Lieberman Leaves GOP Door Open
By DAVID LIGHTMAN And MARK PAZNIOKAS
Hartford Courant
November 13 2006
WASHINGTON -- Four days after calling his party affiliation a "closed issue," U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman said Sunday he was "not ruling it out" that he could turn Republican.
He told NBC's "Meet the Press" he will return to Washington as an "Independent Democrat" - "capital I, capital D."
But the R is lurking.
"I'm not ruling it out," he said, "but I hope I don't get to that point. And, I must say, and with all respect to the Republicans who supported me in Connecticut, nobody ever said, `We're doing this because we want you to switch over.'"
Lieberman also left open another controversial door - supporting more U.S. troops in Iraq.
"I think we have to be open to that as a way to succeed to achieve a free and independent Iraq, which would be an extraordinary accomplishment, but it's got to be tied to a new strategy," he said.
That strategy may be "tied to commitments from the Iraqi government to disarm those militias and to bring more Sunnis into a national unity government."
Lieberman is considered unlikely to switch to the Republican Party, but his comments triggered a fresh round of outrage by liberal bloggers Sunday. His comments came after insisting during his primary and fall campaigns that he would remain a Democrat.
He was asked about the prospect Wednesday at his post-election news conference.
"There is a little playfulness in me that wants me to make a joke about that, but it's too serious. The answer is no," he said. "When I give my word I stick with it, and I am definitely going to organize with the Senate Democrats."
(The rest is here.)
Hartford Courant
November 13 2006
WASHINGTON -- Four days after calling his party affiliation a "closed issue," U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman said Sunday he was "not ruling it out" that he could turn Republican.
He told NBC's "Meet the Press" he will return to Washington as an "Independent Democrat" - "capital I, capital D."
But the R is lurking.
"I'm not ruling it out," he said, "but I hope I don't get to that point. And, I must say, and with all respect to the Republicans who supported me in Connecticut, nobody ever said, `We're doing this because we want you to switch over.'"
Lieberman also left open another controversial door - supporting more U.S. troops in Iraq.
"I think we have to be open to that as a way to succeed to achieve a free and independent Iraq, which would be an extraordinary accomplishment, but it's got to be tied to a new strategy," he said.
That strategy may be "tied to commitments from the Iraqi government to disarm those militias and to bring more Sunnis into a national unity government."
Lieberman is considered unlikely to switch to the Republican Party, but his comments triggered a fresh round of outrage by liberal bloggers Sunday. His comments came after insisting during his primary and fall campaigns that he would remain a Democrat.
He was asked about the prospect Wednesday at his post-election news conference.
"There is a little playfulness in me that wants me to make a joke about that, but it's too serious. The answer is no," he said. "When I give my word I stick with it, and I am definitely going to organize with the Senate Democrats."
(The rest is here.)
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1 Comments:
Vox Verax,
I noticed your blog headline: How tyranny may come to the US shores. I view the Lieberman implicit open-ended threat to jump to the GOP as tyrannical: One man is holding the DNC hostage to play nice -- however Lieberman defines that. A solution might be for the DNC to offer a disaffected-GOP-senator a Guaranteed Committee Chairmanship if they jump from the GOP, making Lieberman's threat irrelevant. Tyranny avoided.
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