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Sen. Joe Lieberman at the RNC's 2008 convention. (photo: NewsHour via Flickr)
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has played an outsize role at national conventions for both parties for years. He was Al Gore’s VP pick for Democrats in 2000, and he spoke at the Republican convention in 2008 in support of John McCain over Barack Obama. This time around, though, neither party wants him to show up at their convention. From The Hill:
Sen. Joe Lieberman has not been invited to either the Democratic or the Republican presidential convention this year, a major snub for a lawmaker who played prominent convention roles in the past.
Lieberman (Conn.), a self-described Independent Democrat, still has many powerful friends on both sides of the aisle. This week he will manage the cybersecurity bill on the Senate floor, one of the few pieces of legislation with a chance to pass Congress before the election.
But when Democrats and Republicans gather in Charlotte, N.C., and Tampa, Fla., later this summer, Lieberman will receive less homage than a local councilman. He will be left out of the festivities altogether.
This snub really couldn’t have happened to a more deserving individual. Whether it was him working to make the Democratic party more corporatist, disloyalty to his party’s nominee, his support of a destructively bad foreign policy or simply working to make health care policy worse purely for spite, Joe Lieberman has finally managed to make his brand something neither party wants to be associated with.
While simply not being invited to the fancy parties would be a rather small punishment to a regular person, Joe Lieberman does seem like the type of guy who takes this stuff very personally. It is another sign Lieberman is finally leaving office on a low note, too unpopular to run for re-election and unwanted by both major parties.
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I must have missed that bit of good news from last year; puts a spring in my step all week.
I’m still trying to figure out why Senate Democrats welcomed this Judas Iscariot back into the fold after the 2008 election.
Had a GOP senator run as an independent after losing his party’s primary, then gone on to endorse the other party’s presidential ticket, he would have disappeared and his body never would have been found.
firing up an old chestnut:
My utter contempt for Joe Lieberman will never subside.
I’m sure he can gin up invitations in Israel to cover the dates of both conventions.
He’d obviously be a welcome addition to Bibi’s cabinet, perhaps a security position.
He was O’s chosen mentor and don’t forget the support he was given in his Senate reelection campaign against the anti-war Democrat Ned Lamont.
Or as head of intl in Saudi Arabia, Israel’s 2nd BFF. *winking*
I had a friend who was Joe’s freshman roommate at Yale in 1960 (they were put together because they were both Jewish). He told me that even then Lieberman was the kind of guy who waited until all the real work was done before turning up to claim the credit.
Sounds like Obama.
He deserves a permanent appointment as Secretary of the Inferior.
Couldn’t happen to a better, sleazier person.
He does love to have his ego massaged, but he’s already busy getting ready for the bidding war that Judd Gregg got to enjoy two years ago.
I live in CT and called Lieberman’s office a few weeks ago to ask him to cosponsor S.202, Audit the Fed.
The response? (paraphrased)
“The Senator’s primary concern with Audit the Fed is its impact on his Homeland Security Committee. When he understands the impact, he’ll be able to properly consider the bill.”
Translation: The Senator will soon be unemployed and needs to find the most lucrative lobbying job available. Therefore he needs to funnel as much money as possible to his HS Committee, so he can distribute it to the appropriate corporations in a last reminder to his capitalist cronies of his “great value” before the bidding begins.
I’m surprised that Obama didn’t offer him the keynote address at the convention. Lieberman and Obama have a lot in common. Both hate liberals and love Republican policies.
What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
“Joltin Joe has left and gone away”
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey
Sounds like Poison Ivy League.
Which side of his belt is his ego on.
Yay! Hooray! Jumping up and down! Finally he has no place at the table. Good riddance.
Perhaps this same ignominious fate awaits obama.
Be interesting if the comity (hah!) of the Senate would include Joe after he’s left its turpid halls.
Everybody hates a traitor. Recall the treatment Benedict Arnold received in England……..
Traitors often have personality characteristics that make them unlikeable. Towit: Lieberman.
Indeed, one would be hard-pressed to find a more deserving turncoat and traitor. Even Benedict Arnold had some redeeming social qualities.
Good news! Sadly it’s many many years too late for my liking.
I’ll never forget LIEbertoad with his tongue so far up McCain’s ass that it was coming out of McCain’s mouth… and then Barry Zero sticking his tongue up LIEbertoad’s ass. After appointing Rahm “Liberals are Fucking Retards” Emanuel to be his CoS, it was no surprise to watch Barry bow & scrape & tug his forelock to this rightwing creep, who works for Israeli interests, rather than USA interests.
Ptoui!
But don’t you worry: LIEbertoad’ll make sure he gets some cushy “job” with much ca$hola to sweeten the deal. Again: Ptoui!
Why call them Republican policies when the uniparty duopoly, whether D or R, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Corporatocracy?
It’s been reported that the outstanding example of Corporatism Bill Clinton will have a prominent droning on role at the convention, courtesy of Obama.
Tell us how you really feel and don’t hold back this time.
Long-time lurker de-lurking just to add my two cents:
Lo those many years ago I came to FDL for the Plame and stayed for the snark. And a great deal of that snark was directed at Lieberman during his primary challenge from Lamont. Assuming I’m remembering correctly, I remember following that election here on a live-blog.
Anybody else here then?
This is sort of a fabricated story, right? A gloating where no gloating is merited. There is no reason why the Republicans would invite him–he isn’t one. They were happy to have him thumb his nose in the Dems’ eyes last go-round but there’s no reason why they WOULD have him this time.
The miserable truth is that this guy is a good friend to many in the cozy millionaire’s club that is our Senate, and has been the friend of both the insurance and armaments industries for decades. He’s got friends, they suck too, and that’s the unfortunate truth. He’s been attending the parties of the friends of big money for decades.
heh… I’ll try not to be so restrained & polite the next time around… ;-)
You got a problem w/ the name “Barry”? It means straight forward or spearhead from Celtic Finbarr.
One of the ways you can tell the Democrats aren’t a meaningful opposition party anymore is the way they refused to take away Lieberman’s committee chairmanship after he left the party to save his ass and has done everything possible since then to spit in the party’s face.
What has the party’s response been? “We can’t do anything about it — we’re only Democrats.” The Republicans would have sacked someone like that in a New York minute.
He and Birch Evans Bayh III and Harold Ford can have their own self-pleasuring pandering convention.
I remember it well how Lamont was in the winner’s circle and then along came Obama,Rahm and the Dims and Lamont was thrown out and Joe becomes and Independent and we then have to put up with him for six more years.
For the life of me, I cannot understand Al Gore choosing him as his VP.
Finally, finally we do not have to hear that whiney voice and witness his backstabbing much longer.
Absolutely. The GOP would never have tolerated a sitting Senator not only endorsing the opposition’s candidate, but actually going to the convention and trashing his own party’s candidate (like Lieberman did to Obama). Unbelievable.
The GOP would have kicked him out of the caucus on day one. Obama and the Dems hug him and tell him he’s awesome, then Joe proceeded to screw Dems and Obama anyway.
We can all certainly hope for the disappearance from the public eye of Joseph Lieberman. The man is a reprobate.
They’re not selling bi-partisanship at the moment, but rather the notion that there’s two very, very, very (like night and day they are) different “visions” for our future.
You fail to realize that Joe “Israel” Lieberman and Obama are both puppets representing the same people. Kabuki!