Lieberman declares his independence

My does history come full circle.

In 1970, the Clintons, Bill and Hilary, were young Yale Law Students and were working on the insurgent campaign of one Joseph Duffy, who was running in the Democratic Primary against incumbent U.S. Senator Thomas Dodd (father of current U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd). Helping them out was another fellow Yalie, Joseph Lieberman. Their goal was to oust Dodd who was backer of the Vietnam War while Duffy was opposed to it.

Thirty-Six years later Lieberman is a U.S. Senator himself and like Dodd, he's involved in a primary fight. And like 1970, this one is about a war too, Iraq. Like Dodd, Lieberman is a strong supporter of war and like Dodd he faces a challenge based on that position from local Democrats. Playing the role of Joseph Duffy, is wealthy cable businessman Ned Lamont.

And like Dodd, Lieberman faces the real possibility of losing the primary. Like Dodd, he's more than likely going to run as an independent in the fall. In that year 1970, Dodd's independent campaign split the Democratic vote and one Lowell Weicker, then a little-known Republican state senator was elected. Eigthteen years later, Weicker was beaten by Lieberman for the seat.

Hopefully Lieberman appreciates all this history and all its irony.

Actually, by declaring he'll go down the independent role, Lieberman is all but acknowledging he's going to lose the Democratic Primary. Oh he'll still campaign for it but he's just keeping his options open. Sure, and he would have done that if he was ahead of Lamont by 50 points in the polls like he was three months ago. This indepdent bid is hardly about striking a new political course. It's all about survival. At least Sen. Lincoln Chaffee stayed loyal to GOP of his forefathers by not going that route in his September primary in Rhode Island which he had as an option. He may or may not regret this, but at least he stood by those who stood by him. Lots of top Democrats in Connecticut and Washington D.C. have stood by Lieberman and this is how they're being rewarded. Sen. Chuck Schumer is saying he'll stand by Lieberman, but fellow New York Sen.Hillary Clinton, under pressure from the blogs, is hedging her bets.

This is one case where I'm hoping the indy candidate goes down for this candidacy is nothing more than a desperate cling to office by the Powers that Be. For you see, liberal Dems got smart and found a credible candidate with some money to spend and ran him in a primary, and already they've affected the process. Lieberman, like former Virginia Senator Harry Byrd Jr. before him, now has to stay far away from Democratic primary voters in the future to hold on to his Senate seat. But he has nobody to blame but himself. Like Republican activists and conservatives who go after RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) so are these leftists going after a DINO. Instead of touting his views as a Democrat and hoping primary voters don't just vote on one issue, Lieberman is going to cut and run hoping independents and Republicans save his arse. He's going to have to spend his time defending an unpopular war and an unpopular President and hope Republicans won't mind he's for socialized medicine and forget the fact he was Al Gore's running mate. Good luck.

But regardless what happens, what all this shows is that the Powers that Be can beaten at their own game and there are a variety of ways of doing it like the party primary. The same thing is happening in Rhode Island against Lincoln Chaffee. Hopefully plenty of inspiration can come out of this election, especially these two primaries for independent activists or anyone else who wants the beat the Powers that Be in the future.

--Sean Scallon