Disgruntled Dems are considering challenge to Lieberman
He’s not anti-war, so he must go:
WASHINGTON — Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman may be some Republicans’ idea of a good Democrat, but a growing number of fellow party members in his home state couldn’t disagree more.
“It’s at the point where he’s no longer interested in his own party’s opinion, he’s really out of touch with reality,” said Mitchell Fuchs, chairman of the Fairfield Democratic Town Committee in Connecticut. “For me, he’s crossed the line a number of times.”
Passions flared after Lieberman’s recent trip to Iraq. Upon his return, the three-term senator pointed to what he views as progress on the ground there and suggested that Democrats should avoid harsh criticisms of President Bush’s Iraq policy.
In turn, Republicans and administration officials, including Bush, used the senator’s comments to bolster their case for war and underscore Lieberman’s differences with other Democratic leaders on the issue. Republicans have since charged that Democrats lack a coherent, unified message on Iraq.
The series of events has sparked petitions and protests outside of Lieberman’s district office in Hartford and prompted a potential challenge from a former and formidable political foe.
In an interview with FOXNews.com, former U.S. senator and Connecticut Gov. Lowell Weicker said he will challenge Lieberman in 2006 if no credible anti-war Democrat or independent jumps into the race first.
“I’m not going to let [Lieberman] get a free pass on this. And that’s what’s going to happen if no one steps up to bat,” said Weicker, who as a Republican lost his Senate seat to Lieberman in 1988. In 1990, Weicker went on to become governor, elected as an independent.
Weicker, 74, said he would run for Senate against Lieberman as an independent, not a Democrat. He said he has been against the war in Iraq “from the onset,” and doesn’t take lightly the notion of coming out of retirement to challenge the incumbent.
I can see see the chant now: “Joe, Joe, he must go, now that he’s become a foe!”
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