Joe Lieberman, will you please go now?

[maha]

When Senator Lieberman said of Iraq, "This is a battle in the war on terrorism. Failure and defeat is not an option," in last night's presidential candidate debate, I wished a giant hook had pulled him off the stage.

The Great Lie killing our soldiers and choking political debate in our nation is that the invasion of Iraq is connected to the war on terrorism and September 11. That lie must not stand.

Before serious campaigning began, the presumptive Democratic front runners were Senators Lieberman, Edwards, and Kerry and Congressman Gephardt. But all of them voted for the Iraq War resolution, and today they refuse to admit they made a mistake. For Gephardt and Kerry in particular I believe this refusal is weighing down their campaigns. For either of them to get back into the first tier, they're going to have to come out and say,

"I'm sorry for that vote. At the very least we should have insisted on limits to presidential war power. I should have realized that the White House could not be trusted to tell the truth and cannot be trusted with power. We in Congress must revisit this vote and take back from the President the power to conduct war given to Congress by the Constitution."

My guts tell me that if one of them -- Gephardt or Kerry or possibly Edwards -- made that speech today, he'd become the front runner pronto. Lieberman is beyond rehabilitation, however.

Read remainder ...

[Wetzelbill]

1. Sounds valid to me

In particular I think the vote hurt Kerry and Edwards the most. I thought those two would separate themselves from the pack early on, but the Iraq thing stagnated them quite a bit. Kerry with his experience and military record (not to mention he just looks Presidential) should never have had to worry about a Dean in NH. Edwards has obvious political skills. He's nice looking, from humble beginnings, a Southerner,and a fantastic speaker. I still think he'll catch on, but, he went from the "next Bubba" talk to being largely nonexistent. If these guys were to show the sand that Dean or Kucinich have about Iraq they would go up be voter magnets. Personally, I like the thought of Kerry or Edwards standing next to President Doofus in a debate. Talk about a walkover.

[maha]

2. It would certainly energize the democratic base

And bring a lot of Dems back into their camps. And, frankly, I don't see there's much liability. Anyone who's idiot enough to think the Iraq War is justfied is gonna vote for Shrub, anyway.

[Cha]

3. This part is rather obvious!

"At this time Senator Lieberman is a liability to the Democratic Party. His efforts to get himself noticed at the expense of other candidates -- especially Howard Dean, who may well be the nominee -- are just providing ammunition to Karl Rove"

[grytpype]

4. Better to say, "Bush lied to me and to the nation."

Don't make the Dem candidate fall on his sword. If what the Bush Junta was saying about Iraq was true, we had no choice but to invade to head off a nuclear holocaust. It's not fair to penalize the Dem candidate for believing the President about something so important.

Rather, the blame should be placed where it belongs: on Bush the Liar.

[ixion]

6. joe has acted as an enabler for Bush

lending credibility to his lies. In my mind, this make him part of the problem, rather than a valid solution.

[grytpype]

7. Fair enough.

But remember who the real enemy is, and who can beat him. (I despise Lieberman, but I would really hate it if the electable Dems who voted for the "blank check" were blamed for the war. They're victims too.)

[maha]

8. Yes

There might be a short-term liability; the idiot "pundits" would wheez about a "flip flop," but that would be easily countered.

"I voted as I did because I took the President at his word. But we were all betrayed. If I'd known the truth, I wouldn't have voted that way."

How does it go, now? Fool me once, shame on Bush ....

[ixion]

5. I have to agree... LIEberman is hurting the Dems

with his ceaseless pandering to the GOP and touting their talking points as truisms.

Joe, Rove is calling you. Please quit trying to pretend like you're a democrat and formally switch to the dark side. We can all see that you're there in spirit.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

9. A big tent helps Democrats

As much as people on this site are disinclined to admit it, there are many Democrats and Independents who agree with Lieberman on the issues. The Democratic party is not the green party.

Further, Lieberman is not so right wing as many here make him out to be. He is a solid Economic Democrat/Liberal Hawk. You may not like that combination, but that doesn't make him a Republican.

Finally, his attacks are good practice for the top tier candidates. I am already seeing Dean being able to handle challenges like this better than he has in the past. If Kerry was the front runner, he'd have the same opportunity to improve. While I don't support him as a candidate for President, Lieberman is doing our party great service.

- C.D.

[maha]

10. THE Issue Is Iraq

"As much as people on this site are disinclined to admit it, there are many Democrats and Independents who agree with Lieberman on the issues. The Democratic party is not the green party."

I don't demand 100 percent ideological purity from candidates, but anyone who is still trying to perpetuate the fiction that Iraq is in any way connected to the war on terrorism or September 11 cannot be trusted in the Oval Office.

It wouldn't matter to me if Joe were ideologically pure on all other issues. Iraq is the biggest scam ever perpetuated on the American public, and I'm not forgetting Vietnam or Joe McCarthy.

If he truly believes an invasion of Iraq was necessary, he's guilty of extreme lack of judgment. If he doesn't ...

[Cha]

11. I wonder if lieberman knows he "is doing our party great service"?

I see your point ...but lieberman did our party great harm when he was running with Gore. And then stabbed Gore in the political back.

I just don't like his swarmy way of doing things.