Letters to the Editor
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I always skip these articles
Because you folks seem to hate him and those like him more than anyone else. Beyond reason, beyond rational thought. Seems that you're willing to give up every other electoral challenge it it means killing The Joe. This may come back to bite you, but at least you replaced one right wing democrat with another. We'll have that going for us.
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Schlesinger won't get too much GOP support
I’m a registered Republican who lives in Connecticut. I lean to the libertarian side, and as such I have long thought that Lieberman was one of the most irritating Senators in the union – socially conservative and economically left-wing, the worst combination. I live in Greenwich, where Ned Lamont is from, and live a less-exalted version of his family’s lifestyle. So to sum up: I dislike Lieberman, I relate to Lamont culturally, and I’m a Republican like Schlesinger. And yet I find myself in the bizarre situation of thinking I might actually vote for Joe.
Why? For starters, this is a very demoralizing time to be a Republican, particularly a libertarian Republican. Disgust is not a strong enough term to describe how most right-thinkers I know feel about the Bush administration, and this pervades our view of the party. Voting Republican no longer seems like the renegade counter-cultural act it was a decade or so ago. It doesn’t seem like the grown-up responsible act it was a half-dozen years ago. It actually seems more like the definition of insanity – doing the same thing and expecting different results. If Schlesinger had a chance to win, I might do a least-of-three-evils analysis and vote for him anyway, despite his considerable baggage, but voting for the long-shot candidate as a kind of protest sends entirely the wrong message. If the Republican is going to lose anyway, I want him to lose by a lot, and maybe the party will get the message of voter dissatisfaction and start adhering to its smaller-government, fiscally responsible, non-nation-building philosophy.
So that leaves Lieberman and Lamont. Lieberman, with his liberal voting record and scold’s personality, his self-aggrandizement and his political careerism, his annoying voice and his reliable stance on exactly the opposite side from me on just about every issue, his coziness with Bush and his support of the war. Lamont, limousine liberal, who grew up wealthy and married a high-powered wife (and whose own business success has been overstated by the press), who didn’t notice that his country club (the most exclusive in town) was not diverse, who tried but had limited success in local politics, a very "one of us" kind of guy around here (as in – you have to vote for Ned, he really cares about the poor and he’s one of us!). Needless to say, Joe Lieberman, middle-class striver from Stamford, is not one of us. Frankly, as much as I dislike Lieberman’s politics, Lamont’s bugs me even more.
I see a lot more Lieberman signs on lawns all over Connecticut than anyone else's. My perception is that his base of voters is very loyal. My father-in-law, a rock-ribbed Republican, knew and admired him at Yale and has always voted for him. You'd be surprised how many conservatives voted for him when he ran as a Democrat; I think he'll get even more as an Independent. For people on both sides of the political spectrum there is a strong cachet in voting independent – it makes them feel like free-thinkers.
For disaffected Republicans in Connecticut, voting for Lieberman has the flavor of a protest vote to their own party and a nose-thumbing at the left wing of the other party. I can’t stand Joe – but I’m probably going to vote for him, and so will most Republicans.
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Poor Guy
Lieberman needs a swift ass-beating. That guy doesn't deserve to win any election except maybe "Biggest Jack-Ass Ever".
As a side note however, Kinky's campaign for governor of Texas is a solid campaign and he's got a shot at winning. People know his name and didn't even realize who the Democratic candidate (Chris Bell) was until very recently in many instances
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Go Alan!
Alan Schlesinger was my mayor in Derby, CT, and he kept my taxes low (unlike the Democratic adminstration that followed him). That's good enough for me.
Go Alan!
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Lamont blew it
He had about a 48 hour window of opportunity to force Lieberman out of the race after he won the primary, and he went on vacation. Instead of saying that he felt it was Lieberman's decision to make whether or not run as an independent, he should have forcefully stood up for the Democrats that voted for him and demanded Lieberman accept the judgement of the voters. He did not, and now, barring a political miracle (maybe Schlesinger will pull enough republicans but I doubt it) he is going to lose.
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I HAVE to ask "justme" a question
justme writes: "Lamont, limousine liberal, who grew up wealthy and married a high-powered wife (and whose own business success has been overstated by the press), who didn’t notice that his country club (the most exclusive in town) was not diverse, who tried but had limited success in local politics, a very "one of us" kind of guy around here (as in – you have to vote for Ned, he really cares about the poor and he’s one of us!). Needless to say, Joe Lieberman, middle-class striver from Stamford, is not one of us. Frankly, as much as I dislike Lieberman’s politics, Lamont’s bugs me even more."
My question is, why do Republicans always cry like babies about liberals with money? Republicans are tax-cuts-for-the-rich country club, wage-wars-for-Haliburton Pigs! EVERY SINGLE TIME a liberal runs for office he gets attacked by Republicans for having money! WHAT IS THAT??? It makes ZERO sense!
This is why elections make me want to bang my head against concrete. You all lined up behind Bush (That's BUSH- as in one of the most powerful and richest families in the nation) but Democrats have to be poor to be electable. What is WRONG with you people?!!!
You are against the Iraq war, but you are going to vote against the guy who opposes it. FINE! Enjoy watching more soldiers die over the next years, knowing you could have voted for someone trying to stop it.