What's wrong with Lieberman?

[VirginiaIs4Lieberman]

I know he was for the war, but that is over and done with now. He is a social liberal and strong on defense. He also stands up for what he believes in. IMO, he has the best chance of beating Bush. I don't understand why he polls in the single digits, especially with the name recognition. Could y'all give some insight?

[IndianaGreen]

1. Don't worry!

At the rate things are going, Lieberman may well be the only candidate left standing by the time we get to Boston.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

41. Lieberman: Socially liberal, fiscally conservative!

The only reason the neo-libertarians of DU don't like him is because he doesn't have nice things to say about potheads and Corporate American selling song lyrics about rape and murder to children. Other than that, he should be one of DUs top "electable" candidates. Lieberman is hardly any different than Kerry.

In fact, Kerry/Lieberman sounds about right doesn't it?

[La_Serpiente]

2. First of all, welcome to DU

Good luck defending Lieberman :thumbsup: :-)

[Endangered Specie]

6. indeed, we need someone to write a lieberman endorsment.

No volunteers so far

[overground1]

3. He's only taken one position on the war. Seems some prefer multiple-choice

[jmaier]

4. I've got no truck with Sen Lieberman

but he has no spark at all. He can't energize those who most agree with him to support him so you can pretty much forget about attracting folks to his left.

I consider him principled and liberal enough for a moderate but he is a bit too bi-partisan for these partisan times.

[VirginiaIs4Lieberman]

8. Thanks

I think it is a charisma problem as well. I never thought he would win, but I did expect him to be polling 3rd at least in double digits.

[wuushew]

5. Pure DLC

and that is not a good thing, atleast Gore has grown as a person.

DLC = republican lite

[Renew Deal]

7. OK, here goes

He is wrong on the Iraq war. He is wrong on the war and he is completely wrong on the war. If you want that position, vote for Bush* (I mean hypothetically, not you).

Second, he is nasty. He has been wrongly nasty and negative to both Dean and Clark. It's one thing to differentiate yourself, but he has been just not nice.

There is nothing hopeful about him. He goes on about everything he has supported in that past. That includes pretty much everything Bush* wants lately.

He wants to pile on more tax cuts.

He is just not what the Democratic party or America needs right now.

[frank frankly]

9. that says it

I would vote for McCain over Lieberman 10 out of 10 times.

gawd, it would be hard though.

i'd hope my local voting locale in adjacent to a vomitorium

[overground1]

13. Does that really "say it", John Kerry supporter?

How do you live with the denial?

[frank frankly]

20. huh?

your response does not compute

try again, friend

and my name's eric. (i am not literally attached to John Kerry, as a limb to a tree.)

[overground1]

25. Your response

to "He is wrong on the Iraq war. He is wrong on the war and he is completely wrong on the war" was "that says it all."

And yet John Kerry expressed his support in just the same way as Lieberman: IWR vote. You may be surprised to discover that Kerry voted the same as Lieberman on many key votes. That is, the votes he was present for. He missed the Medicare vote. Lieberman was there to vote against it.

[frank frankly]

29. I hear you on that

this war should never have happened. Kerry's vote was dead wrong. No argument here on IWR.

[VirginiaIs4Lieberman]

10. Maybe I am just an old time democrat

[JohnKleeb]

12. I dont know

One could argue that Dick Gephardt was an old time democrat, and my grandfather who supported him didnt like Lieberman. Personally its his hawkishness and demeanor that people dont like, and I think he tends to be more conservative like on economics, one thing where I really liked Gephardt, he was a big economic populist.

[overground1]

11. Kerry and Edwards both cast the same IWR vote that Lieberman did

But it seems Lieberman has become their scapegoat. They are A-OK approved candidates now! We punish Lieberman so we don't have to punish all the rest...
:eyes:

[VirginiaIs4Lieberman]

17. That is why I don't like Kerry

I don't trust him. If he wins this, I will seriously look at Nader and whoever the libertarians put up. I just don't trust him. He voted for the war for political reasons, then proceeded to attack Bush for going to war for political reasons. I still don't know much about Edwards. Right now I have him over Kerry and behind Dean and Clark.

[Dr.Phool]

14. He's NOT a social liberal

He sits on some of the same religious right committees and foundations as Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed. He still supports the war. When the Clinton Administration wanted to rein in Corporate and accounting loopholes a'la Enron and Arthur Anderson, Lieberman blocked them.

I heard him speak last month at the Florida Democratic Convention, and his biggest policy initiative was to ban violent video games and raunchy music lyrics. "Hello" we've got a lot bigger problems to deal with.

He was the Sunday Morning speaker, and I gave away a $50 brunch ticket that afternoon, so I wouldn't be afflicted by him again.:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

I drove back to Clearwater and ordered a pizza.

[diamondsoul]

15. Nothing really.

I'd vote for him if he got the nomination. He's just too far right for me to support from the start of the race, but overall a decent guy.

The IWR isn't an issue for me for the most part, and even if it were, I can say one thing about Joe Lieberman- He absolutely BELIEVES it was the right thing to do and the wrong way to do it. Kudos to him for defending a position he believes was right.

[wuushew]

18. How do you explain his opposition to the Lugar-Biden ammendment?

the failure of that was certainly a step in the wrong direction regarding Iraq.

[diamondsoul]

22. I don't explain it.

I'm not Joe Lieberman nor do I support him as the Dem Nominee. I think he believes he acted in the best interests of his country. Whether you or I agree with him on that doesn't alter what HE believes.

Respecting the man for standing firm on something he believes isn't quite the same as agreeing with him or even supporting him. I do think he's among the most honest and sincere people in this race, even if I find his policies terribly misguided.

[diamondsoul]

23. Dupe. n/t

[Leilani]

16. What's wrong with him?

He's been in NH criticizing Dems. That's his message. As soon as Clark started doing well, Joe started pounding him.

Joe should drop out. He isn't raising money, no one goes to his meetings, & he's still slamming Dems.

[diamondsoul]

19. And what are Dems at DU doing?

Joe Lieberman has been the butt of jokes here since I first arrived and it hasn't let up. Hypocrisy isn't becoming on anyone.

Joe Lieberman isn't perfect, but he's done a relatively decent job representing the people who elected him. Better than some not as well as others. Big whoop. Would I choose him to represent me? No, but that's no excuse to tear him apart at every turn.

[Leilani]

33. How about the job he did

as Al Gore's running mate?

Now, I'm not saying Gore was the greatest candidate, but Joe sure didn't help. His performance against Cheney in their debate was pretty bad. He kept saying, I agree.

The other thing that bothered me was when Joe first got to NH, he claimed he was the new McCain, & all those supporters would go to him. It was delusional. McCain may be a Repub, but he is 1 of a kind, & when I think brave POW, tortured for 5 & 1/2 yrs, I don't think Joe.

[tameszu]

34. I live in CT

And Lieberman hasn't done that good of a job representing the state--unless you count pandering to the insurance companies good.

[diamondsoul]

42. He's still on the Hill-

so I have to assume his constituency is comfortable with the job he's doing. Same with Gephart, Kerry and Edwards. They're all still there, right?

Then again, I'm not all that thrilled with Evan Bayh, but he's still there too.:shrug: We're outvoted, dude, that's democracy.

[Virgil]

21. NAFTA, DLC,&WOD n/t

[Adjoran]

24. Lieberman's a centrist

Hawkish on most defense issues, liberal on most social issues. I don't have a problem with him either.

He's just not cut out for national politics. Lack of charisma, yeah, but even worse is his political instincts. For example, if he had eschewed negative campaigning early and adopted the positive approach like Edwards, he might be doing better now.

DU is primarily a liberal Democratic site, though, so it is natural he wouldn't be very popular here anyway.

[La_Serpiente]

26. just some general things

I have reservations about his support for Faith Based Charities. On top of that, Lieberman co-sponsored a more hawkish Iraq War Resolution. Lieberman could have supported the Biden-Lugar amendment, a bill most Democrats (and even some Republicans) would have wanted to support but he didn't.

Lieberman also wants to do away with the Capital Gains Taxes and he is extremely pro-business.

During the Vice Presidential Debates in 2000, he barely engaged Dick Cheney and was not a voiciferant activist during the Florida recount.

This year, we need a fighter, and I do not think Lieberman can both bring the goods and carry the base.

[genius]

27. We're still there. But only Kucinich wants us out. Lieberman's better

than Dean on all issues. But I'm not voting for Dean under any circumstances because I'm a Democrat. I'm voting for Kucinich - no matter what happens between now and my primary. My second choices (even though they won't take me away from Dennis in the primary) would be the two Senators who voted with Dennis against the occupation. They're the guys who won Monday night.

[mikehiggins]

28. Generally speaking, he does not inspire confidence in the average

voter. His choice as Gore's VP remains one of life's great mysteries to me. Most telling was his decision NOT to withdraw from his Senate seat to run. His failure to commit to Gore's campaign totally is the kind of thing he does, and the reason he is not viewed kindly by people who consider that yet another item undercutting Gore in a good many places.

Plus, he chooses terrible sweaters.

[hellhathnofury]

30. He's been made into a scapegoat because he stand's by his votes,

which are almost identical to JE's or JFK's.

[LiberalBushFan]

31. worst Israel stance

pro pro pro Israel

[dawn]

32. I don't know why I don't care for him, but...

I would vote for him if he gets the nod, as I am ABB. Yeah, I think it sucks that he wants to ban violent video games, but still...ABB. A centrist is better than an extreme right-winger anytime. And then we can work for change from there.

That said, I highly doubt he will get the nomination anyway.

[carolinayellowdog]

35. He cost us the White House

According at least to one analysis, by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of media coverage of the post-election struggle. For the first two weeks the coverage was balanced, but when the phony military ballot issue was raised by the Republicans, and instead of debunking it Lieberman endorsed the R position, the tide completely turned. For the following month the coverage was overwhelmingly anti-Gore. The only state that Lieberman helped Gore carry was FL (I think) and he threw that one away. If illegal military ballots for Bush had been rejected, a recount would not have been necessary for Gore to win. Lieberman's running for Senate and VP at the same time signalled an expectation of losing the latter, a terrible gesture. After the election, his comments on Gore were disloyal.

Plus all the other reasons listed in the thread.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

36. At least Lieberman has the integrity to stand behind his IWR vote.

Unlike a couple of other senators oft mentioned here. I find that vote completely unacceptable and will never vote for Lieberman, Kerry or Edwards.

[laruemtt]

37. he's pro vouchers

and he has a whiny-sounding voice. after 4 years of * i want someone whose voice uplifts!

[LWolf]

38. He uses Bush/repub talking points.

He agrees with Bush on too many fronts.

Supports homeland security act.
Wants more war on terror.
Voted for patriot act.
Opposes Gay marriage.
Supports death penalty.
Supports drug war.
Pro-Iraq War

In the last debate, he actually took the Bush road of pandering to fear. He told us we ought to be afraid.

Then, after a debate chock full of support for Bush initiatives, (while criticizing implementation), he did a bizzare schizo thing in his closing remarks and grabbed some of his opponents' talking points. For example, he took a page from Dennis Kucinich's ed platform, and then even did a weird morph of Dennis' campaign slogan: end of fear, beggining of hope.

[spooky3]

39. doesn't understand and support separation of church and state

[HFishbine]

40. He's quite the social conservative in many ways

Against equal rights for homosexuals and for government meddling in media content.

Oh yeah, did I mention he's unapologetic about his support for the war?