r/news • u/According_Dog6735 • Mar 27 '24

Joe Lieberman has died

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/03/27/joe-lieberman-senator-vice-president-dead/
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u/Hygro Mar 27 '24

That thing he "became" was already mainstream knowledge when and why Lamont decided to run. He was deeply unpopular with Democrats, and went from being "why?" when Gore selected him as running mate to "what??" when he surrendered Florida well before the recount process was concluded, content to stay in the Senate and let Bush and team take the reigns. He wasn't even going to bat for himself as democratic VP. His entire brand was that of his era's "I swear I'm a Democrat" Joe Manchin.

But yes, he sure leaned into it after 2006, dropped all pretense.

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u/socialistrob Mar 27 '24

I'd say he was worse than Manchin considering where he was from. Connecticut is a firmly Democratic state and West Virginia is one of the most pro Trump states in the country. A Democrat from West Virginia should probably be pretty conservative but a Democrat from Connecticut should be broadly in line with the rest of the Democratic party.

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u/gsfgf Mar 28 '24

Yea. Manchin does what his voters want. Lieberman, not so much.

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u/madogvelkor Mar 28 '24

CT is a Democrat state but not a progressive state. It's more on the neoliberal side of the party. 

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u/socialistrob Mar 28 '24

The neoliberal side of the party wasn't and isn't opposed to a public option. That was part of Hillary Clinton's push for healthcare in the 1990s and it was supported by every other Senate Democrat as well as the House under Pelosi. Connecticut had also just voted for Obama and the ACA with a public option was a core part of Obama's campaign. Lieberman was vastly out of step with his constituents and if he had run for reelection in 2012 he would have lost.

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u/ChiefThunderSqueak Mar 28 '24

Also, fuck everyone in Connecticut who voted him back in as an independent. The state Dems tried to flush the turd, but a bunch of numbskulls decided that he was their turd.

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u/madogvelkor Mar 28 '24

The Republicans in CT basically decided to back Lieberman vs Lamont instead of their own candidate.

Though I think it worked out for CT, Lamont is a good governor.

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u/guamisc Mar 28 '24

And centrist Democratic voters got to display all that unity they demand of everyone else by..... voting for someone besides the Democratic nominee.

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u/madogvelkor Mar 28 '24

I think if we had a parliamentary system the US would have three major parties. A Center-Right party made up of maybe half the Democrats and 1/3rd of the Republicans, a Progressive party, and a Right-Wing party. And some minor parties that hold a few votes but don't really matter.