Will Lieberman Keep His Seat Democratic?

Eric Alterman fears that the Republicans are supporting Lieberman with the expectationt that, if he wins, he will replace Rumfeld as Secretary of Defense and allow the Republicans to take his Senate seat:

Here’s my prediction: If Lieberman wins the election, he will not switch to the Republicans, as some fear. But he will do the functional equivalent, which is accept Bush’s appointment to replace Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense, resign his seat and allow the Republican governor of Connecticut to appoint a Republican in his stead. That is the implicit deal between the Lieberman camp and Rove, Cheney, Bush etc and the reason, that alone, in the entire country, this is the only race where this most partisan of political operations, refuses to support the Republican in the race. Bush, Rove and Cheney do not make political decisions on the basis of what they think is good for the country. They care only about their party and themselves. If Lieberman supporters are genuinely supporting him as a Democrat, is it not enough for him to pledge to vote with the party in the Senate. He must pledge that, under no circumstances, will he accept an appointment from Bush or resign his seat, so long as a Republican occupies the state House.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    Vigilante says:

    Bashing Rummy is the last refuge of the cowardly complicit and complacent, when the real deal is impeachment of Bush and Cheney.

    But I dig the irony: Lieberman expects to lose and wants Rummy’s job.

  2. 2
    Ron Chusid says:

    The problem isn’t that Lieberman expects to lose and take Rummy’s job. The fear is that he wins, and later takes Rummy’s job, allowing the governor to appoint a Republican to his seat.

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