Does anyone feel slightly saddened by the Lieberman debacle?

[saracat]

I do not like Joe and really never have but today makes me sad, I hate to see a Dem go this route . I don't know why this bothers me but I am both sad for and about Joe.

[ElizabethDC]

1. I agree 100%

On the one hand, I disagree with the way he votes a lot of the time, but on the other hand, it's hard to see someone in our own party go down.

[saracat]

4. His attitude is what saddens me most I believe.

His announcement of an "independent" run if he doesn't win. My God, the man was almost a heartbeat away from a Democratic Presidency. He was our standard bearer and to find he doesn't consider our party important is a real disillusionment.Until the arrival of Bush, I had always considered Joe a liberal. And his voting record was good, but apparently no longer. I wonder why? His behavior today with the accusations of Lamont was disgusting. Unfortunately, he deserves to lose. I only hope the Conn. Republicans will support Lamont in the general. I have high hopes they will.He seems like a good guy.

[blm]

I am. I loathe any attack on Democrats from without or within.

But, Lieberman did make things more difficult for other Democrats than he needed to.

[blm]

2. I am. I loathe any attack on Democrats from without or within.

But, Lieberman did make things more difficult for other Democrats than he needed to.

[ginnyinWI]

3. the parties are polarizing, I think

And * and his reign can be blamed. He pulls the GOP to the far right, and the Dems correspondingly move to the left. It's probably not good for the country, nor for getting work done in the Congress.

Joe is too far right for the Dems, and won't switch parties, so finds himself out on a limb. I think another problem is his rather self-righteous attitude. He is not listening to people he's representing--and isn't that what the Congress is supposed to be about: they represent a certain portion of the population to the federal government.

[fedupinBushcountry]

5. He brought this upon himself

and he should of seen it coming as he did poorly in the Dem primary in '04 and it was mainly because of his hawkish talk and there were a few other issues like vouchers etc., that made him look rep-lite IMO. The Independent if he loses the primary really did it for me with no turning back.

But, some of the stuff that I have read on DU is totally overboard. Last night someone put up a post saying he voted for the Bankruptcy bill and showing that he voted for cloture. The poster was very mean and I posted and said it was alright to not like Lieberman but to post something that was false was not fair. I posted the meaning of a cloture vote and info to show that he did not vote for the bill.

[ProSense]

6. It hit me today!

I think the feeling was there all along, but today I kept thinking about the camaraderie these Senators must share and that made me sad.

Lieberman chose to align himself with a malignant administration that brought out the worst in him. He was absolutely wrong to attack the party because of his support for the war. His attacks were more venomous than some Republicans, and the media and war supporters were determined to mis-characterize any opposition to him. Lieberman became too divisive, and that is not what the Democratic Party needs from a seasoned Senator: to discover he's on the wrong side and stubbornly refusing to budge. That's what rubs me: he knows, but he continues to attack.

[Dr Ron]

7. I just hope he goes out with dignity

rather than running as an independent against the Democratic nominee (assuming he loses tongiht).

[Democrafty]

8. Not really.

I think it's all part of Democracy. When I see voters empowered with choice, it's hard to feel personally let down.

[Blaukraut]

9. Not at all

Like Democrafty says; the voters are making the choice here, and that is what democracy is all about. Liebermann whould have seen this coming a mile away. There were plenty of warning signs along the way, but he chose not to listen to those who put him in office, so they in turn are choosing (hopefully) to put him out.

[JanusAscending]

10. This is so right on!

As one of his constituents, I've written him many letters on many issues, and the answer was always the same. He'll do what he thinks best for the State of Ct. The last few issues I wrote him about I told him that if he didn't see fit to listen to his constituents, that I would do all in my power to vote him out of office. Maybe he should have listened. Now we have to work on getting rid of Nancy Johnson, and her LYING TV SPOTS against the Dem. Chris Murphy. I blame her for the Medicare part D fiasco!!!:grr:

[rockymountaindem]

11. Yeah, I'm kind of in a neutral zone about this

I really, really don't know how to feel. Honestly, I don't think Lieberman has been a bad Senator with his votes, but I think in the media he has been too supportive of Bush and has given the right too much cover with some of his statements. I am also sad that he's splitting the party with an independent run, but it's his perogative.

[JI7]

12. Lieberman could have won the Primary easily

all he had to do was stop doing the thing that got him into this mess in the first place and that was stop defending Bush and attacking other Dems until Primary day. i thought he beat Lamont in the debates and showed Lamont's weakness a bit and Bill Clinton's campaigning was a huge help for Lieberman . it was why the race was so close IMO.

i think what lost it for Lieberman partly was the talk of running as an independent.

[whometense]

13. Not I.

My daughter did.

If I'd felt at all tempted to feel sorry for him, all I'd have to do is picture him standing on the senate floor on republican time calling Kerry a cut 'n' runner, and then I'd feel a surge of gleeful vengeance.

He reaped what he sowed. His priggish self-righteousness has been a pain in my ass for a long time now, and the pain has only been strengthened by his recent displays of arrogance and entitlement.

You guys are all very nice, but in this case I'll be the evil one. Lamont strikes me as an earnest, honest, straightforward guy, and I genuinely like him. We need more Neds in the senate. Immediately.

[Mass]

14. It was a disaster of his own making. He lost from the moment he said he

would run as an independent if he did not win the primary.

It would have been one thing if he had run as an independent from the beginning, but telling people that he did not care what they thought and ask them to vote for them at the same time was probably too much for many of his supporters.

Hopefully, this will remind other democrats that they do not own their seats.

[demdiva]

15. Yeah....I do

It's sad to see someone I once respected, even admired, loose in a blue state. But Mass is right -- he brought it on himself.

[Island Blue]

16. No, I really don't.

IMO he stopped being a true Democrat the day he kissed the Lips of Evil.

[JI7]

17. considering McKinney lost also

it can kind of be considered a loss for extremists on both ends . at least on certain issues.