Posted on 01/25/2003 7:27:43 PM PST by PhiKapMom
January 24, 2003
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Lieberman Claimed He "Never Changed A Single Position" To Be Gore's Running Mate. "[L]et me say very briefly . . . about the 2000 campaign . . . I never changed a single position that I had going into that campaign." (NBC's "Meet The Press," January 19, 2003)
But In 2000, The Washington Post Said "Lieberman's Earliest Champions Have . . . Watched Him Waffle" On Issues Like Affirmative Action. "[T]he Joe Lieberman introduced to the American people in Tennessee is not the Democratic vice presidential candidate now on the campaign trail. Sen. Lieberman's earliest champions have had to swallow deeply as they watched him waffle on . . . issues on which he had shown a refreshing willingness to stand up for what he believes." (Editorial, "Where's The Old Joe Lieberman?" The Washington Post, October 25, 2000)
Michael Kelly Said "The Man With The Iron Backbone" Became "The Human Pretzel." "[T]he Democrats' stand-up guy stands no more. Recently Lieberman, the man with the iron backbone, has become Lieberman, the human pretzel, performing, now in the big top, every day, Amazing! Stupendous! Truth-defying! Acts of Contortion, as he erases the man he was and morphs into whatever it is that the people who pull the levers in the party want him to be." (Michael Kelly, Op-Ed, "Al Gore's Flex-O-Joe," The Washington Post, August 23, 2000)
Lieberman Defended The University Of Michigan Affirmative Action Policy. "President Bush's decision on affirmative action at the University of Michigan . . . is wrong . . . deceptive and . . . divisive . . . because it removes one of the best ways for minority kids to realize the American Dream . . . ." (NBC's "Meet The Press," January 19, 2003)
But In 1995, Lieberman Took The Opposite View. "Affirmative action is dividing us in ways its creators could never have intended because most Americans . . . do not think it is fair to discriminate against some Americans as a way to make up for historic discrimination against other Americans. . . . [I]f you discriminate in favor of one group on the basis of race, you thereby discriminate against another group on the basis of race. . . . 'Two wrongs . . . don't make a right.'" (Senator Joe Lieberman, Congressional Record, July 19, 1995)
NBC's Tim Russert Told Lieberman He Had "Clearly Changed" His Position. "You have clearly changed your emphasis and your view on affirmative action." (NBC's "Meet The Press," January 19, 2003)
Lieberman Claimed He "Had Not Seen" Proposition 209 "Before" A "Reporter Read" It To Him. "I was involved in a public dialogue . . . about whether some affirmative action programs had become quotas. I was at a press conference and a reporter read that statement to me. Frankly, I had not seen it before or heard it before." (NBC's "Meet The Press," January 19, 2003)
But Lieberman First Commented On Proposition 209 In March 1995, A Year And Five Months After The Initiative Was First Filed In California. As DLC Chair, Lieberman was "asked his views [on affirmative action] . . . . He said programs that reward people strictly because of their race or gender were 'patently unfair. . . . You can't defend policies that are based on group preferences as opposed to individual opportunity . . . .'" (David Lightman, "Lieberman Into Fray On Affirmative Action," The Hartford Courant, March 10, 1995; Californians Against Discrimination And Preferences Website, www.cadap.org, Accessed January 21, 2003)
Lieberman Told Reporters He Supported Proposition 209. "Looking at the civil rights initiative in California, I can't see how I could be opposed to it . . . . It basically is a statement of American values. It takes the language and the values underlying the civil rights acts Congress has passed and says not only should we not discriminate against somebody, we shouldn't discriminate in favor of somebody based on the group they represent." (Lieberman Quoted In Peter A. Brown, "Key Demo Rejects Affirmative Action," The San Francisco Examiner, March 9, 1995)
Lieberman Even Issued A Written Press Statement Clarifying His Position. "Those who refuse to acknowledge that there are problems with some government affirmative action programs risk dooming all affirmative action programs to defeat . . . . [T]he fact is that some programs grant benefits based on group membership instead of individual ability, and that runs against the grain of a basic principle of American life." (Stephen Ohlemacher, "Yale Rally Hits Lieberman Civil Rights' Stance," The Hartford Courant, March 22, 1995)
Lieberman Claimed Clinton's Speech Answered His Concerns About Affirmative Action. "President Clinton put out a change in policy - the mend it, don't end it policy. And for me, that did it. I went out to the floor of the Senate. I could cite you out a quote that said, 'My questions, my concerns have been answered.'" (NBC's "Meet The Press," January 19, 2003)
But Lieberman Did Not Sound Satisfied When He Reacted To Clinton's Speech On The Senate Floor. "[E]very individual should have an equal opportunity to rise as high as his or her ability will take them, regardless of race, gender, religion, nationality, or other group characteristic . . . . We must be very wary of any deviation from that principle, no matter how well intended. . . . [I]t is clearly time to review all Government affirmative action programs in which an individual's membership in a group, whether defined by race, gender, national origin, or other similar characteristics, may determine whether he or she will be awarded a Government benefit." (Senator Joe Lieberman, Congressional Record, July 19, 1995)
Lieberman Told The Hartford Courant "It's Not The Speech I Would Have Given." Lieberman "reacted warily to the president's message of affirmative action as a valuable policy that may need change, but should be preserved. 'It's not the speech I would have given, yet I respect his sincerity and good intentions here,' Lieberman said." (Mark Pazniokas And David Lightman, "Partisans Find Relief In Clinton Speech," The Hartford Courant, July 20, 1995)
As A Senator, Lieberman Supported School Choice. Defending school choice and charter schools, Lieberman said, "The undeniable reality here is that this system is already in ruins, and to blindly reject new models and refuse to try new ideas is simply foolish. We can and must do better for these children, and to cling stubbornly to the failures of the past will just not get us there." (Senator Joe Lieberman, The Senate Government Affairs Committee Hearing, April 17, 1997)
But As A Vice Presidential Candidate, He Flip-Flopped. In answer to a question about his support for public school vouchers, a position opposed by Gore, "Lieberman signaled his willingness to follow Gore's lead: 'If you want to get me off this idea, the best thing to do is elect the Gore-Lieberman ticket.'" (Ken Foskett, "Democrats Downplay Differences," The Atlanta Journal And Constitution, August 10, 2000)
As A Senator, Lieberman Thought Investing A Portion Of Social Security In Capital Markets "Has Got To Happen.""'A remarkable wave of innovative thinking is advancing . . . some personalization of retirement plans.' Such a plan, [Lieberman] added, can 'give people more confidence about what their retirement years will be like. . . . [I]ndividual control of part of the retirement/Social Security funds has got to happen.'" (Robert Novak, "Moderate Talk, But A Distinctly Liberal Walk," Chicago Sun-Times, August 10, 2000)
But As A Campaigner, Lieberman Abandoned This Position. "In June, [2000] the Gore campaign prudently asked Lieberman to prepare an 'op-ed column' on Social Security. 'My Private Journey Away From Privatization' attacked 'an expensive experiment' and endorsed Gore's plan. It appeared in no newspapers, but was filed at Gore headquarters for future distribution - which came this week." (Robert Novak, "Moderate Talk, But A Distinctly Liberal Walk," Chicago Sun-Times, August 10, 2000
Seems like we need to so some Clintonian parsing of that sentence. Okay, Joe, did you change multiple positions?
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