Lieberman Says No Switch, But Leaves The Door Open A Crack
I said the latest spate of ‘Lieberman going GOP’ stories were much ado about nothing yesterday, and today Senator Lieberman used the exact same words to deny them – almost:
U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman rejected speculation Friday that he would join the Republican Party, calling the notion “much ado about nothing.”
Lieberman, I-Conn., told Time magazine this week that joining the Republicans was a “very remote possibility,” prompting speculation by numerous observers and Web journals that he would tip the balance of the Senate away from the Democrats, who have 49 seats plus two independents who caucus with them.
“I have no desire or intention to leave the Democratic Party or the Democratic caucus,” Lieberman said Friday while in Hartford to host an education forum. “I hope and believe we’ll never get to that point, so I believe this latest flurry is much ado about nothing.”
Well, for those who want to keep stirring the pot, “I hope and believe we’ll never get to that point” is not an outright denial, exactly, is it?…
I suppose that if he judges his position on the Iraq war and the GWOT to be better aligned with the GOP, and places this issue far above all others, then, maybe he would switch. But there is so much of what the GOP believes and advocates that he doesn’t that I can’t see him ever making that choice.
More likely this is a defensive maneuver designed to blunt the calls by the more extreme Democrats to remove him from positions of leadership because of his position on the war.