A Care Package For The Media: Ten Examples Of Lieberman Vowing To Stay With Dems
February 23, 2007 -- 1:31 PM EST // //
Okay, so we've prepared a little Joe Lieberman care package for people to email to reporters and/or commentators when they talk about Lieberman switching parties.
Here's what's in it. We've compiled lots and lots and lots of examples of Lieberman swearing up and down to the voters of Connecticut that he'd stay with the Dems. And all this research can be yours -- for free!
As we've detailed here lots of times, we think the "will he switch" storyline is a crock. It seems apparent to us that he won't do this, mainly because the Dems are positioned to increase their majority in 2008 and if Lieberman switched he'd risk ending up in the minority for years, reducing him to irrelevance. Lieberman doesn't want to think of himself as irrelevant. He wants to think of himself as important. Yet when speculating on the question of whether he'll switch, the big news orgs simply refuse to address it with any basic skepticism, thus puffing up Lieberman's importance and telling the story precisely the way he wants it told.
No, the real reason to highlight Lieberman's switch talk is this: It shows that in the quest for attention Lieberman is cheerfully willing to threaten to break a promise he made to Connecticut voters again and again and again. Weirdly, the fact that he vowed repeatedly before Election Day to stick with the Dems is frequently absent from reports on his switch hints -- even though it's hard to think of a piece of information that's more vital to this topic. So, in view of the fact that Lieberman appears determined to keep this storyline alive, we're hoping that this modest care package will somehow find its way to reporters and commentators who are dealing with the subject. We stopped at ten examples.
So let's get started.
(1) Here's Joe Lieberman on CNN about a month before the primary:
"Let me make clear that I am a Democrat and I will remain a Democrat. I'm not gonna be unaffiliated if I have to petition my way on to the ballot. I'm gonna be a Democrat. And I will caucus with the Democrats, and look forward to caucusing with the Senate Democratic Majority."
(2) Here's Lieberman in an interview with New York magazine on August 7, 2006:
Lieberman thinks of going independent as a pragmatic ploy, not an abandonment of his party. “I’ve been a Democrat for 40 years, I’ll die a Democrat, I’ll probably be a Democrat after my death, I may still be voting Democrat in some cities in Connecticut postmortem,” he jokes.
(3) Here's Lieberman senior adviser Dan Gerstein, in an interview with me on August 15, 2006:
Here's the answer given by Lieberman senior adviser Dan Gerstein: "Senator Lieberman is a Democrat, will continue to be a Democrat and is committed to caucusing with the Democrats should he be reelected. If reelected, he is absolutely committed to supprting Senator Reid as leader, and he very much hopes it will be as majority leader."
The other seven after the jump.
(4) Lieberman senior adviser Dan Gerstein in the New Haven Register, August 24, 2006:
"They can’t change the fact that he’s a Democrat who has a strong progressive record," Gerstein said of Lieberman."Joe Lieberman is a Democrat, he will be a Democrat and he is committed to being part of the (U.S. Senate) Democratic caucus if he’s re-elected," said Gerstein.
(5) Lieberman quoted by the New York Times's political blog, The Empire Zone, on October 3, 2006:
So let’s play a little game of what if — as in, what if the Democrats and the Republicans split the Senate? Would Mr. Lieberman still align himself with the Democratic senators who have lined up behind his opponent?"I’ve given my word that’s what I intend to do. I am going to caucus with the Democrats."
(6) Lieberman quoted in The Washington Post on October 17, 2006:
Running as an independent, he said, was not his first choice. "But I feel in the right place. I'm going to organize with the Democrats, but I'm going to put the interests of the people who sent me, and the country, ahead of party."
(7) Lieberman spokesperson Tammy Sun, quoted by Fox News on November 4, 2006:
"Joe Lieberman has repeatedly said that if re-elected to the Senate, he will absolutely caucus with the Democrats,"Lieberman spokeswoman Tammy Sun said.
(8) Lieberman on Fox News on November 7, 2006 (via Nexis):
SEN. LIEBERMAN: No -- that's right. You know, you've got to sign up with a caucus to protect your seniority. That's important for my state. I'd said I've been a member of the Democratic Caucus; I'd stay that way.
(9) Lieberman on Don Imus just before Election Day:
"You've gotta join one caucus or another to protect your seniority so I said early during the primary, when I first said I'd run as an independent, that I'd join the Democratic caucus so I'd keep my seniority."
And finally...
(10) Lieberman on Meet the Press on November 12, 2006:
MR. RUSSERT: You will caucus with the Democrats?SEN. LIEBERMAN: I will caucus with the Democrats. I said that to my constituents throughout. I’m going to caucus with the Democrats both because it’s good for my constituents in Connecticut, because I retained my seniority, I become a committee chair, but also I want to continue to work to bring the party back to its historic traditions of, of strength on national security, foreign policy and innovation, and progress in domestic policy—the, the Harry Truman/John F. Kennedy Democrat that, that I was raised to be.
Special thanks to crack TPM reporter/researcher Eric Kleefeld for help digging these out.
Update: Over at Swampland Ana Marie Cox has a good post on the media's treatment of the bogus "he's gonna switch" storyline.
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