What's Bill Doing in CT? Saving Joe or Hillary?

[BurtWorm]

If you don't have a sub to Salon, you may have to put up with an ad to read the whole thing...

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/24/clinton_lieberman/print.html

Why is Bill Clinton stumping for the man who famously rebuked him from the floor of the Senate during Monica-gate eight years ago? Part of the reason is personal. Clinton and Lieberman have known each other nearly 40 years. They met in 1970, when both were Kennedy disciples involved in a Connecticut-wide liberal insurgency that won Lieberman a state Senate seat.

Part of the reason is selfish. Lieberman may have chastised Clinton, but he has also provided a template for the other politician in the Clinton family. Hillary Clinton has undergone a gradual but very public transformation into a kind of Bride of Lieberman, hawkish on the war, adamantly pro-Israel and tracking right on social issues. She even likes to bash video games, just like Joe.

Hillary's politics are Joe's politics. If Lieberman sinks, it will raise a lot of questions about the current Clinton strategy, which is really just a post-millennial version of that old-time DLC religion. When I asked Waters why she thought Clinton was coming to Connecticut, she said there were rumors in Washington that he and his wife are freaked out by the sudden progressive insurgency. The DLC is putting down a small rebellion before it spreads. Thus, Bill, the DLC's greatest success story, will be standing alongside former DLC chairman Lieberman in Waterbury mere hours after Hillary gives the keynote speech at the DLC's annual national convention in Denver.

What Lieberman gets from Bill Clinton, meanwhile, is obvious, at least at first glance. The liberal base of the party has turned on Lieberman with ferocity. With two weeks to go before the Aug. 8 primary, he seems to be in free fall. Lamont has a four-point lead in the latest Quinnipiac poll, a 19-point jump in six weeks. Sean Smith, Lieberman's campaign manager, espouses the idea that "low-information" voters swing elections. Some of those folks will surely be swayed by Clinton, and make up for all the liberal votes that are bleeding away.

But if you lose that many votes that fast, chances are you're bleeding from more than one place. Lieberman's handlers have been looking around for somebody, anybody, who might, you know, vote for him -- some untapped bloc of loyal Democratic voters. How about, um, black folks? And to appeal to those black voters, how about calling in the white politician they like and trust above all others? Instead of, you know, Joe Lieberman.

[BillZBubb]

1. Well Hillary has been tacking hard right.

A Lieberman loss would send her strategy back to the drawing boards. Which, by the way, would be a very good thing!

[oasis]

2. I'm going to assume that Joe gave him a call for help. What's BC to do?

[SoCalDem]

3. What to do? Say ..sorry Joe I'm neutral on this one

Hillary having JoeMentum/s support can hardly be that big of a plus these days

[BurtWorm]

4. I would have thought it would be a pleasure to be able to say,

"Joe, you should have thought of this before you went on the floor of the Senate in 1998 to make your most famous speech ever."

(Then again, can we put it past Bill not to have had a hand in sending Joe to the floor for his most famous speech ever?)

[EFerrari]

5. It's so odd. Big Dog is a from the belly smart politician.

I just don't get it.

[Kahuna]

8. A New York magazine piece posted earlier today says in essence...

Joe cornered Hillary and whined for her to throw him a bone via the Big Dawg. What a weiner. :puke:


on edit: link to piece. Very long but very informative.

http://nymag.com/news/politics/18473/

[wakeme2008]

6. this is all about Hillary and her pro-War pro Bush opinions

IMHO BC is to smart to do this only for Joey..

[endarkenment]

7. Help! The Barbarians Are At The Gates!

Fuck the entire Democratic leadership. The party of the people is, however painfully, going to become the party of its people.

[KoKo]

9. Wait! Article seems to hint that Clinton was there to whip up Black Vote

out of desperation? Still...Hillary's heading the DLC and Clinton's loyalties too it are too suspect. It was probably both...

But, dissing the Dem Activists...I didn't expect that of Hillary and Bill because they had the support of those of us Dems who already were becoming aware of the Right Wing Propaganda Machine and their witch hunt against Clinton from the time he was inaugurated. It seems harsh of them to come and slap those of us who stood by them for so many years, in the face just over them trying to restore themselves into what's becoming a US Monarchy there in DC.

We won't have a chance to "clean out DC and K-Street" if the Clinton's come back. They will bring back their "same olds" just like the Bushies did. This Dem thinks it's time for Major Housecleaning in DC. If there's anything left to our government after the Bushies foul warmongering corportist lobbying thugs have to vacate the premises.

[beltanefauve]

10. Freaked out!

"When I asked Waters why she thought Clinton was coming to Connecticut, she said there were rumors in Washington that he and his wife are freaked out by the sudden progressive insurgency."

Sudden, huh? Millions and millons of us have been screaming and raging to our Dem leaders, by phone, fax, e mail, letters-to-the-editor, and right here online and from our armchairs, for the last nearly six years now, and our concerns have fallen on deaf ears. "The base" has been taken for granted because we'll never vote GOP no matter what. Only now they are beginning to figure out that we are a force to be reckoned with. Howard Dean figured out the power of the net for tapping us progressives and armchair activists for money. Now the DLC is figuring out about our energy, passion and the power of word-of-mouth. And that "old time religion" just ain't working anymore.

Interesting too, the use of the word, "insurgency" to describe us. By definition, the term is correct, but the connotations, in light of the way the word has been used over and over to describe the conditions in Iraq, seems to connote us negatively.