Liberated Lieberman, Liberating Leadership
By Denise Best | Related entries in Elections, In The NewsWith the hoopla of the current political pendulum swing in motion, let’s not overlook the significance of an Independent who had a pretty darn good showing last night … Joe Lieberman
Proving the adage, “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” Lieberman is looking to be in the most stalwart position ever in his political career.
Throughout his career, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman has proudly proclaimed himself an “independent-minded Democrat.� But in the closing days of this campaign, Mr. Lieberman added a superlative, promising to be a “very independent Democrat.� After a brutal fall from grace in losing his party’s primary this summer, Mr. Lieberman will return to the Senate emboldened, rather than chastened. All fall, he used terms like “unshackled� and “liberated� to describe himself and called his independent candidacy a “twist of fate.� In Washington, he is unlikely to be cast out � rather, he could be courted by both sides on close votes.
“I will go to Washington beholden to no political group, but only to the people of Connecticut and my conscience,� Mr. Lieberman told supporters in his victory speech Tuesday night at the Goodwin Hotel here. He said his victory was “a declaration of independence from politics of partisanship,� adding, “I will be an independent senator, but I will not be alone.�
A man with allegiance to his conscience and constitutents, versus sole allegiance to party and self-service, will indeed be a refreshing political dynamic to watch over the next few years.
Mr. Lieberman campaigned against partisanship in the Capitol. And he won by turning what was once his greatest liability � support for some of the Bush administration’s policies � into an asset. Time and again throughout the campaign, Senator Lieberman assailed members of both parties, but was careful to walk a fine middle line on nearly every issue. It may be a sign of what is to come in the next six years.
Supporters say the “very independent� label means Mr. Lieberman will work to build moderate coalitions from both parties in the divided Senate, but detractors wonder if it is a veiled threat to vote with Republicans even more frequently than he has done in the past.
“I have been changed by this election experience,� the senator told reporters recently. “Being elected as an independent means I can be an effective bridge between both parties.�
Perhaps there’s a true metamorphosis in the making with a “Liberated” and “Liberating” Lieberman.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 and is filed under Elections, In The News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 9th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
How much you want to bet that if the Republicans had won the Senate, Lieberman would have suddenly changed to Republican?
November 9th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
Please, spare me. Holy Joe decided to put principal over party right about the time he lost the Democratic primary. Comments like this completely ignore the fact that he tried hard to be the Democratic nominee. I’m not a fan of Lieberman’s, but I also don’t have the irrational hatred some blog commenters seem to have. I think he has shown himself to be more interested in Joe than anything else. He has already stated that he will caucus with the Dems because he doesn’t want to lose 18 years of seniority. Funny, I thought it was because he’s the conscience of the Senate.
Face it, he’s a veteran, incumbent politician who has been winning statewide races for two decades, and he ran against a guy entering his first political race. Losing the primary was definitely a blow, but let’s not portray him as some plucky underdog who came out of nowhere.
What should really demoralize Republicans is that the victory of an independent who will caucus with the Democrats is all they have to point to as a bright spot in the election. It’s almost sad to see Republicans trying to claim he’s one of them.