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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gamesmistress who wrote (26975)	1/29/2004 5:39:11 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793896

No Joementum: It's Time to Go, Joe. January 28, 2004 rothenberg political report.com I can understand why it's difficult for Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman to accept that he won't win the Democratic nomination for President. He has spent months traveling around the nation trying to boost his standing with Democratic voters, evening "moving" to New Hampshire to convince Democrats in that state to give him a closer look. After investing that amount of time and energy into a challenge, it is difficult to admit defeat. But Lieberman risks something much greater than defeat if he continues his Don Quixote-like Presidential bid. He risks looking increasingly pathetic, a politician who can't accept the obvious. Personally, that's not something I'm looking forward to. Lieberman has had a wonderful political career, and it could go on for years as a member of the Senate. He has earned a reputation for integrity and reasonableness. He is widely admired for his great character and public service. The longer Lieberman stays in the Democratic race, the more likely he will become the butt of jokes. The longer he runs for President, the more clueless he will seem. The day after New Hampshire, Lieberman's website led with the following: "The national pundits didn't expect this, but last night the people of New Hampshire put Joe Lieberman in the ring, and that's where he is going to stay." Exactly what is "this" that the pundits didn't expect? The senator finished a weak fifth out of five "serious" contenders, with about 9%. He finished ahead of only Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton. He trailed John Kerry by 30 points, Howard Dean by 17 points, Wesley Clark by 4 points and John Edwards by 3 points. His suggestion that he finished in a virtual dead heat for third place - and that this gives him momentum - makes him look silly, even delusional. New Hampshire exit polling shows just how unsuccessful Lieberman was in his efforts to attract the kind of voters he'd need to be successful on February 3rd - or any other time, for that matter. According to the poll, the Connecticut senator performed best among primary voters who usually think of themselves as Republicans, consider themselves conservative on political matters, attend religious serves weekly, are satisfied with (but not enthusiastic about) the Bush administration, believe the Bush tax cuts should be left entirely in place, and strongly approve of the US decision to go to war in Iraq. In other words, Lieberman is doing best among Bush voters. Really, I'm not making this up. Check the exits yourself. Does any sane person think that that's a prescription for winning upcoming Democratic primaries and caucuses, and for snatching the Democratic nomination? Lieberman began his bid for the nomination leading in virtually every state. Once Democrats started to focus on the candidates and the contests, the Connecticut senator plummeted in the polls. He is out of touch with his party on the war, and while he has debated well, he doesn't project the dynamic style of leadership or confrontational approach that most in his party are looking for. I don't know whether Lieberman's advisors are urging him to stay in the race, looking to milk his campaign of every penny before they have find other sugar daddies. I hope they aren't. But it is not hard to see that the Connecticut senator isn't a credible contender for his party's nomination. I believe most observers have handled Lieberman's candidacy delicately out of respect and admiration for the senator. Pretty much everyone thinks he is a good man. Can't we just leave it that way? Dick Gephardt left the race gracefully after his fourth place showing in Iowa. Lieberman needs to do the same thing now.

To: gamesmistress who wrote (26975)	1/29/2004 5:47:20 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793896

This is a good comment on the Oil payoff story. ...The newspaper's list included members of Arab ruling families, religious organizations, politicians and parties from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Sudan, China, Austria, France, Italy, and other countries. My advice is, let's be careful here. Arms inspector David Kay recently explained that a lot of Saddam's weapons programs were fantasies put together by corrupt scientists and generals to fleece Saddam. If that was the prevailing ethos, shouldn't we suspect the existence of a fantasy bribe scheme as well? Tell Saddam the oil has been diverted to Jacques Chirac, when in fact it was sent to your cousin. And how is Saddam going to verify the pay-off - call Jacques, who will of course deny it? I presume some of the diversions, such as to the PLO, really happened. As to the rest, we will see. justoneminute.typepad.com