Posted on 08/07/2006 4:36:00 PM PDT by SJackson
Wisconsin's Russ Feingold was the first member of the Senate Democratic Caucus to refuse to back U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., in the primary fight that has become a struggle over the direction - and perhaps even the soul - of the Democratic Party.
Feingold and Lieberman are about as far apart on the issues as two members of the same party can get, but it still came as something of a surprise when Feingold told NBC's Tim Russert in a June "Meet the Press" interview that he would not be supporting his colleague from Connecticut in that state's Democratic primary.
At a point when it was still broadly accepted that Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic nominee for vice president, would be easily nominated and re-elected, Feingold refused to join most other Democratic senators in promising to back the apologist for George Bush's foreign policy blunders over anti-war primary candidate Ned Lamont.
Like Al Gore - Lieberman's presidential running mate in 2000, who would later join Feingold in declining to back the senator's re-election campaign - the Wisconsinite was not going to the mat in defense of a Democrat who provides consistent cover for the worse excesses of a Republican administration.
Feingold did not come out and endorse the challenger. But he did say: "I think Ned Lamont's position on the issues is much closer to mine on critical issues."
As it turns out, Feingold was right on two counts.
He was wise to take Lamont's candidacy seriously. As Tuesday's primary approaches, a new polls says the anti-war challenger leads Lieberman by a 13-point margin among Connecticut Democrats.
Feingold was also wise in his assessment of Lamont's political views - not just on the war but on a range of issues where the Democrats need to do a better job of defining themselves.
When I met with Lamont in Stamford, Conn., to talk politics on a recent evening, the conversation often circled around to Feingold.
Lamont made it clear that he does not just admire the progressive Democratic senator from Wisconsin; he wants to fight side by side with Feingold to challenge the Bush administration in ways that the White House-friendly Lieberman would never consider.
Of course, Feingold and Lamont share an opposition to the war that Lieberman backs.
But there is a lot more to it than that. Lamont, the nephew of civil libertarian Corliss Lamont, shares the Wisconsin senator's passion for defending constitutional rights and protections.
While Lieberman was in the forefront of efforts to thwart Feingold's proposal to censure President Bush for authorizing illegal warrantless wiretapping of the phone conversations of Americans, Lamont says he would side with the Wisconsinite on the censure issue.
Lamont also said he would like to work with Feingold to challenge the abuses of the Patriot Act.
On the economic front, Lamont shares Feingold's skepticism about free-trade deals that undermine protections for workers, consumers and the environment in the United States and abroad - another position that puts both men at odds with Lieberman and the Bush administration.
If Lamont wins on Tuesday, as seems increasingly likely, it will be a defeat for the Lieberman wing of the Democratic Party. At the same time, it will be a win for the Feingold wing - and for the great majority of grass-roots Democrats, who, like Feingold, want their party to stand in stark contrast to the dangerously misguided policies of the Bush administration and its neoconservative allies.
That's a very, very small wing.
ping
Yes, if Leiberman loses, then the Dems are going to have a real serious problem with their WELL KNOWN lack of credibility on NATIONAL DEFENSE. Let us hope that is the case, which will be a major plus for the Repubs in 2006/2008.
I just put on my hazmat suit and went to the DU..they're already saying the election is going to be stolen (Joe's gonna win) and wondering how it's gonna be done..ROFL..
If he wins, he'll be an official neocon. A well known conspiracy
If Lieberman loses, then the Democrats have no strong voice in the War On Terror or War on Islamofacism or War on Anti-Western culture or War against anything not Islamic.
Yes, they lose their ONE voice and the world will know the democrats STAND with the FRENCH.
Raise the WHITE FLAG!
"I just put on my hazmat suit and went to the DU..they're already saying the election is going to be stolen (Joe's gonna win) and wondering how it's gonna be done..ROFL..
"
More people are going to vote for Joe and the court will not be able to give Lamont the election.
That is how Lieberman is going to steal the election.
Bigger question is, if Lieberman wins will Lamont run as an independent?
Tim Russert was, I believe, the congressional chief of staff for Rep. Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill, D-Mass, an unreconstructed LBJ liberal.
Russert is renowned for asking tough questions of both liberals and conservatives, though the former are usually criticized for lack of effectiveness, and the latter for lack of humanity.
If GWB were to be impeached tomorrow, Russert would be dancing like an orangutan. Answer your question?
And it's my guess she doesn't mind being in that position. The right wing of the democratic party, aka just left of center. And with no stated position on anything, other than Rummy should go, if things aren't going well in the middle east, Hillary is the answer. She is to be underestimated at Republicans peril.
BTW, my guess, McCain only wishes he was a Democrat.
A Lamont win will make red states scarlet. A major plus for the GOP midterms.
The latest polls show that Lieberman is closing the gap. So a Ned Lamont victory is not a sure thing.
The "soul" of the Dimocratic Party???
Aren't Howie Dean & Co. likely to be offended at the implication that there's something of a transcendental nature about their party?
Lieberman will be on Hannity & Colmes tonight.
No. Soul is a musical term.
It's a kind of music
Remember Gore and the macarana.
I've heard some loony right wingers, even dems like Lieberman, might attribute different meaning to the word, but they need to lighten up.
Go, Macarena. Or is it macarena, big or little mMm, I don't know.
I'll ask an expert.
Vote right, excuse me, vote left, way left, that's your Secretary of State.
I love it when the highly paid pundits have to choose the other side.
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