Howard Dean: If Lieberman were a principled guy he'd resign his chairmanship

[WI_DEM]

As Dean suggested, regarding Lieberman, "I think that is a very complicated guy," said Dean. "He does because he says he's a principled guy but there's nothing principled about holding up a bill... If he was a principled guy he'd resign his chairmanship."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/14/814031/-Howard-Dean-on-Lieberman:-If-he-was-a-principled-guy-hed-resign-his-chairmanship.

[Sebastian Doyle]

1. I'd go a bit further than the good doctor

If Lieberdouche had any principles, he would have accepted the will of the Connecticut voters in the 2006 primary and not created a fictional party, due to a deficiency in Connecticut law.

[hughee99]

3. But he won the election...

Say all you want about the primary, but the people of CT put him back in office. He didn't get in on a technicality, or in a disputed recount, and he didn't get put in by a court. It was the unfortunate "will of the CT voters" that sent him back to Washington.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. Only because he embodied Republican prinicples (if I can use that term)

better than the Republican in the race did, so the Repubs voted for him along with confused Dems who voted for him out of habit instead of voting for the Democratic candidate.

He was NOT the choice of Democratic voters in CT.

[SPedigrees]

11. I would not categorize dems who voted for him as confused. I have a different word. nt

[hughee99]

19. But he was the democratic choice of the voters of CT.

He ran and lost in the Dem primary, so he didn't get the Dem nomination. The Democratic voters don't get to pick the Senator, though, all the voters do and when given the choice, they inexplicably picked him.

As much as I dislike him, and would love to see him gone, it's not accurate to say that he somehow doesn't deserve his seat because of the way that he won election... he, instead, doesn't deserve his seat because he's an asshat, but an asshat who won fair and square.

[RaleighNCDUer]

22. He doesn't automatically get a chairmanship because he got elected.

The majority leader decides who gets chairs. When the Repubs are the majority, you get all Repub chairs. When Dems are majority, you get all Dem chairs. Though foul, Lieberman is neither fish nor fowl, and does not deserve to hold a chairmanship. His chairs should go to deserving Dems.

[hughee99]

25. I 100% agree.

When he left the party to get re-elected, he gave up the "perks" of being in that party. If he wants to run as an independent, we can't stop him, but if he wins, we don't owe him anything either.

All I can think of is that he traded some of his votes to keep his seat, but I have yet to figure out what vote (or votes) that would have been, since he always seems against us when we need the votes.

[SPedigrees]

9. This also is true. nt

[CTyankee]

29. But Joe DID misrepresent himself during the election. I noticed when I called

Dems for Ned Lamont that so many of them didn't know that Joe was no longer the Democratic Party's candidate! And Joe went around, and still goes around, saying he's an "Independent Democrat." Ned was not well enough known and he got into the political fray late because his attempts at convincing other, better known Dems to run against Joe were met with unwillingness to take Joe on. Joe was better known and, in those days, a lot of people trusted that he was still a Dem.

Things are different now but at that time, we did what we could and at least we got him thrown out of the Dem Party...

[hughee99]

31. The CT Dems recognized him for what he was

and beat him in the primary. I can see where repukes and independents may not have known about him leaving the party, but for Dems who voted in the primary, if they didn't know Joe lost, shame on them. And for those who were not in the Democratic party to vote in the primary, I don't think confusing him for the Dem candidate was the issue. If a "D" next to his name was all that important to those voters, you'd think they'd be voting in the Dem primary.

He misrepresented himself no more than many politicians do, certainly no more than Jim Jeffords (for example) who ran as a repuke and then left the party just 5 months after being sworn in.

[CTyankee]

32. Joe's weaselry was not well known to main stream Dems. I was in the progressive wing

and just getting Joe thrown out at that point was a major accomplishment. I went to my first Lamont organizing meeting in January of 06. When I saw that the primary was early in August my heart sank. I came home and told my husband that the prospects were really dim for us to build a campaign and GOTV at a time when so many people in the state were on vacation. I could see that in New Haven we wouldn't have the progressive energy of Yalies to help with GOTV. Damn, I was surprised when it all happened! But again, a late in the day attempt due to circumstances. Despite his money, Ned was just not that well known to lots of rank and file Dems who weren't being organized in some way. They believed the malarky about how Joe saved the sub base (don't even get me started there!). Now Joe's villainy is common knowledge, but it wasn't back then.

I think Ned knew he was an imperfect candidate, which is why he tried so hard to recruit someone better known to the electorate to run against Joe. He knew the obvious rap against him: rich, from Greenwich, inexperienced in the ways of Washington, yadda yadda yadda.

Ya gotta give us credit when you take into account the headwinds we faced...

[hughee99]

33. I think you did a great job with Ned, given the circumstances...

And I agree that Lieberman, because of his time in the Senate, was getting credit for things that he didn't deserve (like the sub base) but the only thing I really see as being different is that you all did a great job of getting him out of the party. In other states with douchebag Senators, they make it through the primary relatively unchallenged and then snow the electorate the same way Lieberman did. Lieberman got re-elected the way many other "moderate" politicians do (those who weren't forced out of their party), telling people what they think they want to hear, taking credit for shit they didn't do, and convincing them that their "experience" is critical.

[CTyankee]

34. Also, don't forget that the repubs had a joke for a candidate and they didn't vote for him,

They voted for Lieberman. If there had been a strong R in the mix it might have taken those votes from Joe.

We basically had no ethical or existential choice but to get rid of Joe from our party. We sensed what was wrong with Joe; the R's KNEW what was wrong with Joe for us, and they also knew that he was RIGHT for them and they took advantage of it.

[hughee99]

35. I suspect they didn't make much of an effort to get a decent candidate

because they were pretty happy with Joe. They couldn't have put up a repuke that would win the state anyway, and with Joe pretty much towing the party line (THEIR party's line) why spend the money to oppose him? Plus, Joe was their "bipartisan", so whenever they wanted to say something was bipartisan, they just needed to get Joe's vote. Much like we're seeing now with the repukes from Maine, Snowe and Collins. Some of the people in Washington seem to be obsessed with trying to make things sound "bipartisan" when we get a moderate repuke vote or two instead of highlighting that 99% of the repukes are just flat out obstructionists.

[CTyankee]

38. CT Dems have been changed forever...or for a verylong time...nt

[CTyankee]

40. PLease understand that I was NOT in that wing of the Dem party in CT at the time.

We would NOT have supported any stuff from them.

We wanted to throw Joe out of the Dem Party and to win with Ned Lamont in 06. That was it. We wanted our progressive, liberal Dem to win. This bipartisan stuff was just garbage and many, many people in the party just were turned off.
LIke me, many just did calling from Lamont HQ or walked our ward with sign up forms for people who wanted a primary campaign. It was interesting...talking to the folks...the orthodox jews were so very nice and gracious to me as a neighbor, even tho they were against Lamont and for Lieberman, and I was treated so wonderfully by them,, it was a very interesting experience. I was in Lieberman's neighborhood, altho by then he had sold his house and moved out. There were neighbors who counted him as friends; I wonder about them today; do they still feel the same say? I'll bet not...

[SPedigrees]

8. +1

[Blue_Tires]

17. +1

[sellitman]

2. I wish Dean had become our President.

I love this guy!

[napi21]

4. I know he's an advisor to our Pres. but I'd have loved to see him

in the Cabinet. Maybe he didn't want that, I dont know.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

42. As far as I am aware, he is NOT an advisor to the President

and he was completely snubbed for any Administration post. It was heavily commented about here at the time.

[SPedigrees]

12. Me too. He was an outstanding governor here for many years.

I wish he still was our governor. sigh.

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. Oh hell yeah

Just of think of how much better off this country would be right now if we were about to enter year 6 of the Dean administration.

Damn the DLC to eternal pain and torture in the pits of Hell for what they did to sabotage him. :grr:

[RufusTFirefly]

23. You're serious? That angry screamer?

:sarcasm:

"...CNN issued a public apology and admitted in a statement that they indeed may have 'overplayed' the incident. The incessant replaying of the 'Dean Scream' by the press became a debate on the topic of whether Dean was the victim of media bias. The scream scene was shown an estimated 633 times by cable and broadcast news networks in just four days following the incident, a number that does not include talk shows and local news broadcasts. However, those who were in the actual audience that day insist that they were not aware of the infamous 'scream' until they returned to their hotel rooms and saw it on TV."

Wikipedia

If the corporate media loves you, you're practically invincible. And if it doesn't, you're toast.

[cali]

5. hahahahahahahaha

Lieberman principled?

:rofl:

cute.

[WI_DEM]

24. I don't think Dean is saying that Lieberman is principled.

[bdamomma]

26. he won't step down because he is not principled.

what a laugh!!!

[Warpy]

7. Oh, come off it Doc

You know Lieberman is only about Lieberman and how he can stick it to the party that rejected him in the primary in 2006.

The only thing the Senate can do is strip the little worm of all the power he thinks is owed to him by abandoning the filibuster rule, at least temporarily, and giving him some necessary potty training.

[KamaAina]

10. KamaAina: If Reid were a principled guy he'd strip Traitor Joe of his chairmanship

:grr:

[MineralMan]

18. Indeed.

[ElboRuum]

13. And if a frog had wings he wouldn't bump his ass when he hopped.

[AndrewP]

14. This son of a bitch needs to be removed from his chairmanship

no more excuses

[Better Today]

15. Mr. Dean, you are wrong. It isn't up to Lieberman to resign, it's up to

the Dems in the Senate to strip him of it.

[CTyankee]

30. You're right about the Dems stripping him of the chairmanship but Dean is right

to point out the utter venality and hypocrisy of what Joe is saying.

There are plenty of people around the state for whom a chance at getting Medicare at age 55 would be welcomed with open arms. In fact, they are "dying" to get onto Medicare and feel they cannot wait til 65 or they'll die first. When I see Joe get up before the microphones and say how opposed he is to it based on that cockamamie idea of "government run health care" I can just imagine eyes rolling and tongues cursing at this man...

[classysassy]

16. Don't blame

Joe,Reid and Obama should have canned his ass after the last election.

[Cleita]

21. Principles?

The only principals Senator Lieberman is familiar with is the ones in his bank accounts and investments. He knows nothing of the other word.

[lyonspotter]

27. Absolutely!

He's disgusting.

+1

[LaydeeBug]

28. Hehehehe Dean used "Lieberman" and "principle" in the same sentence. lol

:rofl:

[seeinfweggos]

36. if my aunt had balls she's be my uncle - shitcan him now!

those chairmanships are at the pleasure of the majority leader and harry ried needs to fuck him up.

but he won't

[bridgit]

37. The Lieberman's have set themselves and their lobby/clients up quite nicely

They won't be going anywhere, least of all off chairmanships; unless they and their notions are shown the door

[Raine]

39. Yeah well if Lieberman had wheels he'd be a bicycle

and he he'd be good for something (as my mother used to say). :evilgrin:

[bobthedrummer]

41. worth another kick-now that all is...well???

:think: