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Senate leaders are a family...we are not part of it at all.

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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 12:34 AM
Original message
Senate leaders are a family...we are not part of it at all.
There are so many implications to the welcome Joe Lieberman got in the Senate. Here are two that come to mind:

1. We are not part of their Senate "family"...Joe was and still is. They did not care what we thought, or what the Democratic voters thought.

2. Both parties actually supported the same candidate, or should I say the major leaders of our party joined with the Republicans in leaving Ned Lamont to twist and sway in the wind. As the Stoddard woman from The Hill on MSNBC said today....the leaders near the end "shemalessly abandoned Lamont.".

Just think about that. Both parties supported the same candidate, the one who supported the Iraq war and still supports staying. Let that sink in a moment. To the ones who stayed with Lamont, thank you many times over.

Here is what Harry Reid said to him in the Senate:

Lieberman was introduced by Democratic Leader Harry Reid who, according to Lieberman, told his colleagues that, "families go through crisis but we survived and I just want to welcome back Joe Lieberman."


Yes, Harry, you guys appear to be a closely knit family, but you have taken away our right to choose the candidate in the primary. A lot of us knew it was going to happen, that primaries were being discouraged. But we never really saw it coming.

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/nov/14/lieberman_says_he_wont_rule_out_flipping_to_gop_dems_applaud

On Meet the Press:
MR. RUSSERT: If in fact they ask for discipline in the Democratic caucus, and you start to feel uncomfortable with it, would you consider crossing across the—going across the aisle, and joining the Republicans, if they gave you the same chairmanship that you had, and respected your seniority?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Yeah. Well, that’s a hypothetical, which I’m, I’m not going to deal with here. I’m going to be an optimist...I’m not ruling it out, but I hope I don’t get to that point.


And here is the official welcome to thundering applause. I will be calling some senate offices tomorrow to see if our voices count anymore.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who bolted the Democratic party after losing a primary election this year to run as an independent, won a standing ovation at a closed meeting of all Senate Democrats Tuesday.

Lieberman was introduced by Democratic Leader Harry Reid who, according to Lieberman, told his colleagues that, "families go through crisis but we survived and I just want to welcome back Joe Lieberman."


I don't think they intended for our voices to count in that race at all. I think there were two at least here in Florida in which we were not intended to be heard. The two who were ousted were good candidates, good people, but they were not millionaires and former Republicans.

I hope Joe enjoyed the moment, because it is one I won't forget.





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JeffR Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 12:40 AM
Response to Original message
1. So many things to change, so many things to fix
It's ironic that, just when the Democratic Party is triumphant, such shameless Beltway collegiality is paraded. The party establishment needs to be beaten like a dusty rug.

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tblue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 12:42 AM
Response to Original message
2. Isn't Lamont a millionaire and former Republican? Don't get me wrong. I don't like Joe either
But I think Reid is doing what he has to do in order to maintain the majority, which, as we know, is everything right now. Politics means sometimes compromising one's integrity, but hopefully what we gain will be worth the price of pretending to love Benedict Lieberman.
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JI7 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 12:46 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. Reid's and some others actions during the campaign show
he isn't just trying to maintain a majority .

John Kerry and Ted Kennedy were the only ones to truly support Lamont. the rest claimed to support but they ddin't campaign for him or give him money or anything else.

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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 12:47 AM
Response to Reply #2
4. Here here...
It's called building and keeping a coalition.....
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:03 AM
Response to Reply #4
6. Then we are back to the smoke-filled rooms.
Didn't take long for them to put us in our places, did it.
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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:05 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. Like it or not....
In politics, not everyone is going to agree with you 100% of the time...

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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:07 AM
Response to Reply #7
8. That has nothing to do with agreeing with me. It is turned into that.
as an excuse for not confronting what happened.

It has to do with honooring our primary system.
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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:10 AM
Response to Reply #8
9. But still.... That is up to the people of Conn....
They are the ones who allow someone to actually run in two elections at the same time...

The reality on the ground says that Joey could do what he did so we have to live with it...
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:16 AM
Response to Reply #9
11. Well, maybe they are all happy and content then.
I am sure the Republicans are happy. They supported Joe with 70% of their vote.

And the Democratic leaders of the Clinton admin and the congress also stuck with him.

So the Republicans of CT are happy.
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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:19 AM
Response to Reply #11
13. Well, they live in Conn.. and they wanted Joe so
the voters have spoken...

We have to live with that...
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:26 AM
Response to Reply #13
14. The Democratic voters in the primary have to live with it, too.
And no one here seems to care.
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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:38 AM
Response to Reply #14
16. I won a primary....
And all that got me was a chance to get beat in November...

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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:39 AM
Response to Reply #16
18. By your own party?
Just asking.
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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:41 AM
Response to Reply #18
21. The party didn't beat Lamont...
the voters did...

And yes the party went against me...

But I accepted the vote for the people...
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:43 AM
Response to Reply #21
23. Not the voters who chose him in the primary.
See, you are really quite content that primaries don't count. That is what I am saying.

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WCGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:47 AM
Response to Reply #23
24. In the general, they don't....
All the primary does is select one candidate for one party...

That is it...

After that, it's a whole nother election...

Completely seperate from the Primary...

In Conn, they have fucked up rules...

They need to change those rules...

Here in Ohio, you can not file to run as an independent if you have run as a democrat or republican in the primary...

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tblue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:13 AM
Response to Reply #7
10. As Bill Clinton said: The perfect is the enemy of the good.
We need this majority more than we need to to tell JL what we think of him. Lives are in the balance, literally. That's just my humble 2 cents.
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:37 AM
Response to Reply #10
15. That is how most people here feel. I understand.
I just never expected us to take the Senate anyway, so I guess I differ on it.

If it is acceptable this time, it will be acceptable again soon. Our voices won't be heard.
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tblue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:53 AM
Response to Reply #15
26. I know. I want the same thing you do. You're not alone. JL is so undeserving of all this power.
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:02 AM
Response to Reply #2
5. One in Florida was a Republican when they recruited him.
There was a good Democrat in the race.

It's ok, I don't expect people at DU to agree on this post. Doesn't matter.

I feel strongly that our voice is being lost because we need to "compromise our integrity" to keep a majority.

The Democrats in CT were as much as told, sit down shut up, let us handle this. Welcome back to the family, Joe.

I have seen every possible excuse for Joe here at DU. But in reality there is none at all.
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LittleClarkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:39 AM
Response to Reply #2
19. I don't see why either should disqualify Lamont.
We have former Repubs here. Former Repubs are cool.

And being a millionaire shouldn't matter much.
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:42 AM
Response to Reply #19
22. It's great really. We don't need primaries apparently.
We don't need a way to pick our candidates...let the party leaders decide it.

Apparently.
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LittleClarkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:52 AM
Response to Reply #22
25. Did you mean to post that to someone else.
I was defending Lamont.
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 02:04 AM
Response to Reply #25
27. Probably I was.
Wasn't sure about the context.
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troublemaker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:17 AM
Response to Original message
12. Abandonning Lamont may have been shameful but that doesn't mean is wasn't smart
Lamont was polling about the same as Santorum and De Wine--consistantly behind by wide margins. The Republicans abandoned Santorum and De Wine but I wouldn't call it shameful. They may have held Tennessee with money saved in OH and PA.

As distasteful as it was, during the last 6-8 weeks the correct answer seems to have been to devote resources elsewhere and not antagonize Joementum too much.

A lot of people seem to have reasoned that represented the highest chance of winning (and holding post-election) the majority in the Senate. We won the Senate with two races decided by mere fractions (and with Conn. out of reach), so it's hard to say it was bad analysis.





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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:38 AM
Response to Reply #12
17. Abandon the Democratic candidate...yes some think it was smart.
That is commentary on what is the future of our party.
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-15-06 01:40 AM
Response to Original message
20. If it is ok this time, it will be ok the next time.
So we either say it now, or give up.

It is a sad feeling. I think primaries should count, and I am in the minority.
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