Comments on: I Need A New Punch Line http://informedspeculation.com/2006/03/16/i-need-a-new-punch-line/ Refunds Cheerfully Given To All Who Disagree Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:53:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Sean P http://informedspeculation.com/2006/03/16/i-need-a-new-punch-line/comment-page-1/#comment-14316 Sean P Fri, 17 Mar 2006 02:00:24 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/03/16/i-need-a-new-punch-line/#comment-14316 Hamsher's silliness notwithstanding, I kinda-sorta understand the left wing hostility to Lieberman, at least theoretically. He's far from the biggest apostate Democrat in the Senate -- that honor would actually go to the Nelson twins of Nebraska and Florida, respectively. But where Nebraska is an overwhelmingly red state and Florida a somewhat reliable one, their apostacy is accepted as the price of getting a Democratic Senator elected in enemy territory. Senators from solid blue states like Connecticut, however, should be solid orthodox lefties. And, really, what's the cost of challenging him? Lamont may be a nobody, but its not like the Republicans fielded a credible challenger to face the eventual winner. If Lieberman wins the nomination he'll cruise to a landslide victory in November -- possibly by an even greater margin than what he gets in the primaries. If Lamont wins, then the general election will pitch a resume-free Democrat versus a resume-free Republican in a state Kerry won by over eight points. Don't get me wrong, I like Lieberman and admire his courage -- and if I lived in Connecticut I'd probably even re-register Democrat to vote for him the primary. But the logic in trying to take him out is not lost on me. Hamsher’s silliness notwithstanding, I kinda-sorta understand the left wing hostility to Lieberman, at least theoretically. He’s far from the biggest apostate Democrat in the Senate — that honor would actually go to the Nelson twins of Nebraska and Florida, respectively. But where Nebraska is an overwhelmingly red state and Florida a somewhat reliable one, their apostacy is accepted as the price of getting a Democratic Senator elected in enemy territory. Senators from solid blue states like Connecticut, however, should be solid orthodox lefties.

And, really, what’s the cost of challenging him? Lamont may be a nobody, but its not like the Republicans fielded a credible challenger to face the eventual winner. If Lieberman wins the nomination he’ll cruise to a landslide victory in November — possibly by an even greater margin than what he gets in the primaries. If Lamont wins, then the general election will pitch a resume-free Democrat versus a resume-free Republican in a state Kerry won by over eight points.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Lieberman and admire his courage — and if I lived in Connecticut I’d probably even re-register Democrat to vote for him the primary. But the logic in trying to take him out is not lost on me.

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