The Chris Moeller Archives

Throw the bums out

One of the biggest political primary battles is still being waged. Senator Joe Lieberman, President Bush's "favorite Democrat," is in the political fight of his life against Connecticut entrepreneur Ned Lamont, who is attacking the incumbent from the left for his drafting of the Iraqi War Resolution, his Terri Schiavo pandering, and his seemingly tireless recitation of GOP talking points and kowtowing to the president. This morning's political pundits were citing California's race to replace imprisoned Republican Congressman "Duke" Cunningham" as the electoral bellwether of the season, but the true fight for America's future is for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, encapsulized in the nutmeg state's senate battle.

The ironic thing about this particular campaign is that progressives in the party have been the ones accused time and time again of betraying their political comrades in pursuit of selfish goals (i.e. the Naderites,) but Lieberman has done this repeatedly in Washington just as the Clintons before him ran the party aground in their continual effort to save their own asses. Now Lieberman, who rose to national recognition as Al Gore's running mate in 2000, refuses to promise that he won't run as an independent if he's rejected by Democrats late in the summer. Oh, how that 2000 race has come full circle.

The "something special" powering the Lamont effort is the internet. Lefty bloggers, furious and empowered, are organizing progressive foot soldiers, and Lieberman is left to fall back on the only campaign tactic Corporate Democrats seem to do well-- unleashing a barrage of high-priced and deceptive 30 second TV spots in an attempt to quash the rebellion.

Continuing to back candidates who voted for this foolish and now extremely unpopular war would eventually suck the life from the Donkey, but the Democratic Leadership Conference, triangulators, Clintons, and professional "old media" hacks won't give up their solid gold cadillacs without a fight. They're still force-feeding us a Hillary for President proposition that would help perpetuate the Bush/Clinton center-right stranglehold on Washington; and the sad fact of that unholy family/corporate alliance became even more apparent this spring when H.R., the former collegiate feminist radical, appeared at Fox News' 10th Anniversary soiree, and Rupert Murdoch promised to return the favor by hosting a Hillary fundraiser in July. (It's probably also payback for her husband's signing of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, drafted by lobbyists, which allowed corporate media giants like Fox to further eliminate competition, and grow along the lines of Clear Channel Communications, which ballooned from a company of 40 U.S. radio stations to more than 1200 in less than a decade.)

If these jokers-slash-appeasers have their way, there'll be Republicans returning to Congress by the busload in January, a significantly smaller number of accommodating Democrats like Lieberman skipping behind, and a 2008 Democratic candidate for president who shares George W. Bush's views on Iraq, Iran, military spending, the Mexican border, internet freedom, media consolidation, pro-corporate trade deals, and Murdoch.

posted by CM @ 7:56 PM