The 2008 Presidential race has been in full effect and media coverage on it has been played out for some time, so any news about the front-running candidates is usually accompanied with a roll of the eyes by the average observer. Or at least I would think so. Take, for instance, the public response of annoyance to Oprah's recent Obama endorsement, one that media moguls were shitting their pants with excitement over. Public response: Oprah won't do a damn thing.
Yet every once in a while a development in one of the Presidential contenders' campaigns will (or at least should) cause the raise of an eyebrow and glimmer of a grin. Senator Joe Lieberman's recent endorsement of Senator John McCain's White House bid is just that.
Lieberman is as big a shithead as the rest of them, in fact he's one of the biggest shithead politicians out there when one considers his stubborn support of the Iraq War and complete submission to the political right wing. As a Democrat, Lieberman voted for the 2002 Iraq Resolution - just like most of the rest of them - but failed to admit (or possibly recognize) the fault of this action once the War became unpopular with his own party. Instead, in an attempt to show he still had balls, Lieberman stuck to his '02 Iraq vote and remained a vocal supporter of the occupation and even buddied up with notable faces of the right, becoming a frequent commentator on Fox News and forming media alliances with the likes of Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly.
Lieberman is a good example of a popular Democratic trend that pushes its agenda closer and closer to the right wing of the political sphere with each passing year. Perhaps he's too good of an example, since the degree of his ideological shift cost him the Democratic nomination for a senate reelection in Connecticut last year. It forced our pal to run on an independent ticket, a near impossibility for winning an election of significant prominence in the United States. Lucky for Lieberman, he was third-term incumbent and a familiar face in his state and the nation, once being a Vice Presidential candidate on Al Gore's 2000 ticket and a contender for the Democratic Presidential primary in both 2000 and 2004. Good ol' Lieby went on to easily win the 2006 senate election with a ten percent margin.
But he should truly be commended for sticking it out as an independent, and not switching to the Republican Party, which he could have done right after the 2006 election (and can still do - and might do - at any given time). He holds a unique position in the Senate, which is currently split by party lines 49-49 (Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is the only other Independent in the Senate). The independent status gives Lieberman a great advantage to drive both Democrats and Republicans up the wall (although I doubt the latter will happen anytime soon). It's almost as if he's the thread both parties are hanging on: a switch to the Republican party would give them a majority in the Senate. Yet his recent endorsement of McCain, which will hold about as much weight as Bill Murray endorsing Ralph Nadar in 2000, is nothing more than a simple, grumpy "fuck you" to the mainstream Democrats.
According to a MinnPost article by David Brower, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were supporters of Lieberman before the 2006 Connecticut primary, but abandoned him in lieu of Democratic nominee Ned Lamont during the general election. Brower writes that Lieberman mentored Obama during his early Senate years and that Obama even flew to Connecticut during the primary to speak about how great Lieberman is and why he should be reelected.
But what would he do if Lieberman didn't win the primary? "Fuck the old wrinkly bastard, I'll give money to whoever wins the Democratic nomination," which is exactly what Obama did.
So now good ol' Lieby, an old man who once competed for the Democratic Presidential nomination, is pulling a dick move to his old party by endorsing an old man who's competing for the Republican Presidential nomination. And it is this dick move that puts a smile on my face. McCain is a very antiquated and emotional candidate, and its questionable weather he would make much of a leader (although he's undoubtedly the best to choose from on the Republican side); Lieberman's endorsement of him will probably make the Democrats more of a laughing stock of conservative blogs and radio shows ("The Democrats are so twisted with communism and hatred that Lieberman left them! And now he endorses Republicans!!!").
Yes, Lieberman is a complete right wing opportunist, and the fact that his endorsement of John McCain appears like a goofy, rubber knifed stab-in-the-back probably won't guide mainstream Democrats toward an ideological shift back to the left - in the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party - where their roots supposedly lie. Yet I hope Lieberman will continue take advantage of his independent status and take actions that piss off both parties - not just the Democrats - and make a step toward thinning the unlimited power of the two party system. But this is a lot to ask for, especially from a hack like Lieberman. Until then, we can look forward to being amused by his expected rhetoric and shit-twisted political schemes.
