Cross posted as an article, spiderable by google news, at
OpEdNews.com
Joe Lieberman's defeat is great news-- for the left and for the Democratic party. And it could easily be said that Lieberman's chumminess with Bush, which was a major part of his downfall, also bodes ill for Bush and Republicans.
But the Spinmeisters on the right are hard at work spinning a different tune-- from Tony Snow to Fox Newscasters to Anne Coulter and RNC chair Ron Mehlman, they put out a uniform echo chamber message.
The right wing talking points included:
-Lamont is a new McGovern.
-Rejecting Lieberman shows democrats are really, not only anti-war but anti-America and Anti-Israel
-Democrats who supported Joe, who are now getting behind Lamont are quick to stop being loyal.
-The Democratic party is moving even further to the extreme, Wacky left.
-This is good for Republicans, because the Democrats are being pushed to the extreme, Libberul left.
-Democrats are less likely to work in a Bi-partisan manner with Republicans
Here are some quotes from TV and print pundits on the right:
Tony Snow: If you disagree with the extreme left in their party,their going to come after you.
Charles Krauthamer: Lamont only won by 10,000Lieberman will win among Republicans. If he wins among Independents, he will win. If the issue is Iraq, the Dems will win, but in the longer run, the issue is the war on terror.
William Kristol, founnder of the weekly standard: "What drives so many Demo crats crazy about Lieberman is not simply his support for the Iraq war. It's that he's unashamedly pro-American.
There is a political opportunity for the Bush administration if the Democrats reject Lieberman. If he's then unable to win as an independent in November, he would make a fine secretary of defense for the remainder of the Bush years. If his independent candidacy succeeds, it will be a message to Bush that he should forge ahead toward victory in Iraq and elsewhere. Either way, the possibility exists for creating a broader and deeper governing party, with Lieberman Democrats welcomed into the Republican fold, just as Scoop Jackson Democrats became Reaganites in the 1980s. Is it too fanciful to speculate about a 2008 GOP ticket of McCain-Lieberman, or Giuliani-Lieberman, or Romney-Lieberman, or Allen-Lieberman, or Gingrich-Lieberman?"
Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard. : Lieberman was brought in as Gore's VP because he was a hawkish, pro-israel democrat, now they want to get rid of him for that. If Dems come off as Ned Lamonts, with Maxine Waters, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the head of NOW there, this is the far left... it hurts the Democrats.
Now, after 9/11 and with Islamic jihadists still threatening America, Democrats are purging the hawkish remnants in their party. That's the meaning of the primary defeat in Connecticut yesterday of Senator Joe Lieberman to Ned Lamont, an antiwar Democrat. Lamont is the epitome of a peace Democrat: force averse, naively trusting in diplomacy, and firmly opposed to a strong national security policy.
The sacking of Lieberman is all the more striking because of his position in the Democratic party. He is not only the most prominent advocate of peace through strength, but also the foremost Democratic champion of Israel. It was because of his national security stance that he was chosen as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000.
The NY Daily News' headline reads "Dems desert boltin' Joe "
Anne Coulter, toxic psycho rightwing- nutjob, "On the bright side, it is now official: Democrats are not merely confused patriots, so blinded by their hatred for President Bush that they cannot see their way to supporting any aspect of the war on terrorism. Would that they were mere opportunistic traitors!
In Tuesday's primary, Connecticut Democrats dumped Joe Lieberman, an 18-year incumbent, because he supports the war on terrorism. This is the same Joe Lieberman who voted against all the Bush tax cuts, against banning same-sex marriage, against banning partial-birth abortion, against the confirmation of Judge Alito, against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in favor of the Kyoto accords. Oh yes, this was also the same Joe Lieberman who was the Democrats' own vice presidential candidate six years ago.
Despite all this, Connecticut Democrats preferred stalwart anti-war candidate Ned Lamont, great-nephew of Corliss Lamont, WASP plutocrat fund-raiser for Stalin. Lamont's main political asset is that he is a walking, breathing argument in favor of a massive inheritance tax. His plan for fighting the terrorists is to enact a single-payer government health plan and universal pre-K education programs. His goal is to unite the "cut" and "run" wings of his party into one glorious coalition.
The Democrats can hold it in for a few years, but eventually the McGovernite face of the Democratic Party reappears.
Ken Mehlman, RNC chair, Lieberman's loss shows "his defeat shows the Democratic Party has descended into an isolationist, defeatist, and "all too often a 'blame America first' party."
only 7.25% of CT voters voted for Lamont, and decided moderates and pro-war positions no longer welcome.
Tim Chapman a writer on conservative Townhall.com, wrote, "In a salute to the Connecticut senator's character, moral fiber and steadfast moderation, Al Gore chose him to be the party's vice presidential candidate. That made sense, as Lieberman enjoyed many positive traits Gore lacked. Lieberman's 2000 nomination proved that the Democratic party still understood that most Americans value moderation over far-left liberalism.
On Tuesday, the Democratic Party discarded that tired old notion by ousting the pro-war, strong-on-national-security Connecticut centrist in favor of an extreme liberal anti-war Democratic challenger: millionaire Connecticut businessman Ned Lamont.
Lamont's candidacy was fueled by the most extreme elements of the Democratic party. Moveon.org, Daily Kos and other elements of the Web savvy liberal "netroots" made defeating Joe Lieberman their number one priority. To them, Lieberman was an unacceptable cancer within a Democratic party they fancy themselves as owning. Tolerance of a Democrat who was committed to finishing the job in Iraq was a non-starter. Nor was it acceptable for Lieberman to be so unabashedly pro-American in his rhetoric about national security."
Cal Thomas "The narrow primary defeat of veteran senator Joe Lieberman in Connecticut's Democratic primary is more than a loss for one man. It is a loss for his party and for the country. It completes the capture of the Democratic Party by its Taliban wing.
They used to be "San Francisco Democrats," a phrase coined by former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick to describe the party's 1984 convention. But they have now morphed into Taliban Democrats because they are willing to "kill" one of their own, if he does not conform to the narrow and rigid agenda of the party's kook fringe."
What's all this mean? The Lieberman dump is a major political seismic event. The whole process of dumping Lieberman was started by an activist who gave out hundreds of buttons with a photo of Bush kissing Lieberman. This is all about rejecting Bush, via Lieberman's relationship with Bush.
The Lieberman loss that the right wing is trying desperately to spin as a step towards leftwing extremism is certainly all about the war, and mainstream media couldn't help but mention that now, 60% of Americans oppose the war.
Will the right wing spin stick? Will they be able to paint the Democratic party as extreme left wing, anti war, anti-American, anti-Israel McGovernites?
The mainstream media will help. They spent more time on Joe Lieberman than on Ned Lamont.
The centrist Democrats may help. But the other possibility is that centrist, DLC Democrats will see the writing on the wall and start joining the Democratic team-- rejecting the incompetence driven failure that is Bush's Iraq "project."
The Bush right wing is doing all it can to draw the US into a major war, with Iran an Syria. If Democrats are smart, they'll do all they can to pin the blame for this war on the right wingers who are pushing for it and enabling it, with utter failure to broker a safe peace for Lebanon and Israel.