The great flaw in this kind of thinking is that — once John McCain and his outsized personality are removed from the discussion — this new, allegedly centrist third party is unlikely to be a force at the polls.
Joe Lieberman lost not because of a demand for party purity, but because he lost touch, misreading the real anger out there over the direction in which the country is moving and the part he plays in it by lending bipartisan cover to the president’s bankrupt policies. It doesn’t necessarily signal a turn to the left or a mass movement to follow the teachings of AJ Muste, just a basic democratic craving that representatives actually represent.
Simple, basic truth: Lieberman’s fate proves that democracy can work, or as Josh Marshall wrote on Talking Points Memo:
That’s politics. And that’s accountability. And, really? It’s not that big a deal.
That Lieberman seems unwilling to accept his fate and play by the rules, proves that he no longer believes in democracy — and the fact that the Washington punditocracy agrees with him only proves how out of touch the folks inside the Beltway really are.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 