I admit it. I am a waffler. I have been going back and forth between Edwards and Obama until Thursday night after Obama's Post Caucus Victory Speech. It was a goose bumps moment for me, and made me proud to be an American. I definitely got caught up in the moment.
However, I did not want to let my emotions drive my commitment, so I have continued to read and get information on the two candidates. That being said, until about 30 min ago, I was in line at the ticket booth to purchase my ride on the Obama train.
And then I ran across information that led me to google and find this
Obama rallies state Democrats, throws support behind Lieberman
Please jump below the fold for more details and my request for help from Obama and Edwards supporters.
Obama supporters, please help me understand the background behind this.
HARTFORD, Conn. --U.S. Sen. Barack Obama rallied Connecticut Democrats at their annual dinner Thursday night, throwing his support behind mentor and Senate colleague Joe Lieberman.
....
Lieberman, Connecticut's junior senator, is under fire from some liberal Democrats for his support of the Iraq War. He was key in booking Obama, who routinely receives more than 200 speaking invitations each week.
...
Obama wasted little time getting to that point, calling it the "elephant in the room" but praising Lieberman's intellect, character and qualifications.
"The fact of the matter is, I know some in the party have differences with Joe. I'm going to go ahead and say it," Obama told the 1,700-plus party members who gathered in a ballroom at the Connecticut Convention Center for the $175-per-head fundraiser.
"I am absolutely certain Connecticut is going to have the good sense to send Joe Lieberman back to the U.S. Senate so he can continue to serve on our behalf," he said.
And Lieberman rewarded him by making an complete mockery of himself and Conneticut voters for two years, and then decided to endorse Obama's main Republican rival. If Obama can be bamboozled by Joementum, who else will be able to hoodwink him?
My argument with myself over the past months has been does Obama have the judgement needed to be President and is he a sincere progressive. The bankruptcy bill gave me pause, the diary on this site during the Roberts nomination process gave me pause as well. But I did not recall this which may be worse than any of those transgressions.
For better or worse, this throws me squarely back into the undecided camp. So I am asking for Kossacks help.
Obama supporters, I know you are out there. Can you square this circle for me? Is Obama closer to Lieberman and Landrieu, or Kennedy and Lautenberg? Tell me why I should get back in the ticket line. What was he thinking at the time and why should this example of failed judgement be dismissed?
Edwards supporters, I know you are out there. I like John Edwards, but he has a monkey on his back with the Iraq War vote. I like his passion and fight in him though. But where was the fight when actually had power and will he be able to accomplish his goals any better this time around. Can he get it done?
To those of you who intend to turn this into a flame war, let me be clear. I intend to delete this diary if it becomes a discussion that is not based on facts and becomes little more than ad hominem attacks on commenter's integrity and a bunch a name calling. It is useless. I sincerely would like to hear people's point of view on this endorsement a few years ago.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Update [2008-1-6 16:20:50 by justmy2]:It is pretty clear from the comments that people seem to think this was a perfunctory endoresment based on basic politics. I appreciate everyone's feedback and the really good historical info on how this actually played out. I do want add one thing to try to close this out in my mind.
Senator Russ Feingold was able to navigate this in what I thought was a more appropriate manner. As a matter of fact, thinking back, I think this was one of the points where I said I would fully support Sen. Feingold for President.
MR. RUSSERT: Your colleague Joe Lieberman in Connecticut in a tough primary battle. If Senator Lieberman asks you to come to Connecticut to campaign for him, will you?
SEN. FEINGOLD: I have a lot of admiration for Joe. He's a fine guy. He helped me a great deal in campaign finance reform. I think Ned Lamont's positions on the issues are much closer to mine on the critical issues. I think that this is going to be something decided by the people of Connecticut. I'm not going to go up there, but I'll tell you this, Tim. I will support the Democratic nominee, whoever that is.
MR. RUSSERT: So if Lamont beats Lieberman, you're for Lamont.
SEN. FEINGOLD: That's correct.
MR. RUSSERT: And you will not campaign for Lieberman if they ask you?
SEN. FEINGOLD: I'm not getting involved in the primary. If Joe Lieberman wins the primary, I campaign for him. If Ned Lamont wins the primary, I campaign for him. I'll be supporting the Democrat. [emphasis added]
It looks like the consensus here is that Obama was in high demand, so this was something that would have been hard to avoid. But would the Feingold position have been a better way to navigate the situation?
BTW - Obama/Feingold or Edwards/Feingold doesn't sound bad to me...nor does Obama/Edwards or Edwards/Obama. It is so nice to have such great choices.