Monday, August 06, 2007

The Night of the Living Lieberman

PSoTD posted this today and asked that all Liberal bloggers get on the case:

The timing is about right for Democrats to start stating the obvious suspicion: Joe Lieberman will endorse a Republican Candidate for President in 2008. There’s no reason to cede news value to the Republicans for such an “announcement” next year, when some regular drumbeating of this political opportunity for Lieberman can easily reduce it. Democrats shouldn’t be concerned that by doing so now they will appear to be “moderating” the Republican candidates, but should be concerned that a Lieberman announcement of support of the Republican nominee next year will be reacted to by the shallow national media in such a way.

In short - the likelihood is too great that Lieberman will support ANY REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT in 2008 over ANY DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT in 2008 to ignore until it happens.
It won’t be about people, but about power, and about Lieberman’s future political opportunities. Rather than act dismayed when it does happen, Democrats should be honest in the news media - and repetitively vocal - about why Joe Lieberman may just do that next year.

I just don't trust the Democratic Party Establishment to call Lieberman on this now. I am afraid they will dilly and dally and fret and hope that Joe doesn't go all turncoat in the Presidential Election and when the day comes that he does (and you just know it's going to happen), the Democratic Party will get bathed in a propaganda push about how the moderate Democrats are splitting from the "liberal left", bleh bleh bleh, and the response will be incredibly, but foreseeably, weak. Beyond weak, to the point of pathetic.

And it doesn't have to happen. News shock value does not have to be ceded to the Republican candidate. There's no reason there can't be a discussion about this now - including the positive and negative reasons why Lieberman might support a Republican - in the media.

So I'm asking the bloggers below - those on the PSoTD blogroll - to post about this question this week: Will Joe Lieberman support the Republican candidate for President in 2008, reasons why or why not, and what's the political value to him?

Let's get the Expose Joe's Date in 2008 party going!

Happy to oblige! Let's deny Liberman the faux shock value that he's actually supporting a Republican... After all, he's already threatened to cross over to the other side... Indeed, to all practical purposes, he's there already.

Click title for source.

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