Also Main-Headlined at Op-Ed News
Last week Joe Lieberman, Connecticut’s Junior Senator currently defending his seat against a primary challenge from insurgent candidate Ned Lamont, reacted testily to charges that he is not a true Democrat. He told NBC’s Chip Reid “if people question whether I‘m a democratic, the democratic party is in trouble.” Perhaps so, But it was conservative Republicans who helped put Joe Lieberman in the Senate in the first place, and Republicans, including some of the most strident and right-wing members of the GOP, have often praised him and allied themselves with him. He has rarely hesitated to ally himself with Republicans nor to heed their call when they have sought his help.
Most recently, for example, When prominent Democrats introduced Senate amendments this past June calling for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the Republicans saw a golden opportunity to politicize the proposed legislation by scheduling a day of debate on the Senate floor — a debate which they had the power to choreograph. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, the floor manager of the debate charged with making it a propaganda coup for the White House, had reserved the first 30 minutes of comment for himself. But Warner chose not to be the first to speak. Instead he gave that opportunity to a Democrat who was only too willing to oblige, announcing that “I’d like to now offer the first fifteen minutes [of my time] to the Senator from Connecticut.” Lieberman, quoting scripture, rose to “oppose the amendments introduced by the Senator from Michigan and others and the other amendment introduced by the Senators from Massachusetts and Wisconsin.” Lieberman’s speech drew strong praise from Warner, and also from Pennsylvania GOP Senator Rick Santorum who was only too eager to “associate myself with the remarks made by the Senator from Connecticut. I agree with them wholeheartedly.” Lieberman was one of only six Democratic Senators who voted on June 22nd against both the Feingold-Kerry amendment calling for removing U.S. troops from Iraq by next year, and also against the Levin-Reed bill that merely urged the administration to begin considering an exit strategy. Only Lieberman availed himself of Republican floor time to speak out against the proposals being presented by his fellow Democrats.
Back in late 2002 when the Bush Administration was anxious to sell war with Iraq, an organization was formed at the request of the Bush White House called “the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.” Its membership was composed primarily of hard-line Conserative Republicans, mostly of the Neocon persuasion. One of the few Democrats to sign on was Joe Lieberman who joined John McCain as Honorary co-chair. Other prominent members included Republican stalwarts George P. Schultz, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Robert Kagan, Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle, Bill Kristol, and James Woolsey.
Perhaps Joe Lieberman’s affinity for Republicans and their causes has its roots in the fact that he made it to the Senate in the first place with a big assist from Republican notable William F. Buckley and his conservative publication The National Review. Buckley despised Connecticut’s incumbent Senator Lowell Weicker, a liberal Republican who had split with many within his own party by calling for the impeachment of Richard Nixon following Watergate revelations. In 1988 Buckley resolved to rid the Senate of Weicker by aggressively supporting and helping to finance the campaign of then Connecticut Democratic Attorney General Joe Lieberman.
National Review has long taken credit for electing Joe Lieberman to the Senate, and in fact did so as recently as last December in a piece that reminisced about the causes it had championed over the years:
Throughout the half-century, NR has engaged in a variety of causes, some of them successful, some less so — all worthy. Below [is one of them]:
‘BuckPac Kills!’
Lowell Weicker, the one-time Republican senator and perpetual liberal gasbag from the state of Connecticut, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1970. He met his waterloo in 1988, when the September 2 issue of NR announced the formation of “Buckleys for Lieberman.” The impromptu association’s stated purpose was “to generate support for the defeat of Lowell Weicker” by endorsing his challenger, Joe Lieberman. Lieberman, it was explained, “is a moderate democrat, and it is always possible that he will progress in the right direction.” There was, on the other hand, “no such hope for Lowell Weicker.”
The group (which came to be known simply as “BuckPac”) contained several vital organs, such as the precisely named “Horse’s Ass Committee,” the purpose of which was “to document that Lowell Weicker is the Number One Horse’s Ass in the Senate.” This was accompanied by the “Degasification Committee,” which was “engaged in attempting to clean up the quality of public thought,” as well as in demonstrating that “the bombast, murk, and pomposity of Lowell Weicker’s public declarations are a threat to democratic ecology.” Every issue of NR leading up to the election featured a “Weicker Watch,” heralding the latest in the anti-Weicker crusade.
When BuckPac was first launched, Weicker held a 17-point lead over Lieberman in the polls. By November 2 that lead had vanished, and Weicker was toppled. “BuckPac Kills!” proclaimed the December 9, 1988, issue of NR. “By the mere act of pointing at the nudity of the emperor, the searing point was made. Namely that Mr. Weicker was an arrogant, bigoted bore and that the Republicans who, as galley slaves, had voted for him should feel free to vote for the Democratic alternative . . .” That alternative, Lieberman, still occupies Weicker’s Senate seat, attending our 50th-anniversary gala in October. We continue to regard him as a marked improvement over Mr. Weicker.
What was that about National Review’s 50th-anniversary gala? We learn more about that event from none other than Rush Limbaugh:
Rush Limbaugh: Great Night at National Review’s 50th Anniversary (posted October 7, 2005)
Folks let me tell you a little bit about my evening last night… Last night was the 50th anniversary of National Review magazine. Now, National Review magazine, of course, is the creation and brainchild of William F. Buckley, Jr., who will celebrate his 80th birthday in November… and I was seated at Mr. Buckley’s table with his wife, Pat. Also at the table was Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who I’d never met but I did meet last night. He’s a very, very nice man. We had a nice conversation….Also, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison from Texas was at the table as well.
…Judge Bork was there. As I said, Kay Bailey Hutchinson was there along with, I met, Senator Lieberman, and you may ask, “Well, what was Senator Lieberman doing there?” Bill Buckley is responsible for Senator Lieberman being in the Senate.
Back in the ’80s, Bill Buckley and the National Review staff got fed up with Lowell Weicker. They had had it with Lowell Weicker. So they set up a PAC called BuckPAC, and BuckPAC essentially got Lieberman elected. They knew they weren’t going to elect a Republican up there. So he was there and Buckley, even in his speech last night, made mention of the fact that Joe Lieberman is his favorite Democrat… Kay Bailey Hutchison was on one side of our table, circular tables and Lieberman was two seats to my right. He was on Buckley’s right; I was on Buckley’s left…
And so Joe Lieberman, with a big Republican assist, made it to the United States Senate, where he has won the adoration of many prominent right-wingers who rarely have anything good to say about any Democrat.
Take Keith Olbermann’s favorite “Worst Person in the World,” Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, for example, who enthusiastically endorsed Joe Lieberman on June 16th:
Look what’s going on with Lieberman in Connecticut. They’re after Lieberman, their own Democrats are after him…
Silly me to think that Joe should have to actually prove himself to the good folks in CT… Fear not, Joe just received the stamp of approval by Bill and the Factor…
I wonder if Joe will use this endorsement in his next campaign ad?
Joe Lieberman appeared with Sean Hannity on FOX News on February 22, 2006, Hannity offered the Senator his endorsement as well:
HANNITY: (Laughter) I’m thinking… I’m thinking Hannity Conservatives for Lieberman and I’ll do a big fundraiser in Connecticut.
LIEBERMAN: Yeah, yeah. Let me just say, I appreciate your friendship, and I appreciate your support. Really.
HANNITY: So you want my endorsement?
LIEBERMAN: What can I… if you support me… Look, I’ve always gotten elected by people from all parties. Now if there’s a Democratic primary against me, which there might be, I might ask you to come in and endorse my opponent. (Laughter)
And then there is Ann Coulter who rarely has a good word for any Democrat… unless that Democrat happens to be Joe Lieberman, whom she told Neil Cavuto she “admires” when she appeared on FOX News on June 22nd:
COULTER: … I would admire a politician, not as much as basically your run of the mill garden-variety Republican, but as far as Democrats go like Lieberman, who apparently does want to defend America and fight the war on terrorism. He is the one facing a primary fight.
CAVUTO: You know, there is talk about him maybe bolting to a third party. The seeds are there for a third party movement. Do you buy that?
COULTER: I think he should come all the way and become a Republican.
Bill Kristol, the Republican neocon editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, apparently is not a huge contributor to political campaigns. Reportedly none of his political contributions since 1998, save one, were over $200, and all except one went to Republican candidates. The lone exception was a $500 check written to Joe Lieberman’s 2006 Senate re-election campaign.
When President Bush appeared on the Larry King Show on CNN on June 7, king sprung a question on him about Joe Lieberman:
KING: Move to politics. An unusual situation in Connecticut. Joe Lieberman is running for re-election to the Senate. He’s in the primary fight, may lose, and has said that if he loses, he might well run as an Independent. He supported you staunchly on Iraq, and Iraq is the major issue in that campaign, the primary. Would you support him if he ran as an Independent?
When you think about it, there was only one acceptible response. Bush, as a Republican president, is the head of the Republican party. Any response other than that he planned to support the Connecticut Republican Senate nominee would have been the wrong one. Instead Bush hemmed and hawed and opined that a Bush endorsement of Lieberman might hurt Lieberman more than help him. It was probably as close as Bush dared go toward endorsing his Democratic friend:
G. BUSH: First, the Democrats have to sort out who their nominee is going to be and that’s going to be up to the Democrats. And the rest of it’s hypothetical.
KING: But he said he would run as an Independent, if he were…
G. BUSH: He also has said he’s going to win his primary.
KING: I know you like him.
G. BUSH: You’re trying to get me to give him a political kiss, which may be his death…
Then there was that July 20th New York Times ananysis of campaign contributions that found a strange affinity for Joe Lieberman among donors who normally favor the GOP:
Lieberman Finds Favor Among Donors That Usually Support G.O.P.
When it comes to supporting candidates for public office, the Associated General Contractors of America gives 90 percent of its campaign contributions to Republicans.
And then there is Senator Joseph I. Lieberman.
The group, which represents the construction industry, wrote a $4,000 check last month to Mr. Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat who is facing a spirited challenge for his party’s nomination from a political novice, Ned Lamont. The money was just a sliver of the $260,000 he has collected from political action committees since March.
But that donation and others like it have fed a perception, stoked by the Lamont campaign and its supporters on the Internet, that Mr. Lieberman is too cozy with Republicans. It is a vexing assertion for Mr. Lieberman, whose centrist politics and pragmatic style, once a source of pride, are now being held against him by liberals and antiwar Democrats.
…Anyone looking for evidence of Mr. Lieberman’s bipartisan appeal can find it in his roster of recent contributors, which includes organizations that traditionally give more to Republicans. They include engineering and construction firms, some with contracts in Iraq. Those firms include Bechtel, Fluor International and Siemens, which support Republicans 64 to 70 percent of the time, according to data compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks campaign and lobbying activities.
Florida Power and Light, which supports Republicans 84 percent of the time, gave $5,000 to Mr. Lieberman. Areva Cogema, a builder of nuclear power plants that gives 70 percent of its contributions to Republicans, contributed $1,000…
The reasons for their support differ, and are not always clear. Most of these contributors did not support Mr. Lieberman in 2000, and many have supported only Republican candidates in Connecticut; the only other Connecticut candidate to receive a contribution this year from Areva Cogema, for example, was Representative Nancy L. Johnson, a Republican…
There have also been some odd Lieberman alliances over the years, like the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), an organization whose pitch includes fulfilling “Biblical prophesy,” and whose work Lieberman actively supported from 1994-1999. Its Advisory Board has included prominent conservative Republicans like Gary Bauer; Bill Bennett; Chuck Colson; Jeane Kirkpatrick; Ralph Reed; Jack Kemp; and William Kristol, and its speakers have included Pat Robertson; Jerry Falwell; Pat Boone; and Donald Rumsfeld.
Next Tuesday Connecticut Democrats will go to the polls to decide who will represent the Democratic Party this fall in the U.S. Senate race. Once considered a shoo-in for the nomination, a primary victory for Lieberman is now in serious doubt. If he does lose the primary Lieberman is planning to remain in the race, running as an independent. Perhaps it is only fitting that his conservative Republican friends will finally have the option of voting for him without having to vote Democrat.