So Who's Supporting Lieberman?

Not Hillary Clinton (who rushed a $5000 check to Lamon). Not Chuck Schumer. Not Chris Dodd. Not Harry Reid. Not Rahm Emanuel. Not Barbara Boxer (who will stump for Lamont). Not Tom Udall. Not Russ Feingold. Not Ted Kennedy. Not the rest of the Dems running for office in CT. Not the DNC or DSCC. John Edwards was the first national figure to call and congratulate Lamont after his win. Wes Clark has started a petition drive on his PAC website to urge Lieberman to withdraw and had this to say:

"You see, despite what Joe Lieberman believes, invading Iraq and diverting our attention away from Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden is not being strong on national security. Blind allegiance to George W. Bush and his failed "stay the course" strategy is not being strong on national security. And no, Senator Lieberman, no matter how you demonize your opponents, there is no "antisecurity wing" of the Democratic Party."

I'm glad to see that Gov. Bill Richardson isssued this statement today:

“Joe Lieberman is a good friend of mine, a true public servant who has served his constituents and the Democratic Party well. However, after a hard-fought race Connecticut's Democratic voters chose Ned Lamont as their candidate for US Senate. I look forward to supporting Ned as he fights to help Democrats take back the Senate, and I call on Joe Lieberman to respect the will of the voters and step aside.”

According to a CNN article, Richardson is the first prominent national Dem to urge Lieberman to step aside and abandon his "independent" bid. The netroots salutes you, Governor!

However, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar says he IS supporting Joementum because Ken "isn't into political parties." Right. I hope Democrats remember that when Salazar runs for reelection up there. What the hell does political party matter when all you have to do these days to consider yourself "successful" in Congress is kiss the asses of the big corporate donors and vote as instructed by their lobbyists? Lowly party members, activists and ordinary voters? Mere pests. I hope the Dems never give Salazar a cent again out of party coffers.

If you've read the comments on recent posts, you know that callers to Sen. Bingaman's office got only his stock answer of "the Senator hasn't taken a position on that yet," which is the same answer people get when asking about his support for net neturality or other issues of import to, you know, the Democratic rank and file. I wonder if that's the answer his people give big donors when they call.

On the other hand, many right-wing Repubs are supporting Lieberman. They think his "independent" run is a gift from the beyond after being alarmed when polling showed that Lamont won primarily because people are fed up with Bush and his dangerous policies. The spin is flying fast and furious that the defeat of Lieberman means that Dems are "weak" on dealing with the terrorism threat . This approach obviously worked for several election cycles, but how many times can you beat a dead horse?  Most Americans have, after all, noticed that almost everything Bush touches in the area of foreign affairs turns into a chaotic, deadly, stubborn mess. As Howard Dean said of the Repub responses,

“It’s right-wing propaganda. “They are beginning to look ridiculous: A majority of Americans now believe that going to Iraq was the wrong thing to do. I think this shows how far out of touch the Republicans are. What you are seeing is the beginning of the end of the Republicans, because a lot of this was a referendum on George Bush’s policies. George Bush is going to take a big hit and a lot of people are going down with him, including Ken Mehlman.”

George Stephanopolis of ABC News reported that "according to a close Lieberman adviser" the Big Snout himself, Karl Rove, "has reached out to the Lieberman camp with a message straight from the Oval Office: "The boss wants to help. Whatever we can do, we will do." Another Lieberman staffer denies it, but it sounds just right to me.

We've even got White House press secretary, Tony Snow, riffing on how the "extreme left" is running amok:

"I know a lot of people have tried to make this a referendum on the president and I would flip it," White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said today. "I think instead it's a defining moment for the Democratic Party, whose national leaders now have made it clear that if you disagree with the extreme left in their party they're going to come after you."

Since when do presidential press secretaries discuss party politics at White House press briefings? I guess anything goes ever since Rove -- a purely political partisan operative -- was situated in the West Wing, cheek to jowl with all the real government employees. Policy is politics, and politics is policy with this bunch. There is nothing BUT politics behind most of their strategies. We're all paying for that in ways too numerous to count. And now Lieberman's selfish revenge drama plays right into their spin machine. Shame on him and all who continue to support him.

Finally, since we all need some gallows humor these days, click to watch Jon Stewart eviscerate Lieberman on the Daily show the night after the election. Wow.