Joe

Via Blogenfreude, Lieberman gave the following response when asked this morning if there was anyone who could convince him not to run in the general election:

Respectfully, no. I am committed to this campaign, to a different kind of politics, to bringing the Democratic Party back from Ned Lamont, Maxine Waters to the mainstream, and for doing something for the people of Connecticut. That's what this is all about: which one of us, Lamont or me, can do more for the future of our people here in Connecticut.

If only Lieberman actually believed that last sentence. But if it really were “all about” (and only about) giving the people of Connecticut the best representation possible, that first sentence wouldn’t exist. He’s angry about what he perceives to be the misdirection of his party and has charged himself with single-handedly rescuing it, with bringing it “back to the mainstream.” But Lieberman fails to recognize that his positions on certain key issues—including the war in Iraq—being outside the mainstream is what lost him the primary. No matter how principled and passionate his support of the president’s strategy in Iraq may be, it’s not shared by a majority of Connecticut (or American) voters any longer. Lieberman is the one now outside the mainstream on a very big issue, and so his assertion to save the party by bringing it back in line with mainstream (“his”) ideals is, quite simply, rooted in a deliberate disregard of reality.

Just as Lieberman didn’t have the “right” to an uncontested primary as an incumbent, Lamont doesn’t have the “right” to a general election without a potential spoiler. That’s democracy—and Joe can run if he wants to. But he needs to stop purporting to be a savior of his party. His party made a decision, and only not running shows respect for it. If he’s going to run, he needs to be honest enough to say that the mainstream is wrong, not that he best represents them.