Reply #8: Sure, the explanations are pretty obvious

[dolstein]

1. Sure, Lieberman's popular among Republicans in Connecticut. But he's also popular among Democrats too -- a 59% approval rating is nothing to sneeze at. How could someone who wasn't fairly progressive attract the support of 59% of Democrats? How about explaining THAT?

As for why Republicans like him, it may not have much to do with issues. After all, Ronald Reagan was elected president twice even though the public by and large didn't agree with him on issues. I think Republicans probably support Lieberman because he comes off as decent, fair minded and bipartisan. The Republicans haven't won a Senate contest in Connecticut in over a quarter century. I think they're probably appreciative of the fact that, unlike many left-wing DU'ers, Lieberman adopts a civil tone on matters where he disagrees with Republicans. He doesn't rub their noses in it, even though he could probably get away with doing so.

2. The reason why Buckley supported Lieberman in 1986 is pretty obvious -- he hated Lowell Weicker. Weicker represented the Lindsay/Rockefeller wing of the Republcian Party that Buckley had worked his entire life to destroy. He'd do just about anything to rid the Republican Party of its last vestiges of liberalism, even if it meant supporting a Democrat who agreed with Weicker on most issues. Seriously, if the Republicans nominated someone like Chris Shays to run against Lieberman, I could imagine plenty of DU'ers supporting Shays simply to get rid of Lieberman.

3. As for Hannity supporting Lieberman, I imagine he's doing so simply because of the war issue, since that's the only issue those two agree on. But again, issues are just one thing.