Chapter 13

A Democrat even a Republican Nominee Could Love

Ever since he was elected to the U.S. Senate for the first time in 1988, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut has been something of a political enigma. In 1998, he was the first prominent Democrat to publicly challenge Bill Clinton for the poor judgment the president exercised in his affair with Monica Lewinsky. However, Lieberman then voted against removing Clinton from office by impeachment the following year. While voting as a classic liberal on social issues, Lieberman has cultivated his reputation as an extreme conservative on military and war issues. Indeed, he was one of the Senate’s strongest advocates for continued prosecution of the controversial war in Iraq. And though Lieberman was tapped as the Democratic Party’s nominee for vice president in 2000, the Connecticut Senator’s status as a Democrat became tenuous after the party’s voters in Connecticut rejected him as their nominee for the Senate in 2006. Lieberman ran for reelection that fall as an independent and coasted to victory.

Lieberman continued to caucus with the Democrats after his 2006 election victory, helping secure for that party its majority control in the Senate. Still, the Democratic leadership in the 110th and 111th Congresses could no longer take his support for granted. One significant indication of Lieberman’s break with his Democratic past occurred during the 2008 presidential campaign, when Lieberman declared his support for Republican Senator John McCain’s candidacy over all the Democratic contenders for the White House, including his own home state colleague, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT). A serious contender to be McCain’s choice for vice president (McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin instead), Lieberman even received a prominent speaking position at the 2008 Republican National Convention. By contrast, the long-time Democrat was nowhere to be found at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, held the previous week.  More recently, Lieberman refused to support health care reform legislation until President Obama and the Democratic majority agreed to drop the “public option” provision of that legislation.