Posted on 08/09/2006 6:01:47 PM PDT by ajolympian2004
WASHINGTON — Sen. Ken Salazar is in an awkward position after a U.S. Senate primary in Connecticut Tuesday night. Salazar has pledged to work to re-elect incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman in November, even though Lieberman now plans to run as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to challenger Ned Lamont Tuesday.
"I am disappointed in the outcome," Salazar said in a statement late Tuesday night. "Sen. Lieberman is a good friend and a good man who has contributed greatly to the nation and the state of Connecticut. He has sought to pursue common ground and worked to transcend the partisan poison of Washington, D.C."
Just six years after he was the Democratic vice presidential nominee, pre-election polls showed Lieberman being punished for his stance in favor of the war in Iraq and his willingness to cooperate with President Bush on occasion.
Although he narrowed the gap with Lamont by Election Day, Lieberman conceded defeat in a televised speech Tuesday night, using a sports analogy to explain why he plans to file papers Wednesday to run as an independent.
"As I see it in this campaign, we just finished the first half and the Lamont team is ahead," Lieberman said. "But in the second half, our team, team Connecticut is going to surge forward to victory in November."
That leaves Salazar as one of a handful of national Democrats vowing to campaign against the party’s nominee, Lamont, and for the independent, Lieberman, from now until November.
Political analyst Floyd Ciruli said there is very little downside for Salazar to stick by Lieberman, because it bolsters his image as someone with an independent streak.
Ciruli said he recently completed polling that shows Salazar with unusually high approval ratings, not only from Democrats, but also from Republicans.
"If he stays with Lieberman, he's going to have a friend for life," Ciruli said. "I think that to some extent, what Salazar stands for in Washington is a little more centrism, a little more congeniality, a little more willingness to compromise. It reinforces that position. It shows he is his own person."
Still, Salazar’s position has raised ire among some one-time supporters.
Peace activist Dan Winters said he supported Salazar in 2004 but that the Lieberman stand is just the latest way the senator has alienated progressives.
"I think Salazar has to remember that his voters are in Colorado, not in Connecticut," said Winters, who led a protest at Salazar’s office Monday to ask him to support an immediate cease fire in the Mideast conflict.
Joe Lieberman Senate website -
http://lieberman.senate.gov/
Ken Salazar Senate website -
http://salazar.senate.gov/
Lieberman got the shaft.
I hear Ed Koch is sticking by Joe too. As I recall Ed backed GW too.
Who really cares for Salazar's support? He is a lying RAT, an empty suit, just one election from retirement.
I agree from a conservative perspective, but it'll be fun to watch the wacko leftists in the democratic party implode over Lieberman running. The more democratas that back Lieberman the better for that implosion to be a HUGE one.
Anyway, this is going to be fun to watch unfold.
I guess that puts Salazar at the top of the DU sh_t list.
Can't really stand Lieberman. But Lamont is even worse, as evidenced by his victory speech where he was right next to Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and the Uber Abortionist Kim Gandy.
Yep, michael moore, daily kos and moveon.org, etc. are probably already holding high priority meetings to discuss their 'feelings' about Ken Salazar.
Salazar must be getting desperate. The last time I remember him making the news, it was because he thought James Dobson was the Anti-Christ.
Mayor Bloomberg (NYC) has endorsed Lieberman.
Lamont is just as worse without sharing the same stage with those three clowns. Schlesinger isn't even a conservative by conservative standards, and he's got skeletons in his closet. The CT GOP doesn't have that much time picking another viable squeaky clean candidate to put up against Lamont and Lieberman.
If this was a betting game, I'd go with the one with the most political experience. Lamont and Schlesinger don't even have the political experience (Lamont was on a city council - big deal, local politics and national politics are two different kettles of fish) it takes to get things done in Washington.
I will grant you that bucking your party is admirable, and putting friendship before loyalty to one's party line is doubly so. One only wishes Mr.Salazar would have shown the same committment to principle when he gave his word to the Colorado electorate that he, as an elected US Senator, would allow an up-or-down-vote for all Federal Judicial nominees voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He betrayed his campaign pledge shortly after being sworn in by supporting some RAT filibusters against qualified GOP nominees. I think he received a lot of negative publicity for the political duplicity and Salazar subsequently joined the gang of 14. Maybe his first experience with cowardly betrayal taught him a lesson.
I'm hoping that Chuck "Putzhead" Schumer will at least have to face some flak from his constituents and big donors for the shameful way that he discarded Lieberman as if he were used toilet paper...
Lieberman is going to win going away. Lamont has no chance. The CT Republicans have a candidate not worthy of the US Senate and therefore many Republicans will end up voting for Joe, IMHO.
I was going to say this is a smart play by Salazar because he knows he's in a red state and he trumpets his "moderate" credentials. Although the smarter play is to just stay silent.
He also knows that its four years before he's up for re-election so nobody is going to remember his position in 2010.
***a major political party will essentially become a fifth column rather than a loyal opposition, and the country will be the worse for it.***
Where have you been sleeping for the last six years. The democrat party is already a fifth column.
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