After several years of lurking and occasionally posting on Kos, I've decided to take the plunge and write my first diary, so please be gentle with me.
I live in Connecticut and like hundreds (ok, thousands) of other Kos readers I am frustrated by the fact that Joe Lieberman is a US Senator from my state.
But help is on the way. Grass root activists in the state are organizing at the Town Committee level to let Joe know how out of step he is with the party on the war in Iraq. They are casting about for alternatives for Joe with increasing intensity. All that work is paying off: at least two individuals are giving serious thought to running against Joe in '06.
Rather than engaging in endless speculation about whether Joe can be beat, in a primary or by a 3rd party candidate, or just how bad Joe is for the Democratic Party (fun topics that I have spent hours reading, rating, and replying to) I propose a project that is a little more concrete: a Joe Oppo Research Project.
There's more below
Usually candidates have to spend thousands of dollars to dopey consultants to perform this task. This can be an open source depository for any anti-Joe candidates to access.
He's been in office for 17 years and I'm sure that he's voted wrong on many bills- issues that can be framed to show the public how out of step he is, not just on the war but on lunch pail issues that the Connecticut electorate really care about.
For example: according to the AFL-CIO ( here is the link: http://www.aflcio.org/... ) he's cast bad votes this year on outsourcing American Jobs and on gutting a Buy American program for defense purchases. I'm told he was one of only 2 democratic senators from non-confederate states (apologies to non-Yankee KOS brothers and sisters) that didn't sign on to the universal health coverage bill in 1994.
Links or citations are crucial to verify the bad votes and start to build a database on bad Joe votes.
I am aware that the war in Iraq is going to be issue 1, 2, and 3 in a campaign against Joe. But this type of research will help make the anti-Joe withstand the inevitable assaults that will come not only from the Lieberman campaign but from the MSM that will try to tear down potential Joe opponents by presenting a one- dimensional cartoon image of any Joe challenger.
Thanks.
