Lightning rod Lieberman tests party loyalties

Tom Curry National affairs writer • Profile • E-mail

WASHINGTON - You want to know how divisive the Iraq war is in American politics? Look no further than Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman, who launched an independent bid Tuesday night to keep his seat after losing to Ned Lamont in Connecticut's Democratic primary, is the center of attention for a diverse group of Democrats and Republicans.

Lamont loyalists and leading Republicans are united in forgetting all about Lieberman’s long and liberal voting record on gay rights, abortion, blocking oil drilling in the Arctic refuge and myriad other issues.

None of that matters; only Iraq does.

GOP leaders noted their disagreement with Lieberman on those other issues but otherwise were sympathetic to Lieberman, with one even sending him a check for his campaign on Wednesday.

Cheney mourns Lieberman loss
Vice President Dick Cheney grieved over Lieberman’s loss, calling it “an unfortunate and significant development,” and fretting about “the direction the (Democratic) party appears to be heading in when they, in effect, purge a man like Joe Lieberman.”

In an interview with Hardball’s Chris Matthews Wednesday, Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman pointedly refused to say whether GOP donors should give money to the official Republican candidate in Connecticut, Alan Schlesinger, or to Lieberman.

“Let the Republican in Connecticut decide this important question,” Mehlman said.

Republican Mike McGavick, running against Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell in the state of Washington, said, “In support of Sen. Lieberman's campaign for civility, I wish him the best, and Gaelynn and I plan on contributing to his campaign.” McGavick called Lieberman a "victim of partisanship."

Since money is the fuel for Lieberman’s independent candidacy, it will be fascinating to watch how many other Republican donors follow McGavick to write checks to Lieberman’s re-election fund.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton asked Lieberman to “search his conscience and decide what is best for Connecticut and for the Democratic Party,” which raised the question: Hadn't he already done that Tuesday night?

Does this turn of events in the past 48 hours signify a re-alignment of the parties or is it just election-year opportunism, with GOP leaders taking advantage of Lieberman’s loss to portray Democrats as “fringe” and weak on national security?

If Lieberman is on his way to becoming a kind of de facto Republican candidate for Senate in Connecticut, will this help or hurt his chances of winning a three-way race?

The traditionalist Democrats in cities and towns such as Waterbury, Torrington, and East Haven, Connecticut, which went heavily for Lieberman on Tuesday, might be made queasy by  Lieberman getting too close to GOP donors.

Lamont ran to the left of Lieberman, condemned him for not filibustering Bush judicial nominee Sam Alito, and urged withdrawal of American troops from Iraq within a year.

Lieberman warning on Iraq
Lieberman’s flair for antagonizing anti-Iraq war activists, which is exactly what made him anathema to many Democrats, made him a hero to Republicans. When Lieberman said withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq would lead to “the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 being able to claim victory in Iraq and going on, emboldened, to attack us again here at home,” the anti-war wing cringed and redoubled their efforts to defeat him.

Before extrapolating the lessons of Lamont to other races, consider the universe of those who voted on Tuesday: about 280,000 Democrats in one of the more Democratic-leaning states in the union. Lieberman fell 10,000 votes short on Tuesday.

The good news for Democrats: the Lamont-Lieberman battle led to 29,000 new Democratic registrations in the state (which has a total of about two million voters). If Lamont is helping grow the party, no matter what aid GOP donors might give Lieberman, it may not be enough.

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