Jason, unless Lieberman is dumb, which I don't think he is, he could hardly expect anything but conniptions from Republicans at the prospect of his VP candidacy on their ticket.

After all, outside of the Iraq War, Republicans and Joe are very far apart on virtually every domestic social issue.

Did he move away from the Democratic party?  I mean, he got defeated in a primary but he hasn't changed his positions on anything in the past decade.

The Democratic party moved away from him.  And most would argue that it was for the better.  We'll see.

Sorry, but pathetic =/= sad. This isn't sad; this is a guy choosing to demean himself. At best it's tragic, in the dramatic sense.

Job weeping on the dung pile because God let Satan kill his family, destroy his livestock, and burn his home, that's sad. The prospect of Joe weeping on the dung pile because he turned his back on his party, destroyed his reputation, and burned his political bridges, that's not sad. That's justice.

Lieberman is exactly where John McCain was in 2001-2003.  He is pissed at the party for what they did to him, so he's toying with jumping sides.  The difference, of course, is that McCain still saw a potential future in the GOP, so he came crawling back in 2004, and it seems to have worked for him.  Joe won't be so lucky -- he probably won't even win another Senate race in Connecticut.  Knowing this, he is sort of stuck in no man's land.  His only real option is to continue to push and support McCain as hard as possible, and hope he ends up rewarded with a cabinet position.  Rank and file Republicans won't complain about that.

Is it possible that Joementum has devolved into a Joe Pony?  A mere Joe-ken?  An unloved Joe-phy wife?

Joe Lieberman can go f*** himself with something sharp and rusty for all I care.

To the moon, Joe, to the moon ...

ah, in sadness more than anger....

Lieberman has always rubbed  me the wrong way. Something about him, a over whelming need for approval from "Big" men I think, has popped up now and then. How Cheney cowed him in their debate, his puppy love for Bush, McCain, Hannity...oooh, just sort of creepy.

Still Jason, I think you're right. If his Daddy McCain loses and doesn't have a job for his punk Joe, the future looks very dark for Joementum. I predict that he will be tossed out of the Dem Caucus the day after the November election, and when he runs again in 12, he will lose. I can't remember if CT has a recall option but if it does, that is a possibility.

Lieberman is the reason I voted for Wiecker, the only time in my entire life that I voted for a Republican, back in my New Haven days in 1988.

After November, the Republicans can have him. I supect they will have no use by then. In any event, Joe can take is tired act to K-Street after his term ends.

Great post from Rhubarbs. I wonder if Lieberman is aware that he's being used by McCain in an incredibly cynical way.  My guess is that McCain is floating the idea of a pro-choice VP in order to enhance his reputation as a bipartisan maverick. If he did choose a pro-choice VP, it would probably be Ridge, as Ridge would give him a more credible shot in Pennsylvania, and winning PA probably delivers the White House. I just can't see Lieberman as McCain's choice, as it would alienate the base without bringing a concrete electoral dividend. McCain gets less base alienation and more electoral bang with Ridge. Lieberman's appeal to Floridians is not comparable, and McCain doesn't need help there as much.

Which gets back to the point that Lieberman is either an incredibly loyal friend who thinks cowboy diplomacy and war are the answer to all ills or he is exacting some kind of personal revenge against a party that he believes owes its loyalty to him either way around. Who knows what this guy is thinking or if he is aware of his own motivations. People can be thoughtless and impulsive. But that doesn't matter. Anyway you look at it, Lieberman looks bad.

What miceft said - only make it rusty too.

The Democratic party did not "move away" from him, please name one way - what solipsistic nonsense.  Half the military establishment was against the Iraq War (which I was not, as if that makes a difference).  If being against the Iraq War is the criteria for moving away, then tell the several members of the Joint Chiefs, generals too numerous to count, Jim Webb, etc that they are wussies who lack the spine that he, Joe Lieberman, has.  I'd love to see that.  

He's an a-hole of the first order because he's been calling his own party traitors and wusses for years - mostly for trying to keep Bush and Co legal and accountable to the people they work for, the Senate's job as I recall . He's yet another neo-con chicken hawk sending other people's kids off to thier wars while calling anyone who has the temerity to disagree with them traitors.

He also lied to the people of CT when he was running for the Senate, I'm thrilled the polls show him losing his next race.  I hope its by alot and I hope it devastates him.  He can always get a job slobbing the knob of Hannity and his troop of whack job preachers where he belongs.

Like I said - make it rusty.

PS - where is Tec anyway?  Is he up in the air somewhere in one of those fighter jets again? There's no one better on a good ritualistic Liberman thumping, although Jaunty is always up there.

Wandrey:

Don't take this as a criticism, because it's not. But you seem angry lately. What gives? There are still plenty of reasons to be confident about Democratic prospects in 08. And Lieberman isn't worth the liver function it takes to manufacture bile. He's a piss ant, and he's either dead in the road or a lost wanderer like some zombie from a Cormac McCarthy novel. Don't deplete yourself. Save it for McBush.

Personal pique? The Democrats drummed him out of the Party if memory serves, because he did not adhere to the Party line on Iraq.

"The Democrats drummed him out of the Party if memory serves, because he did not adhere to the Party line on Iraq."

"Party line"?  Here is someone, r-ennis, who has never ever in his/her entire life had to deal with a dictatorship/totalitarian state where the term "party line" comes from.  Now, I seem to recall a minor thing called PRIMARIES in which the DEMOCRATIC VOTERS of the state of Connecticut booted Lieberman out of contention because they did not consider him as representing their, THEIR, the VOTERS' (not the Party's) interests.

"Durrming out of the Party because of not adhering to the Party line" is relevant and makes sense only where the UNdemocratic leadership of a Party in power with a defined "line" on a specific issue actually boots the person out of the Party.  Given that Uncle Joe not only ran as a Democrat - even if not on the Democratic ticket - and actually continued to "caucus" with the Democrats, and given that the original decision was made by the people of Connecticut, it is hardly the example of someone being drummed out of the party because of the line on Iraq.

Ach -  PropJoe, with idiocies like this, do you wonder why the bile rises?

Please, no personal attacks. Calling me an idiot is more a reflection on you than it is on me.

r-ennis, fair enough, but honestly, you gotta realize the reason why Lieberman is hated now is because he has been McCain's shadow for the past 2 years. For even a normal Senator I might give him or her somewhat of a pass, but he was the freakin' Vice Presidential Candidate. This requires far more integrity on his part. If he had any he would have long ago stopped caucusing with the Dems and become a Republican since he is so in bed with McCain. If he did that, then we can treat him as he belongs to be treated: as a Republican operative. Instead he wants to have it both ways. And the notion that the Democratic party left him? Yeesh, what an a-hole.

The Zell Millerization continues . . .

No offense taken Prop Joe, thanks for the feedback.

I am angry. I am frustrated and angry at the idea that we are tied with this awful party who has done so much damage.

I'll try to take it out in my morning runs a bit more.  Thanks again.

r-ennis: I meant to attack the idea not the person ("idiocies"); apologies for any personal offence given, none was intended. The formulation of your comment was and remains highly unfortunate, inapt and, outside a propaganda framework, inflammatory and incorrect.

Sorry Jason but you don't get it.

We Republicans would like to vote Democratic once in a while.  With Sen Joe Lieberman we're trying to send a message to the Democrats that we would vote for a centrist candidate if we got the chance.

You can pretend that Pelosi and Obama are mainstream, but really they are just an arm of the UAW/ACLU/MoveOn/Nation crowd.

You need a few more like Joe Lieberman to keep things honest.

icarus, both parties oust members who do not adhere to party orthodoxy, usually enforced by the most extreme wing of the party. In Lieberman 's case it was the far left Daily KOS and MoveOn groups that orchestrated the ouster. Far right Republicans tried to do the same to Specter and failed, but succeded in other cases. I am against such actions on the part of both parties because they promote orthodoxy and group think that emulates totalitarian regimes. Hence the use of the term "Party Line", which is apt and correct, in my opinion.    

Im not sure why folks like CRS9TNR and r-ennis ignore this reality, maybe because it doesn't fit their narrative, but here goes. One more time with feeling:  

Most, if not all, centrist-hawkish Democrats hate Joe Leiberman too. I obviously include myself in that category.  So that's not because I'm some besotten Moveon knee jerk anti war person.  I supported the war.

He's deeply dishonest and insulting about the intentions his own party, who voted to support the Bush agenda almost 100%, mostly because of his sense of entitlement to his job and self absoprtion.

He's gone out of his way to excuse the inexcusable in this administration, which means he's abdicating his job as a member of the second house of government.  He lied to his state  and its voters about his party affiliation.

He hangs out with ignorant hate mongering Christianists because they flatter his narcissistic self image.

He's not a likable or even honest guy in any sense. So again: this disgust is not because he's the Last Honest Democrat, its because he's so fundamentally insulting and such a liar.

Wandrey: thanks, I agree totally.

r-ennis: For the party *membership* to refuse to endorse as the candidate of the party someone they see as having moved away from the party's core, is not to enforce orthodoxy or to encourage groupthink or to adopt a "party line".  There are many Democrats left in the Democratic party who are no less of a hawk than Lieberman, but who are nowhere near being "drummed out".  Lieberman is a cad and a kiss-ass; that is why he is disliked, not because of some sort of "party line".  

The jowly senator from Connecticut finds himself at the center of two campaign firestorms.