer was better.
And yet another reason to expect Sen. Lieberman to caucus with Republicans:
In the debates in 1988, Joe promised Connecticut voters he would not serve more than 18 years.
He lied.
Now he's promising he'll caucus with the Democrats in the Senate. Promising he won't accept a post in the Bush cabinet.
He lied then. What reason is there to believe him now?
Watch the new ad:
Update: While Joe Lieberman freezes like a politician stuck in the headlights, 83% Connecticut voters are quite clear on this - who controls the House matters. A lot:
With Connecticut a battleground state, voters strongly believe it is important which party wins control of Congress next month, a Courant/University of Connecticut poll finds.
Eighty-three percent of likely voters say it is important whether Democrats or Republicans prevail, with 56 percent saying it is "very important."
(Cross-posted from LamontBlog.)