Republican National Committee Using Lieberman Quotes To Bash Dems
September 10, 2007 -- 11:46 AM EST // //
You probably don't need any more proof at this point that Joe Lieberman is tacitly acting in collusion with Republicans to hurt the Democratic Party, but this is a good one.
The Republican National Committee has just sent out a blast email using not one, but two Lieberman quotes from Lieberman press releases to bash Dems. In both, Lieberman calls on Democratic leaders to condemn MoveOn for "attacking" Mighty Scholar Warrior David Petraeus. The antiwar group ran an ad today describing him as "General Betray-us."
Here's the RNC's release:
They Said It!Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) On MoveOn.org's Attack Ad Against General David Petraeus
Lieberman: "The Personal Attack On Gen. David Petraeus Launched Today By Moveon.org Is An Outrageous And Despicable Act Of Slander That Every Member Of The Congress -- Democrat And Republican -- Has A Solemn Responsibility To Condemn." (Sen. Joe Lieberman, "Lieberman Urges Leader Reid And Speaker Pelosi To Denounce Moveon.org Attack On General Petraeus," Press Release, 9/10/07)
Lieberman: "As A Member Of The Senate Democratic Caucus, I Therefore Call On Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid And Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi To Denounce Moveon.org In No Uncertain Terms For Its Vile Attack On Gen. Petraeus. General Petraeus Deserves No Less." (Sen. Joe Lieberman, "Lieberman Urges Leader Reid And Speaker Pelosi To Denounce Moveon.org Attack On General Petraeus," Press Release, 9/10/07)
Some fun things to note here. First, check out how the RNC misleadingly identifies Lieberman as a Democrat from Connecticut, in order to snooker the rubes into seeing Lieberman's quotes as somehow counterintuitive.
Second, by using the MoveOn brush to tar the Democratic Party, Lieberman is wielding a time-tested tool from the GOP arsenal. In the current context, multiple Republicans have been using MoveOn's criticism of Petraeus as a way of painting the Dem Congressional leadership as anti-military. Here, Lieberman has done the Republicans the favor of putting this same mumbo-jumbo in the mouth of a "Democrat." And the GOP, unsurprisingly, is running with it.
Senator, the Republican National Committee thanks you for your unflaggingly loyal service.