Lieberman in his speech at the RNC showed his cards last night, and came up short of a pair.
I watched him until I couldn’t stand it, then watched the summaries on MSNBC and CNN.
Some points:
- Joe referred to himself as a “Democrat” which, given his current Independent standing, must have had Connecticut Democrats spitting acid…
- He tore at Obama’s lack of experience (“Senator Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But eloquence is no substitute for a record — not in these tough times.”), making that the reason to vote for his buddy McCain, then completely reversed himself by building up Palin (“She’s taken on the special interests and the political power brokers in Alaska, and reached across party lines to get things done. The truth is, she is a leader we can count on to help John shake up Washington”), probably the most inexperienced candidate ever run for high national office.
The Dallas Morning News pointed out:
As Democratic superdelegate and CNN commentator Donna Brazile noted, Lieberman agrees with Obama on “95 percent” of the issues. You have to figure he disagrees with Palin on about 99 percent of issues. And that makes the praise of Palin tough for his Senate Democratic colleagues to stomach…
3. Lieberman lied about Obama’s Senate activities (“In the — in the Senate, during the three-and-a-half years that Senator Obama’s been a member, he has not reached across party lines to accomplish anything significant, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party to get something done”), when it’s clear that Barack has often worked with Republicans like Lugar and even McCain…
The fact that McCain did not give Lieberman the VP nomination (as he wanted to) probably kept Holy Joe from delivering a complete Zell Miller. Perhaps he is still making a pitch for Secretary of State or Defense in a McCain Administration.
One thing is pretty sure, though… he has alienated his former Democratic colleagues once and for all and it is interesting to consider what Harry Reid will do with his committee chairmanship after the election (assuming a McCain loss, which will leave no administration post open). My guess is that Joe will close out his Senate career either as a zombie or a Republican… but, hey, what’s the difference?
