Lieberman Is Officially the New Zell Miller

Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report at 2:06 PM on March 31, 2008.

That Joe Lieberman endorsed John McCain didn’t surprise me. That Lieberman would appear alongside McCain on the campaign trail, over and over again, barely raised an eyebrow. There are rumors that Lieberman is entertaining a prominent role at the Republican National Convention in September, which seems consistent with his character.

But Lieberman’s appearance on “This Week” yesterday was a stark reminder that stripping him of his committee chairmanship and driving him from the caucus should be high on the list of Senate Democrats’ priorities in 2009.

Stephanopoulos noted, for example, that Lieberman assured Connecticut voters in 2006 that he was committed to helping elect a Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, and asked about the senator going back on his word.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Lieberman, Independent of Connecticut, said it is not the same party that made him its vice presidential candidate in 2000.

“It’s not the Bill Clinton-Al Gore party, which was strong internationalists, strong on defense, pro-trade, pro-reform in our domestic government,” he said. “It’s been effectively taken over by a small group on the left of the party that is protectionist, isolationist, and very, very hyperpartisan. So it pains me.”

Lieberman added that McCain is “a reformer, somebody who understands ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country and remembers the other part of the Kennedy inaugural, which said that we will bear any burden, pay any price to assure the survival and sustenance of liberty. That’s John McCain.”

There’s another member of the Senate Dem caucus who, not too long ago, talked the same way. His name was Zell Miller.

Michael Scherer explained:

This is Lieberman making a Republican general election argument, and it is notable for its scope. He is not just condemning his party’s position on Iraq, or praising McCain, his long-time friend. He is condemning in sweeping language the very core identity of the Democratic Party as weak and extremist. This is a tried and true Republican theme, which traditionally has more to do with scaring independent voters than with actual reasoned debate of the issues. It is not hard to remember another Democratic exile, Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, making a similar argument at the 2004 Republican Convention. […]

The thematic coding is almost identical, though Miller huffed-and-puffed, while Lieberman spoke evenly, struggling with a cold. The message: The once noble Democratic Party has been taken over by peaceniks and radicals, who are weakening the country and threatening our security. Nearly two years after being rejected by his lifelong party in the Connecticut primary, it appears that Lieberman has only begun his effort to exact revenge. Look for him in September on a Twin Cities stage.

I’ve been reluctant to draw the Lieberman-Miller parallel, in large part because Miller voted with Republicans on everything, whereas Lieberman still votes with Dems on most domestic policy issues. But Scherer’s right; Lieberman’s denunciation of the Democratic Party is, at a minimum, Miller-esque, and should disqualify Lieberman from holding any kind of seniority within the caucus.

Also from Lieberman’s “This Week” interview:

* He blasted Barack Obama for opposing the Kyl-Lieberman measure on Iran last year, while praising Hillary Clinton for supporting it (I suspect Clinton is less than thrilled to receive Lieberman’s compliment right now).

* Lieberman insisted that McCain doesn’t support Social Security privatization, despite McCain’s clear and unequivocal support for Social Security privatization. (Lieberman should at least try to familiarize himself with the positions taken by the candidate he’s supporting.)

* Lieberman praised McCain on immigration, arguing that McCain “actually stepped out and was much more forward-leaning on immigration reform than Barack Obama was — Senator Clinton wasn’t involved in those negotiations.” What viewers didn’t hear is that McCain abandoned his support for his own legislation, giving up on a “more forward-leaning” approach. (I suppose that means Lieberman now believes McCain supports a backward-leaning approach?)

It was painful to watch.

Tagged as: lieberman, clinton, obama, mccain, republican party, zell miller, democratic aprty

Steve Benen is a freelance writer/researcher and creator of The Carpetbagger Report. In addition, he is the lead editor of Salon.com's Blog Report, and has been a contributor to Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Crooks & Liars, The American Prospect, and the Guardian.