Speaking of legacies, this one is irreparable:
For the past 15 years, former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has never spoken publicly about the secret help that he received from Republicans Karl Rove and Elizabeth Dole to help him defeat Democrat Ned Lamont in the contentious 2006 Senate race.
But in a new book and an interview, Lieberman says that Rove, the chief political strategist for then-President George W. Bush, told him that he would do anything possible to help Lieberman against Lamont, an anti-war Democrat at a time when the Iraq War was highly controversial.ADVERTISING
Lieberman, now 79, says Rove’s help was crucial in helping him to defeat Lamont in a three-way race in which the Republican candidate, Alan Schlesinger, received less than 10% of the vote.
The fact that Rove had contacted Lieberman at the time was leaked to the press, but the full details had not come out until now.
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It all started on the afternoon of the August 2006 primary when Lieberman was sitting with his family in the Goodwin Hotel in Hartford — just hours before Lieberman lost to Lamont. The phone rang, and the family was stunned to learn that Rove was on the line.
Lieberman told Rove that the race could go either way.
“That’s what we have heard,” Lieberman quoted Rove as saying in “The Centrist Solution,” a book scheduled to be released Tuesday. “And that’s why the ‘Boss’ asked me to call you and tell you that if you don’t win today, he hopes you stay in as an independent. He thinks the country needs you in the Senate and knows that the political problems you are having are because you have stayed strong on the war in Iraq. So, he wanted me to tell you that if you lose today and run in November, we will help you in any way we can.”
Stunned, Lieberman said he did not know precisely what to say, but he soon learned that national Republican big-hitters were suddenly raising money for him and contributing to the campaign.
“After the Rove call, it is hard to believe the White House didn’t encourage Connecticut Republicans to stay out of the Senate race,” Lieberman says in the book. “Also, in a twist of fate, the chair of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee that cycle was Sen. Elizabeth Dole, wife of Bob Dole. They were both close friends of ours. Elizabeth later told me proudly that her committee had given no support, financial or otherwise, to Schlesinger.”
The support came because the conservative Lieberman was close to Bush, and Republicans did not want another anti-Iraq War Democrat in the U.S. Senate.
“That call on primary day was really surprising to me,” Lieberman said in an interview. “It did help, and it showed on Election Day. I got a stunning vote among Republicans in Connecticut in the exit poll. I got a solid majority of independents and about a third of Democrats. I’m grateful.”
Lamont’s campaign manager, Tom Swan, said Lieberman would never have won the race without Republican support as Schlesinger got one of the lowest Republican totals in Connecticut history for a statewide race. He described Lieberman as “the most vocal cheerleader for the war in either party” in the nation.
“It was a smart move — yet despicable — by Rove and Bush to do this,” Swan said. “If Lieberman had not been propped up by them, Ned could have been the star — going all over the country, reminding Democrats and voters across the board that the war was immoral and unpopular and they needed to vote for people to change it. It was clear, in retrospect, that the reelection of Joe Lieberman was the most important race for Karl Rove and George Bush in 2006.”
He paid them back in spades when he single-handedly tanked the lowering of the Medicare age and the Public Option in the Obamacare negotiations — a position he had previously supported. He was doing the work of Republicans during those last years in the Senate. We knew it, but it was never clear if he was just petulant over being challenged by the left or if he was literally trying to sabotage Democrats on behalf of the GOP. Now we know.
By the way, don’t be too surprised if we find out similar stories about Manchin and Sinema. Mitch McConnell has said he prays for them to be strong and hold out against their own party. You have to wonder if he and others in the party aren’t “helping” them the way Rove helped Lieberman.