Reply #65: I don't think that's really it at all.

[IrateCitizen]

Miller was a Dixiecrat who never changed his affiliation. He was a true "DINO".

Lieberman is just deluded, IMHO. He's gone from a stalwart contributor to the Civil Rights cause to a huge proponent of US imperialism abroad, albeit an imperialism that is a bit more "enlightened" at home. He's also a willing tool of the military-industrial complex, trading his support of militarism for fat contracts to build Pratt-Whitney engines in CT.

As for Pelosi, she's a multimillionaire. She got her post as Minority Leader due to her fundraising prowess. She's considered a liberal because she represents a SF district, but her constituents are probably much more liberal, overall, than she is. She doesn't impress me at all -- she always comes off to me as lacking any sort of passion, and as fully representing moneyed interests with a socially-liberal face.

Personally, I think they're largely removed from reality. The have lost complete touch with what America is really like now. Some of this is voluntary, and some involuntary. It's the effect of the Beltway cocoon, with its media echo chamber ready to lambast anyone who steps out of the establishment tune.