Tim's post allowed us to commiserate over Lamont's loss. But Tim did not discuss Ned's essential victory - the exposure of the fraud that is Lieberman and his allies. Their contempt for voters and Democratic principles, indeed, ethics of any kind, is manifest. It leads to grating articles like
this:
Lieberman . . . could leave at any minute, taking the Democrats' new majority with him. . . . "It was all very warm, lots of hugs, high-fives, that kind of stuff," said Senator Salazar . . . Senator Wyden . . . marveled, "One senator after another kept coming up and shaking his hand."
. . . If he defects, the Senate would effectively be under Republican control because . . . Cheney would cast tie-breaking votes. . . . During the campaign, Lieberman said repeatedly that he would continue to vote with the Democratic caucus . . . [I]n an interview he refused to rule out becoming a Republican (while adding, "I hope I don't get to that point"). . . . Lieberman restated that it was possible he could join Senate Republicans . . .
So Joe lied to his constituents again. That is Joe Lieberman in a nutshell.
But the funny part is Joe Lieberman is blowing smoke because he realizes that without the idea that he might switch, his need for media attention would not be slaked. Who cares about Joe now? Who cares what he thinks? Nobody. And Joe has always only cared about Joe - not Connecticut, not Democratic values. But the lie would be too obvious. He ain't switching. But selfishness is what Joe is all about. And he raised his kids with the same attitude:
These would be many of the same good friends "who were happy to leave my dad by the side of the road," as Mr. Lieberman's son, Matthew, put it in an election night speech. These, presumably, would include "friends" like Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, all Lamont supporters.
These Liebermans seem to think that the voters are nothing. Who cares what THEY think? Not Susan Collins:
"It was very painful to him to have all these people he thought were his friends embrace his opponent," Ms. Collins said. "They just threw him overboard. But now, not only is he re-elected resoundingly, but he is also the key to which party controls the Senate."
Loyalty is a one way street for these people. Absolutely disgusting. Interestingly, sanity and actual morals comes from a strange place on this issue, the Republican James Joyner:
Like his political twin, John McCain, Lieberman is an opportunist who has ironically managed to portray himself in the press as a courageous man of principle.
After losing in the Democratic primary, entry into which is implicitly (and perhaps explicitly) a pledge to support the outcome of that contest, Lieberman decided to go for a second bite of the apple as a so-called Independent. He hired a Republican polling and political strategy firm (one that employs my wife). He bashed Democrats for their stance on the war.
Yet, all the while, he pledged to caucus with the Democrats if re-elected. The voters of Connecticut who pulled the lever (or pressed the pad, or whatever mechanism is currently in use there) for him with the expectation that he would do that. It is, therefore, his duty to do just that.
If, for some reason, he decides over the next six years that he can not in good conscience continue to work with Harry Reid and Company-or they deny him a committee chairmanship he feels is rightly his-he has the right to change his mind. At that point, though, the honorable thing to do is to resign his post and stand for re-election as a Republican or Independent-Leaning-Republican or whatever.
If he does that, I'll happily welcome Lieberman to the Big Tent. If he pulls a Jeffords, the Republican leadership has little choice but to accept the gift and cut a deal, just as we would with any traitor. But he should be held in the same contempt as we now hold Jeffords.
Joyner thinks the voters matter. Lieberman and the Collins, Fords and Salazars of the world do not. They would lie to them in a New York minute. What matters is THEIR personal ambitions, their egos, their well being.
And Ned Lamont made it apparent for all the world to see. Joe Lieberman, man of principle, is not a story you have seen, or will see, for a while. Joe Lieberman - liar, betrayer, egotist, revenge minded, etc. - that is all we hear now.
Thank you Ned Lamont.