As an Epic Fail saga, Joe Lieberman is hearing the Right's call and basking in the fading limelight that is diminishing with time. What will he come up with next to flip those who used to support him as he continues this mad journey? Is he the newest of Connecticut's Benedict Arnold (traitor for switching sides during the American Revolution) or just a Tool? And when will he switch parties again -- is he a Tory or a Whig?
Just last year he gamed the spotlight as John McCain's BFF, photo ops on a drug chasing Coast Guard boat in Columbia, speaking at the Republican convention, all heady events without apparent forethought to what would occur if McCain's candidacy failed, and it did. Where is your game plan Joe? Clearly transparency is not in his constitution; tricks without treats are.
As recalcitrant as he was in January, benefiting from Obama's largess to keep his Chairmanship of Homeland Security Committee while he currently threatens to join the opposition and filibuster the Public Option having garnered yet again the media buzz that he clearly craves. He stated on ABC News he may campaign for choice Republicans in 2010, In CT? Yet another threat or promise may have sealed his fate in Connecticut, or has it? The majority of Connecticut residents want a public option, so who is he claiming to represent? No doubt his fellow senators are as vexed as to his next move as we are.
The airwaves are saturated with pro and con health care advertisements, some more insidious than others, like 60Plus.org, the newest twisted death tactic: that they will cut your Medicare, your doctor choice eliminated and, by the way you will have long waits and government will determine if you can get care, all debunked lies, FactCheck.org yet once again trotted out with the tag line to call Senator Lieberman's Washington Office. And of course US Chamber of Commerce is ramping up as well. So the good news: media ad buys are helping our state's newspapers and TV outlets with their bottom line.
Sourcewatch.org notes of 60 Plus:
"However, a 2006 report in the AARP Bulletin called 60 Plus a front group for the pharmaceutical industry. 60 Plus, along with Senior Coalition and United Seniors Association, "claim to speak for millions of older Americans, although as recently as 2001 none of the three listed any revenue from membership dues on their tax returns." The article added: "virtually all of their largest contributions in recent years have come from the same source -- the nation's pharmaceutical industry."[4] "
Was the seed of betrayal set in 2006? For two years people have questioned how we Nutmeg State electorate could have voted for him, my response: Democrats didn't, they didn't even nominate him for the Democratic ticket, Ned Lamont received the nod, Lieberman quickly filed for Independent status just before the primary that Lamont won, but Republicans ditched their chosen candidate and voted overwhelmingly for Joe. So is he going to slide over to the dark side in 2012? By the way, we are and have been a blue state despite a noisy and rancorous Tea Party (FreedomWorks) and other far right groups (Right Principles PAC) that are doing their best to sabotage the 2010 contests, beginning with health care reform.
As recently noted on the blog, My Left Nutmeg:
Adding to speculation that he may be planning to retire at the end of his term in 2012, Sen. Lieberman has filed his October report with the FEC and reported raising only $4,100 in the third quarter (PDF). Lieberman now has $1.31 million cash on hand, down from $1.41 million at the end of Q2, continuing a downward trend in his bank account since the closing days of the 2006 campaign. He had raised over $70,000 in each of the previous two quarters of 2009.
Lieberman also seems to have secured his standing in the Democratic caucus until at least 2010 with a $50,000 payment to the DSCC on September 29th and a $4,000 payment to Harry Reid's campaign on September 25th. Seems like a decent rate for a committee chairmanship.
So careful Joe, the rhapsody of Homer's Odyssey had Circe warning of the Sirens singing to Odysseus (or Ulysses) while on the beach are the bone heaps of those who went before, this is a legacy that only Joe can determine and media generating tactics or fence straddling don't seem to be going well for him. Time will tell.