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August 9, 2006
More thoughts on Lieberman. . .
How Joe Lieberman's political future shapes out could very well shape the destiny of the national political scene.
Lieberman has an opportunity here to find the center ground of American politics. Americans are used to the two-party system, but they aren't THAT used to it that a third cannot emerge. Various constituencies have made a play for the center in the past and have even had success at the local and state level. Yet the development of a viable third party has eluded us. Now we have a viable chance to see a Party evolve around Joe Lieberman and his ousting from the Democrat party WHILE A SITTING SENATOR.
Make no mistake, Lieberman was kicked out of the Democrat Party. He didn't simply lose an election and get pushed to the back of the line, the Democrat Party machine itself worked to oust Lieberman. The tools of the Party were applied to one of their own with malicious intent. This move will seriously anger many moderate Democrats and they very well could jump ship and follow Joe's lead in national politics.
The Democrats will be forced to fight Joe and fight him hard. They can't afford to have Lamont win the Democrat primary, ousting Lieberman, and then have Joe come deliver a knockout in the second round. Lieberman wouldn't just be taking down Lamont, he'd be taking down the Democrat Political Party Machinery. A Lamont loss can only bring about a total implosion of the Democrat Party for it to survive. A Democrat Party trying to function mass appeal party needs credibility in their activities. With this ousting of a sitting party Senator and then the loss of the seat as well, the Dems will have ZERO credibility as a viable party for governance.
If Lieberman can harness his power right now, he can build an institution and shape the face of American Politics for decades to come. Joe Lieberman could coin the Independent-Democrat Party and embrace the former ideals of the Party of Jackson and abandon the far left. Many members of the center-right would flock to him in droves.
If Joe holds his seat in spite of the Democrats, he will become one of the most powerful political figures in the current scene. He will represent the will of the people rather than the will of the party. If, and this is a big if, he can listen to the will of the people and build their trust quickly as the leader of a viable Third, the Democrats will see their power wane further in '08 as the grassroots truely comes from the ground up and fields a number of Independent-Democrat candidates in blue states. Who, if they do emerge, will win handily against Democrat establishment opponents.
I don't see a Lieberman / Libertarian alliance, so there isn't really a ready made constituency for Lieberman to tap. To build a third he would have to start basically from scratch, but it has been done before and today the tools for outreach and organization are more effective than ever before.
I would have to give serious consideration to a third party, not because I'm unhappy with the Republicans, but because they don't fit my total bill, there's always room for improvement, there just aren't many options out there.
--Jason
Posted by JasonColeman at August 9, 2006 9:00 AM
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Comments
Jason: great post... i think you may be absolutely right...by the way, thanks for stopping by...if you have the chance, check out my talk show on
www.wideawakesradio.com
Posted by: ric ottaiano at August 14, 2006 12:33 AM
