We Left Him

by digby

I think it’s pretty clear that McCain’s going to get all 14 of the Lieberman’s 2004 voters. Oh well…

We Did This To Joe Lieberman

By Jeff Bridges 9/4/08 7:56 AM

Four years ago in Boston I staffed Joe Lieberman backstage at the Democratic National Convention. Unfortunately, last night some Republican did. I believed then and still believe today that Lieberman is a good man, and I respect him for doing what he felt was right regardless of the political consequences. He’s dead wrong about John McCain and Barack Obama, but I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of left-wing Democrats for Lieberman’s decision to speak at this year’s Republican convention. The Colorado Independent has a great story today about Lieberman’s slow slide from Democratic VP pick to the Grand Old Convention, and it’s worth a read. But most importantly, when did Democrats abandon the idea of a “Big Tent?” When did we start having litmus tests for our candidates? I thought Republicans did that – which is why McCain picked such an extremist partisan for VP. Not even Hillary Clinton could satisfy the far-left, whose primary concern is protecting the purity of their liberal ideology, not winning, and certainly not honoring a diversity of ideas. Sure this group loves diversity, but only the superficial kind. When an intelligent person makes a strong case against what they believe… whoa. They don’t just stick their heads in the sand, they try to take him out at the knees. Lieberman didn’t leave the Democratic party, the wing-nuts who decided to primary him pushed him out. And so did all the Senators who marginalized him because he continued to believe we could leave Iraq as something better than a complete mess, which frankly is in our country’s long-term best interest.Colorado Independent’s blog-i-nist (blogger-columnist) Jeff Bridges has worked in Democratic politics for the last 10 years, serving as communications director for two congressional races in Colorado and two governor’s races in the Deep South. Bridges also worked for Sen. Ken Salazar as a legislative assistant in D.C., and currently serves on the board of directors for New Era Colorado and the Colorado Conservation Voters.

Gosh, why hasn’t old Jeff followed his mentor to the Grand Old Party? It seems to me they’d love to have him.

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