Text 21993, 161 rader
Skriven 2006-08-17 20:03:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Lieberman
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I hope they punish Joe.  it will show the rest of the country that 
Howard Dean is in charge....

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http://hill1.thehill.com/thehill/opencms/TheHill/News/Frontpage/081606/n
ews1.html

Dem angst escalates 
By Alexander Bolton
 
A group of Senate Democrats is growing increasingly angry about Sen. Joe 
Lieberman’s (D-Conn.) campaign tactics since he lost the Democratic 
primary last week.

If he continues to alienate his colleagues, Lieberman could be stripped 
of his seniority within the Democratic caucus should he defeat Democrat 
Ned Lamont in the general election this November, according to some 
senior Democratic aides.

In recent days, Lieberman has rankled Democrats in the upper chamber by 
suggesting that those who support bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by 
a certain date would bolster terrorists’ planning attacks against the 
U.S. and its allies. He also sparked resentment by saying last week on 
NBC’s Today show that the Democratic Party was out of the political 
mainstream.

Democrats are worried that Lieberman may be giving Republicans a golden 
opportunity to undermine their message.

“I think there’s a lot of concern,ö said a senior Democratic aide who 
has discussed the subject with colleagues. “I think the first step is if 
the Lieberman thing turns into a side show and hurts our message and 
ability to take back the Senate, and the White House and the [National 
Republican Senatorial Committee] manipulate him, there are going to be a 
lot of unhappy people in our caucus.ö

Michael Lewan, Lieberman’s former chief of staff, has worked to quell 
Democratic discontent with Lieberman and to steer them away from 
campaigning against his former boss, said Democratic aides familiar with 
Lewan’s activities.

Lewan, a lobbyist with Brown Rudnick, said that he has had conversations 
with Democrats from between eight and 12 Senate offices. He said he 
understands that many Democrats have endorsed Lamont because he is the 
Democratic primary winner.

He added, “It would be terrific from my point of view that during the 
time in September, October, and early November, if they campaign, they 
spend their time in places other than Connecticut.ö

Lewan said that the issue of stripping Lieberman’s seniority did not 
come up in any of his conversations. He also said he has offered to 
share Democrats’ concerns with the Lieberman campaign.

The issue of Lieberman’s seniority would arise most dramatically if 
Lieberman wins re-election and Democrats recapture control of the 
chamber. That would slot Lieberman to take over as chairman of the 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the panel 
primarily responsible for investigating the executive branch.

Democrats think their chances of taking back the Senate are growing more 
and more likely. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last week 
said he was more confident that Democrats would pick up at least five 
Senate seats.

Allowing Lieberman to retain his seniority could put the senator now 
running as an independent in charge of the Senate’s chief investigative 
committee. If Democrats took control of either chamber they would likely 
launch investigations of the White House’s handling of the war in Iraq 
and homeland security.

“Lieberman’s tone and message has shocked a lot of people,ö said a 
second senior Democratic aide who has discussed the issue with other 
Senate Democrats. “He’s way off message for us and right in line with 
the White House.ö

“At this point Lieberman cannot expect to just keep his seniority,ö said 
the aide. “He can’t run against a Democrat and expect to waltz back to 
the caucus with the same seniority as before. It would give the view 
that the Senate is a country club rather than representative of a 
political party and political movement.ö

The aide said that it would make no sense to keep Lieberman in a 
position where he might take over the Governmental Affairs Committee.

Ironically, a lawmaker with a good shot of replacing Lieberman atop the 
Governmental Affairs panel, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), is spearheading 
the effort within the Senate to preserve Democratic support for 
Lieberman. Carper is the third most senior Democrat on the panel after 
Lieberman. But the two Democrats who outrank him, Sens. Carl Levin 
(Mich.) and Daniel Akaka (Hawaii) are likely to keep their perches as 
the most senior Democrats on the Armed Services Committee and Veterans 
Affairs Committee, respectively.  

Carper’s chief of staff, Jonathan Jones, has contacted Democratic aides 
recently and urged them that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign 
Committee should not spend money in the race between Lieberman and 
Lamont, said two Democratic aides familiar with the conversations. Jones 
said the money would be better spent elsewhere since the seat will 
remain in Democratic hands, said the sources.

Carper, who like Lieberman often works across the aisle with 
Republicans, is one of a handful of Democratic centrists who have 
continued to support Lieberman since his primary defeat. The others 
include Sen. Ken Salazar (Colo.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) 
and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

Bill Ghent, Carper’s spokesman, said that Jones “has been on vacation 
the last week and a half and has not been out there advocating what 
anyone should do regarding the Connecticut election.ö

The view that Lieberman should lose his seniority is likely to become 
more ingrained among Democrats if Lieberman continues to align himself 
with Republicans, as he has in the last few days. Lieberman took a call 
from senior White House political strategist Karl Rove on the day of his 
primary election. And since losing, he has adopted rhetoric echoing 
Republican talking points.

“If we pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out by a date 
certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who 
wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England,ö 
Lieberman said about U.S. troops in Iraq and the recently foiled 
terrorism scheme. “It will strengthen them, and they will strike again.ö

In June, 38 Democrats and Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.) voted for a 
resolution sponsored by Sen. Levin that called for Bush to take several 
steps to change the “open ended commitmentö of U.S. forces.

On the same day, 12 Democrats and Jeffords voted for another resolution 
requiring the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.), a Democrat who voted for both resolutions, 
called Lieberman’s statement “regrettableö and said Lieberman “doesn’t 
get it.ö

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean has likened 
Lieberman’s recent statements to the rhetoric coming from Vice President 
Dick Cheney and Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman.

Asked yesterday about the race, Dean said, “Ned will win,ö adding that 
Democratic turnout for Lamont will help the party in other Connecticut 
races.

Lieberman is expected to make a hard sell to Republican voters. Sean 
Smith, who stepped down as Lieberman’s campaign manager after the 
primary, told Lieberman as he was resigning that the candidate would 
have to pursue Republican voters in order to win the general election, 
said sources familiar with the conversation.

Lieberman said he agreed with the analysis, according to the sources.

So far, at least 26 Democratic senators have said they are supporting 
Lamont, including Reid, according to a survey conducted by The Hill. 
Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Democratic leaders would make no 
decisions about committees until after the election.

Jonathan E. Kaplan and Tyler Kirtley contributed to this article.

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