Anti-Choice Harry Reid Thinks Lieberman is Progressive

[marmar]

from Campaign Silo:



Anti-Choice Harry Reid Thinks Lieberman is Progressive
By: Teddy Partridge Sunday November 9, 2008 1:53 pm 26



UPDATE: Watch it!: http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/11/09/anti-choice-harry-reid-thinks-lieberman-is-progressive/

"Joe Lieberman is not some right-wing nutcase," he said. "Joe Lieberman is one of the most progressive people ever to come from the state of Connecticut."

Progressive Democrats didn't support John McCain for President.

Progressive Democrats didn't undermine our party's nominee by agreeing that it was a good question to ask whether he was a socialist.

Progressive Democrats didn't campaign for downticket Republicans -- Joe Lieberman wrote an op-ed for Norm Coleman! He raised money for Susan Collins! Joe Lieberman took affirmative steps to increase the size of the Republican Senate caucus.

What more evidence is needed to oust Lieberman?

These are not the words of a progressive Democrat:

"Sen. Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But, my friends, eloquence is no substitute for a record," Lieberman said at the Republican convention in early September.

Lieberman charged that Obama had not reached across party lines to "get anything significant done" and said that the McCain-Palin ticket was "the real ticket for change."

From where Harry Reid sits, as an anti-choice Democrat, every single member of the Democratic caucus looks like a progressive. That doesn't make Joe Lieberman a progressive. It doesn't make him a Democrat, either.

But Harry Reid also made a simple Lieberman apology a non-starter:

Asked if Lieberman owed President-elect Obama an apology, Reid said ``this is not some high school deal where you say, okay, you embarrassed me in front of my girlfriend therefore you apologize.''

This is a test of Harry Reid's leadership. If he fails to oust Lieberman, the caucus should find itself new leadership. Unless the Democratic Senate caucus is happy with Reid's treatment of Lieberman?


http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/11/09/anti-choice-harry-reid-thinks-lieberman-is-progressive/

[ananda]

1. Demote Harry Reid now!

Make someone else majority leader.

[cali]

2. no matter how much foot stomping goes on, his peers aren't about

to do that. And no Senator is ever going to be defeated because of who he/she voted for majority leader.

reality may suck, but there it is.

[KharmaTrain]

3. Here's The Game...

Note that Reid stayed away from mentioning Traitor Joe's chairmanships...and that's the real issue here. Joementum says that if he loses those, he eats lunch with the Repugnicans. He's playing prima donna with few cards to play and trying to force Reid into letting him keep his much beloved Homeland Security chairmanship (that committee should be abolished altogether)...and if he doesn't get it, he takes his ball and goes home. It's a bluff, a con game and Reid's onto it.

What I see Reid doing here is stating the obvious...yes, Traitor Joe will vote with Democrats on virtually every domestic and social issue. And this is sure to be the biggest priority in the first days of an Obama administration. His Iraq vote means little as well as the war's unpopularity is sure to swing a Snowe, Voinovich and other moderate repugnicans over and negating his vote. Thus Joementum's tantrum is a distraction...a non-factor.

On January 20th, the dynamic changes. No longer do we face an adversarial administration who will veto or obstruct. Instead, we will have one that will be able to focus on getting things done and the onus will be on the repugnicans to lead, follow or get out of the way. Any GOOP attempt to fillibuster will have tremendous risks...especially if its a bill that has popular support. It's time we start getting out of that 2000 mindset...a new day is almost here.

Again, note that Reid didn't mention the chairmanship...and is letting Traitor Joe hang for a while. His ultimate fate will be left to the entire caucus where Reid is only 1 among 57 or possibly 59.