They used to call him a friend. But Sunday, members of the Democratic Leadership Council applauded when a guest called Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut an "asshole."
Members of the centist, pro-business group once cheered Lieberman when he was their chairman in the mid 1990s urging a strong national defense, stressing pro-business policies and critcizing sex and violence in entertainment. They loved it when he was chosen as the party's vice presidential candidate in 2000.
So, even with a parting of ways in past years, it was striking when many members of the group applauded a reference to Lieberman with the profanity by liberal Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the website dailykos.com.
Liberals angered by Lieberman's continuing support for the Iraq war suppprted a successful primary challenge to Lieberman in 2006. But Lieberman ran as an independent in the general election and won another term in the Senate.
Today, Lieberman's endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain has Democrats of all stripes angry at him.
the DLC needs to get over themselves. I don't like Lieberman either - I think the man is an opportunist - which makes him a snake oil salesman. But the DLC is equal to that - and dailykos is nothing more than a snarky appendage of the DLC
Posted by: Tess | June 30, 2008 at 07:09 AM
Tess, dailykos is an appendage of the DLC?? Dailykos is a blog that is very liberal in its viewpoints and is not affiliated with a political party. The DLC is an organization that is closely tied to the Democratic Party whose philosophy represents the center and right of center viewpoints of the Party.
Posted by: Jim Jacobs | June 30, 2008 at 08:33 AM
In fact dailyKos has been rabidly anti-DLC from its earliest days. At the same time dailyKos is strongly and totally committed to, if not technically affiliated with, the Democratic Party.
Posted by: fyreflye | June 30, 2008 at 10:37 AM