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The New Lieberman

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:05:42 PM EST
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May I present the new Joe Lieberman, Bob Kerrey:

By my lights, the primary threat to the success of a President Obama will come from some Democrats who, emboldened by the size of their congressional majority, may try to kill trade agreements, raise taxes in ways that will destroy jobs, repeal the Patriot Act and spend and regulate to high heaven.

This is where Obama's persona is invaluable. He can withstand the arguments and pressure of the liberal wing in the Democratic caucus if, once elected, he is guided by the best instincts he has displayed on the campaign trail.

Bob Kerrey, the new Joe Lieberman. What a loser.

By Big Tent democrat, speaking for me only

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    The New Lieberman | 40 comments (40 topical)

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    Concern trolling already? (5.00 / 3) (#2)
    by Fabian on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:11:28 PM EST
    Maybe he can't wait for Nov 5th or the inauguration?

    (Is there some kind of GOP program that creates Dem concern trolls when they need one?)

    Diminished responsibility. (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by LarryInNYC on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:35:09 PM EST
    Kerrey's nuts.  Lieberman may be the Zell Miller of the Democratic Party.  Kerrey's closer to Ashley Todd.

    Boy, Clinton sure destroyed (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by ThatOneVoter on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:56:44 PM EST
    jobs with his tax hikes.

    Economics (none / 0) (#18)
    by bocajeff on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 04:11:22 PM EST
    What contributed more to job growth in the 90's - higher taxes or the collapse of the Soviet Union (smaller defense budgets), the opening of Eastern Europe, the collapse of the Japanese economy and the technology boom?

    One thing may or may not have something to do with another.

    Parent

    I do not understand (none / 0) (#20)
    by Steve M on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 04:35:03 PM EST
    how smaller defense budgets lead to job growth.  If anything, you'd be losing jobs in the defense sector.

    Parent
    Killjoy! (5.00 / 1) (#31)
    by Landulph on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 09:22:50 PM EST
    Stop ruining bocjeff's talking points with your accursed logic, Steve M! </snark>

    Parent
    if obama actually (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by cpinva on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 05:02:21 PM EST
    tried to get rid of the patriot act, i could certainly get behind that.

    i doubt kerrey has anything to worry about, in that regard.

    Not quite (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by lentinel on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 05:33:35 PM EST
    I'm hoping that Obama will be guided by instincts that he shunned on the campaign trail.

    I though Joe Liberman was the new Bob Kerrey (none / 0) (#1)
    by andgarden on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:06:47 PM EST
    Didn't Kerrey derail Clinton's budget in the 90s?

    I seem to recall (5.00 / 3) (#8)
    by cal1942 on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:33:15 PM EST
    Kerrey making an angry statement aimed at Clinton saying he'd voted for the budget but only to 'save' the Clinton presidency.

    With saviors like Kerrey ...

    It's been a few years ago and I certainly may be wrong but that's the way I remember the event.

    IMO Kerrey is no Democrat.  He came up with a Social Security privatization scheme among other heresies.

    Parent

    Yeah, that might be what he said (none / 0) (#11)
    by andgarden on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:40:55 PM EST
    In any case, it was not helpful at all. And his is all about privatizing social security.

    Parent
    As I remember (none / 0) (#28)
    by cal1942 on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 07:20:38 PM EST
    the interview Kerrey was actually scolding Clinton and the remark about not wanting his Presidency to fail was delivered dripping with venom.

    I agree that he didn't help at all.

    Parent

    Probably still smarting (5.00 / 1) (#32)
    by Landulph on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 09:26:21 PM EST
    from his dismal performance in the '92 primaries, where, if memory serves, "the other" Kerrey won only one state, South Dakota. Ass-twit. (Kerrey, not you, cal1942).

    Parent
    Could it have been sour grapes? (none / 0) (#34)
    by 1040su on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 09:35:29 PM EST
    He ran for the Dem nomination in 1991-92.  I remember I sort of supported him at first.

    Parent
    Yeah that quote sounds just like (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by inclusiveheart on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:40:10 PM EST
    the Bob Kerrey I always knew and did not love.

    Parent
    Bob Kerrey is auditioning (none / 0) (#30)
    by litigatormom on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 08:13:57 PM EST
    to be the new Joe Lieberman of the Democratic Caucus in anticipation that Lieberman will leave the caucus once he is stripped of his chairmanship.

    Parent
    Kinda like Fonzie and Chachi, (none / 0) (#33)
    by Landulph on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 09:27:39 PM EST
    and we know how well THAT worked out!

    Parent
    Bob Loblaw. (none / 0) (#41)
    by lilburro on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 11:58:47 PM EST


    Parent
    Hardly. (none / 0) (#37)
    by oldpro on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 11:02:19 PM EST
    He's not in the caucus.

    Parent
    Bob Kerrey is the guy who (none / 0) (#3)
    by oculus on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:14:10 PM EST
    supported Hillary Clinton and kind of stuck his foot in his mouth alluding to Obama's admitted past drug use and his full name as a good thing, as there are so many Muslim's in the world. But, it doesn't sound like Kerrey supports Clinton's positions now.

    The President of the New School? (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Stellaaa on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:17:44 PM EST


    Parent
    If that's a question (none / 0) (#29)
    by cal1942 on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 07:25:02 PM EST
    stellaaa the answer is yes, President of the New School.

    Parent
    Sounds like he's schmoozing (none / 0) (#5)
    by Fabian on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:22:26 PM EST
    But who is he trying to cozy up to with that rhetoric?  Republicans?  

    Parent
    Bob Kerrey (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 04:10:34 PM EST
    sees himself as a maverick.  Heh.  He actually thought of it before McCain did.  He's always been contrary just for the sake of being contrary.  Yech.


    Parent
    A snob. And an elitist. (none / 0) (#38)
    by oldpro on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 11:05:48 PM EST


    Parent
    That, too (none / 0) (#40)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 11:36:58 PM EST
    But mostly just a jerk.


    Parent
    Heh (none / 0) (#6)
    by Steve M on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:24:21 PM EST
    "The new Lieberman," says the free trader!

    Hasn't Kerrey seen (none / 0) (#7)
    by dk on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:27:24 PM EST
    Obama's goldilocks healthcare ad?  Kerrey shouldn't worry his pretty little head; nothing will change.

    Give the devil his due (none / 0) (#12)
    by Demi Moaned on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:41:05 PM EST
    Lieberman remains an sitting Senator as well as a former VP nominee of the Democratic Party and overall a prominent media personality. Sad to say, but ...
    Bob Kerrey, you're no Joe Lieberman

    That said, I fear he may be prescient in one regard:

    He can withstand the arguments and pressure of the liberal wing in the Democratic caucus ...

    Certainly he can, and no doubt he will on at least some issues dear to us here.

    Any brains in that big head of his? (none / 0) (#13)
    by coigue on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:44:31 PM EST


    Oh, yes...brains. (none / 0) (#39)
    by oldpro on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 11:08:07 PM EST
    Former governor of Nebraska, former senator...graduated in pharmacy if I'm not mistaken!

    Parent
    And beyond that, what is in (none / 0) (#16)
    by dk on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 03:59:31 PM EST
    that statement that Obama the campaigner would strenuously disagree with?  

    I mean, what is it about the week before the election where suddenly people want to rewrite history?  Obama ran this campaign as a centrist.  Heck, today there was a story about him wanting Republicans in his cabinet.

    Look, Obama's going to win, and, yes, he is 2% better than the alternative.  But is it really necessary to act like that last eighteen months never happenned?

    Kerrey Was Lieberman Before Lieberman (none / 0) (#19)
    by kaleidescope on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 04:17:19 PM EST
    Who can forget Bill Clinton's attempt to pass progressive legislation in 1993 (when there was a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress).  He was continually blocked by David Boren and Bob Kerrey, who posed as "fiscal conservatives" and united with Republicans to stop Clinton's attempts to fund infrastructure repair, job training and gays in the military.

    Oh, and Kerrey is a war criminal who butchered civilians during a raid on a peasant village in Vietnam.

    He is an moral barometer of how low the New School has fallen, since its days as a refuge for Jewish intellectual refugees from Hitler's Germany.  It would be interesting to see what Eric Fromm would say about Bob Kerrey.

    What a loser???? (none / 0) (#22)
    by bocajeff on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 05:24:54 PM EST
    Yeah, maybe he should have been killed instead of just losing part of his leg in service to this country...You use the word loser instead of just disagreeing with the guy. Hmmmm....

    The Dems are heading for a win (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by Fabian on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 06:18:35 PM EST
    I can see asking what the Democratic plan is, but preemptively raining on their parade is awfully Republican of him.

    Parent
    Maybe you could resurrect some of the (none / 0) (#24)
    by ThatOneVoter on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 06:02:37 PM EST
    people he massacred before you try to rehabilitate his reputation.

    Parent
    They're ALL the new Lieberman ... (none / 0) (#25)
    by Robot Porter on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 06:03:00 PM EST
    I'm afraid.

    Lieberman? Hardly. (none / 0) (#27)
    by Don in Seattle on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 06:22:57 PM EST
    Lieberman has become a total apostate -- a true Democrat in name only.

    Bob Kerrey's apparent support for the Patriot Act does come as a surprise to me. However, his status as a "deficit hawk" is well known, long-standing, and consistent with his other views.

    Bill Clinton takes pride, rightly I think, in his record of erasing the budget deficit. I don't believe that happened entirely by happy accident.

    We don't need to be promoting a general purge of the Democratic Party of all its centrist backsliders. Howard Dean was, and I believe still is, another deficit hawk. Are we going to have to re-educate him, too?

    Oops, wrong example for this crowd. So here's a better one: Senator Hillary Clinton is a leading member of the Democratic Leadership Council, an explicitly centrist, "third way" advocacy group. So who here thinks our Party's archivist should begin PhotoShopping her out of our leadership pictures?

    Kerrey not promoting fiscal responsibility (none / 0) (#36)
    by pluege on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 09:53:06 PM EST
    he's slamming Democrats just like republicans do. He's using fiscal responsibility as the method. But his "message" has nothing to fiscal responsibility and everything to do with promoting the 'Democrats Bad' ooooooooo republican meme...just like LIEberman does.  

    Progressives can argue all day long with people of any stripe (including republicans and conservatives) that want to argue policy differences. But republicans in general, including the likes of LIEberman and Kerrey don't argue policy, they just slime and smear Democrats. They know all too well that the vast majority of Americans don't agree with what republican policies are, so they distract from their policies by smearing Democrats.

    Democrats absolutely need to purge the likes of LIEberman and Kerrey that are only out to undermine Democrats.

    Parent

    the whacked out LIEbermind of Kerrey (none / 0) (#35)
    by pluege on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 09:45:28 PM EST
    is nothing new.

    The New Lieberman | 40 comments (40 topical)

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