One of the annoying things about getting ready for an actuarial exam is that you have to give up some of the social/recreational activities you might otherwise be tempted to purse.
Apparently, Joe Lieberman was in town over the weekend, sending local bloggers all aflutter. (See ConnecticutBLOG, Connecticut Local Politics, and CTNewsJunkie, and My Left Nutmeg for examples.)
The big takeaway from Joe’s visit to Windsor is his comment:
Will I always be a member of the Democratic party? I hope there’s not a primary. I’m confident if there is one, I’ll win it, but I’m not gonna rule out any other option for now because I feel so strongly that I can do better for the State of Connecticut for the next six years in the United States Senate that I want to give all the voters a chance to make that decision on Election day in November. I want to do it as a Democrat. If I didn’t want to do it as a Democrat, I would choose to run in some other party, trust me. But I want to do it as a Democrat because I believe in the Democratic party, so really the choice is up to my fellow Democrats…
Genghis Conn correctly observes:
The reality is that Lieberman is already an independent, a member of a political party that doesn’t exist. He isn’t a Republican, but he’s not quite a Democrat either. There are many others like him. John McCain. Joe Biden. Jodi Rell. Rob Simmons. Olympia Snowe. Lincoln Chaffee. Bob Casey. Chris Shays. Do I need to go on? Moderates have always existed, but they’ve never had their own party in modern American politics. Sometimes, they’ve dominated their respective parties, but this has not been the case since Bill Clinton left office.
If both parties’ leaders continue to move away from the center, there exists the possibility that someday they will. An American Kadima could be born. It isn’t likely, we like our two-party system… but it’s a bracing and radical thought. American politics would be remade. The world would shift.
That, however, is the future, and an unlikely future at that.
I still would like to see a moderate/centrist party form, cleaved from those who don’t really fit into the extremes promoted by the activists in the GOP and the Democrats, but I agree that it is an unlikely possibility.
Captain’s Quarters has a slightly different spin on Joe’s message:
CTBlogger expresses his shock that Lieberman isn’t more loyal to the Democrats, but all that’s happening is that Lieberman is reflecting the loyalty shown him. It’s a shot across the bow of the party activists working to undermine him. If Lieberman does decide to run as an independent, he will split the party vote and may wind up helping the GOP capture a seat they had not considered. They might even run a serious candidate in the general election under the circumstances.
The Rhode Island situation with Linc Chaffee has some similarities, but the difference is that Lieberman votes much more often in concert with his caucus than Chaffee does with the GOP. If Chaffee ran as an independent, it would not hurt the GOP nearly as much since Chaffee’s vote hardly ever goes to support key party goals. Chaffee couldn’t even bring himself to vote for George Bush in the last election, opting to write in Bush 41’s name instead. Connecticut Democrats have much more to lose with Lieberman, even if they themselves don’t realize it.
Of course the speculation arising from Joe’s comments is likely to be moot. While Lamont’s supporters are seemingly fanatical, Connecticut is a surprisingly moderate place. The only way I’d see Lamont winning is if GOP loyalists register to vote in the Democrats’ primary, with a goal of putting Lamont over the top.