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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsProof That Joe Lieberman Was Ratf*cker For The GOP Surfaces In New Book By ... Joe Lieberman
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Matthew Sheffield
@mattsheffield
In new book, Joe Lieberman admits he was secretly helped by Republicans in his 2006 Senate bid to tank Democrat Ned Lamont, by @SER1897
Proof That Joe Lieberman Was Ratf*cker For The GOP Surfaces In New Book By ... Joe Lieberman
Under no circumstances, should you buy this frauds new book.
wonkette.com
10:49 AM · Oct 20, 2021
https://www.wonkette.com/shocking-kinda-republican-joe-lieberman-received-gop-support-in-his-2006-senate-race
You probably recall the basic details from the 2006 Connecticut Senate race. Incumbent Democrat Joe Lieberman lost his primary race to an actual liberal, Ned Lamont. Lieberman had voted for the disastrous Iraq War, which he still supported, but many had. To stand out, he sucked on a variety of other issues, including his opposition to affirmative action and openness to privatizing Social Security. The state was steadily shifting to the left since Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush in 1992. Lieberman was no longer the best fit, and Democratic primary voters agreed.
However, Lieberman wouldn't accept the voters' decision. He started his own "political party," the humbly titled Conneecticut for Lieberman, and narrowly defeated Lamont and Republican Alan Schlesinger. Lieberman's successful spoiler campaign is why we don't have a public option.
Lieberman has a new book out called The Centrist Solution," which I presume explains why wanting a better book isn't realistic. He reveals in an interview with The Hartford Courant how he pulled off his surprise comeback with a little help from his fiend, Karl Rove.
It all started on the afternoon of the August 2006 primary when Lieberman was sitting with his family in the Goodwin Hotel in Hartford just hours before Lieberman lost to Lamont. The phone rang, and the family was stunned to learn that Rove was on the line.
Lieberman told Rove that the race could go either way.
"That's what we have heard," Lieberman quoted Rove as saying in "The Centrist Solution," a book scheduled to be released Tuesday. "And that's why the 'Boss' asked me to call you and tell you that if you don't win today, he hopes you stay in as an independent. He thinks the country needs you in the Senate and knows that the political problems you are having are because you have stayed strong on the war in Iraq. So, he wanted me to tell you that if you lose today and run in November, we will help you in any way we can."
*snip*
Me.
(35,454 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)With the senate and nation at stake, this totally unknown schoolteacher ran a potential spoiler campain against Raphael Warnock in the Democratic primary, siphoning off a couple percentage points -- presumably people to whom the name was vaguely familiar and thought he was someone. He was begged to drop out but wouldn't. Fortunately, GA Democrats handed this relict of liebermanism his ass and he didn't manage to throw the seat to the Republicans.
and I remember when his father lost that 2006 primary fair and square but his fellow senators, dem and con, helped overturn the voters choice to give Lieberman a 4th term.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)as far as I'm concerned. Makes me angry just to remember. I'd sooner trust our cat to stay out of the toilet bowl than trust an anti-democracy politician.
So the recent tfg effort wasn't the first time this has happened, though not quite the same or on the same scale.
Kid Berwyn
(14,805 posts)spanone
(135,795 posts)& with a smile on his fucking face
Kid Berwyn
(14,805 posts)Not a single follow up question. Couldnt believe it.
No follow up ever since. Do believe that, seeing how the press is gutless when it comes to questioning power.
Heh heh heh.
spanone
(135,795 posts)JohnSJ
(92,061 posts)TheRealNorth
(9,471 posts)You deflect that Lieberman betrayed the Democratic Party by attacking Nader, who did not run as a Democrat.
The reason we have weasels like Machin, Sinema and Lieberman is because we don't hold moderates to the same expectations that we hold progressives.
JohnSJ
(92,061 posts)every critical swing state, the Democratic nominee lost by less than 1%, and in those swing states Jill Stein received 1% of the vote
Lieberman left the Democratic Party, and was part of the McCain campaign, and voted Republican in 2008.
As for your argument we dont hold them to the same standards as progressives, whose standard are you talking about? The Democratic Party, has a big tent, and there is a lot of debate between Democrats on various issues.
The reason we have Manchin, is because it is West Virginia
Sinema srarted out with the Green Party working on Ralph Naders 2000 campaign. She was a liberal activist who became a Democrat. Ironically, later she said of Lieberman, he is a shame to Democrats
Her first office she ran as a Democrat was in a heavily Democratic district in Phonic for a state office in 2004. By any standard she would have been considered a progressive then. How she changed from that to voting against a 15 dollar minimum is anyones guess, but I suspect that change fooled a lot of people, just as Liebermans betrayal of the Democratic Party
It isnt that we hold different standards between progressives and moderates, etc. it is that the Democratic Party is made up of a lot of different factions, and each faction has their own sets of standards
Cha
(296,867 posts)didn't give a shit about Democracy, either.
JohnSJ
(92,061 posts)unblock
(52,126 posts)I mean the specifics of the phone call and such may be news, but it was always obvious the whole Republican Party immediately abandoned their own nominee in favor of Lieberman.
And it was obvious Lieberman had to know this was going to happen. Why would he run as a third party candidate knowing he was losing a huge amount of voters from the Democratic Party unless he knew he'd pick up the vast majority of republicans?
alittlelark
(18,890 posts)I assumed he was dead. He is certainly dead to me.
Celerity
(43,124 posts)Solvers Caucus, of 'Dump Pelosi as Speaker' fame, plus most all of the 10 renegade conservadems in the House who are trying to obstruct/shred Biden's BBB Act.
Lieberman's No Labels (RW billionaire backed and they even called Trump a Problem Solver) group ratfucked Marie Newman in the IL-3 2018 primary, but she came back to win in 2020. No Labels outrageously smeared her as a Holocaust denier and anti-Catholic.
Marie Newman was one of the few challengers who had almost universal support across the board, from Emily's List to Bernie, from National Organization for Women to Indivisible, from Planned Parenthood, from Illinois Federation of Teachers to the SEIU, from Gloria Steinem to NARAL. From MoveOn.org, from the Human Rights Campaign to the Daily Kos, from LPAC to a bunch of sitting congresspeople.
She was running against arguably the 2nd worst (after the Rethug campaigning for and fundraising-for, forced birther, anti immigrant, anti LGBTQ, pro private prison, etc etc Henry Cuellar) Democrat in Congress, the forced birther, anti-immigrant (voted against the Dream Act and for Republican border security bills), anti Obamacare, anti LGBTQ (voted for DOMA and is openly against gay marriage), anti Obama himself (he refused to endorse him) anti stem cell research, etc etc Dan Lipinski.
It is as safe a district for us as is almost possible, as it has been in Democratic hands since the 1950's, other than for 2 years after the Nixon 1972 massive landslide.
Lipinski eeked out a victory mainly because around 1 million dollars came flooding in at the end from No Labels and other Lieberman affiliated right wing groups (many of them supported with Republican money) that hammered and smeared Newman with a shit tonne of adverts and direct mailings.
Newman came back and beat him in 2020, despite No Labels going after her again.
Bipartisan No Labels groups super PAC network revealed: mega Chicago donors
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/3/12/18316470/bipartisan-no-labels-group-s-super-pac-network-revealed-mega-chicago-donors
With a boost from Chicago-area mega donors, including White Sox and Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, No Labels, a group advocating bipartisanship in Congress, has created a network of super PACs to influence the 2018 elections but doesnt want its fingerprints on the money.
One of the super PACs, United for Progress Inc., has spent $740,334 as of Sunday to bolster Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., in his March 20 Illinois Democratic primary battle with Marie Newman in the 3rd Congressional District. The names of the super PACS dont link them to No Labels. A Sun-Times investigation determined super PACS related to No Labels include: United for Progress Inc.; Citizens for a Strong America Inc.; United Together; Govern or Go Home; and Forward, Not Back.
The Sun-Times inquiry included interviews with donors or their representatives and an examination of documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. United for Progress, Inc., is playing political hardball, attacking Newman in the commercials and direct mail pieces it paid for. Lipinski is part of a No Labels offshoot, the congressional Problem Solvers Caucus.
snip
THE ILLINOIS CONNECTIONS: Last year, a No Labels leader, former Sen. Joe Lieberman, was a draw at a meeting at the Chicago Club, 81 E. Van Buren. Lieberman was the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee who became an Independent senator from Connecticut.
snip
No Labels funds dishonest attacks against Marie Newman to boost Blue Dog Dan Lipinski
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/13/1748758/-Centrist-group-No-Labels-funds-dishonest-attacks-against-Marie-Newman-to-back-Blue-Dog-Dan-Lipinski
Well what do you know: It turns out the mysterious super PAC called United for Progress, which has spent at least $740,000 to help conservative Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski in his primary against progressive challenger Marie Newman, received much of its funding from the aggressively centrist group No Labels and billionaire mega-donor Jerry Reinsdorf, who is chairman of both the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Bulls. No Labels promotes the same sort of naive #bothsides mentality that plagues the world of cable news punditry, and even went so far as to moronically label Donald Trump a "problem solver" during his presidential campaign.
While support from No Labels itself should be a mark of shame for any Democrat running in a safely blue district like this one, the mailer they've been funding is even more disgraceful. It takes the guise of an ominous fake-but-official-looking letter from "Illinois Restaurant Enforcement" that claims the restaurant Newman once owned was guilty of health code violations, then proceeds to outright lie about the economic impact of the single-payer healthcare plan Newman supports.
One would expect to see Republicans launch these sorts of dishonest attacks against a progressive challenger, not those who support a nominal Democratic incumbent. And it's one more reason why Democrats in this 55-40 Clinton district can do a whole lot better than Dan Lipinski.
snip
Delusional Group Declares Donald Trump a Problem Solver
The only problem Trump could solve is that we dont have a dumb enough president
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/delusional-group-declares-donald-trump-a-problem-solver-58107/
Here are some labels that apply to Donald Trump:
Racist
Egomaniac
Bloviator
Delusional
Liar
Asshole
On Monday, the nonpartisan group No Labels gave him a new, and hilarious, one: problem solver.
Six presidential candidates Democrat Martin OMalley and Republicans Ben Carson, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Rand Paul and Trump signed the organizations Problem Solver Promise, officially making them No Labels Problem Solvers. The group says it will bestow the label on any candidate who signs its meaningless pledge.
No Labels declined to make an exception for Trump the candidate who has proposed, among many other things, building a giant border wall, deporting 11 million people, banning Muslims from entering the country and shutting down mosques. In just the last two days, hes come out in favor of direct head-to-head collisions in the NFL and elephant torture.
snip
Holocaust Denier Smear Hits Tight Chicago Area Congressional Primary
https://forward.com/fast-forward/396658/holocaust-denier-smear-hits-tight-chicago-area-congressional-primary/
A heated Democratic congressional primary race in suburban Chicago has reached a new low, as accusations of Holocaust denial are falsely hurled at progressive challenger Marie Newman.
Newman, who is seeking to unseat the incumbent Dan Lipinski as the Democratic candidate for Illinois 3rd congressional district, has staked a liberal position, hoping it would convince Democrats to chose her way over that of Lipinski, a blue dog Democrat known for his more conservative views.
In recent days, Newman claimed, voters have been receiving text messages from activists with the Washington-based No Labels group, trying to convince voters not to support her. In one instance, a voter receiving the text message informed the sender that he has already decided to vote for Newman, not Lipinski. His opponent is a Holocaust denier among other things, the Lipinski supporter texted back. In a second exchange, the voter was told again about Newman: Did you know shes a Holocaust denier.
Newman accused Lipinski of playing politics with a tragedy in human history that cost the lives of millionsand which deeply affects those of Jewish heritage, including my husband and his family. Lipinski is considered one of the few endangered Democratic incumbents in the nation due to the tight primary. The winner should easily beat a Republican challenger in the district that voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a healthy 16% margin.
snip
Group Tied To Lipinski Says Marie Newman Is 'A Holocaust Denier'
IL-3 Democratic challenger Marie Newman claims group tied to Congressman Dan Lipinski is texting voters saying she's a 'Holocaust denier.'
https://patch.com/illinois/oaklawn/group-tied-lipinski-claims-she-s-holocaust-denier
LA GRANGE, IL -- Challenger Marie Newman is calling out Congressman Dan Lipinski for running a "dishonest machine-style campaign" after some of her supporters complained of receiving text messages stating that Newman is a "Holocaust denier." Newman and Lipinski are said to be in a statistical dead heat in the contentious Democratic primary in Illinois's 3rd Congressional District. Supporters said they began receiving the text messages this past weekend.
A woman who identifies herself as "Leslie Benjamini" from the Washington, D.C.-based No Labels group -- a political centrist organization comprised of Republicans, Democrats and Independents who aim to combat partisan dysfunction in politics by focusing on bipartisan problem solving -- texted a voter asking him if he planned to vote for Dan Lipinski in the March 20 Democratic primary. When the the receiver stated he is voting for Newman, Benjamini states that Lipinski's opponent is a Holocaust denier. Benjamini tells the receiver to look up "No Labels, a new group that is trying to get government working again." The message goes on to state that Lipinski is a "believer in this group."
"His opponent is a Holocaust denier among other things," the text goes on to say. "Please educate yourself before you vote. All I ask."
Lipinski does have an opponent who is a Holocaust denier who is running as the lone candidate in the Republican primary in Illinois' 3rd District, avowed neo-Nazi Art Jones of Lyons. In the second message sent to the Newman supporter, Benjamini mistakes the receiver's phone number for his mother's.
"For the second time I am NOT [NAME]
she is my mother and she hosted a fundraiser for Marie Newman. And for the record, I voted for her early Saturday [March 10]." "Thanks for voting," Benjamini texts back. "Did you know she's a Holocaust denier."
The No Labels group based in Washington, D.C., was founded in 2010. The group strives to "create a vibrant New Center that supports leaders who put country before party." No Labels inspired the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group of congressional members that includes Lipinski. A Chicago Sun-Times investigation has also tied No Labels to such Super PACS as United for Progress Inc. As of late, United for Progress Inc. has been sent out a flurry of political hit pieces attacking Newman's progressive agenda, as well as TV and radio commercials
An angry Newman demanded an apology from Lipinski, accusing the congressman of running "dishonest machine campaign."
snip
No Labels Needs A Warning Label
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-no-labels-mark-pocan_n_5c06b110e4b0cd916fb0b042
I was duped.
When I was elected to Congress in 2012, I attended the Bipartisan Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress at Harvard University. I was so excited to be a member of a branch of government for the most awesome country on the planet. At the program, one of the presentations was from a group named No Labels. The organization put forward a proposal for governing that meant working across the aisle to solve problems and stopping the gridlock in Washington. I was excited! While I was a strong progressive in the Wisconsin Legislature, that was my governing approach. By working with people who do not always agree with you, you find out what you have in common and you can get good things done.
snip
However, things quickly went south. I attended a few meetings at the outset, but the rhetoric wasnt about finding ways to get things done and breaking gridlock ― rather it was more about finding more centrist, more corporate and more special interest-focused things to do. Soon thereafter, No Labels became involved in elections with a closely contested U.S. Senate race in Colorado, backing Republican Cory Gardner over Democrat Mark Udall. That didnt seem right. A group that wasnt supposed to pick labels was doing exactly that: picking a label. When asked to join the Problem Solvers Caucus, members were never told that this would be part of the program.
snip
I drifted away from the organization, as apparently did most people who thought it was focused on trying to break through the gridlock in Washington. No Labels membership has dwindled steadily since 2015. Fast-forward to the past few weeks, when No Labels Problem Solvers Caucus tried to threaten Nancy Pelosis speakership. While No Labels was originally advertised as a group committed to getting things done and breaking gridlock, it now seems more focused on stopping Pelosi and providing a fast track for special interests and lobbyists.
Worse, this past week Ive read a few articles regarding what No Labels has been up to in the last couple of years. First, the organization spent almost twice as much helping re-elect Republicans as it spent helping Democrats. Second, reporters reviewed email correspondence that showed No Labels contemplating a plan to attack Pelosi and use her leadership as a wedge to divide congressional Democrats. And third, its clear that No Labels never had any meaningful ultimatums or demands on rules for leadership during eight years of a Republican-led House, or over the last four years of a Republican-led Senate. No Labels only has challenges for Democratic leadership in the House, specifically, for our next speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
That sure seems like a label to me. Look, I get it. No Labels is slick, and I got duped. But no other current or newly elected member of Congress should fall for its shtick. No Labels is a centrist, corporate organization working against Democrats with dark, anonymous money to advance power for special interests. Period.
snip
GoneOffShore
(17,337 posts)There's so much good info here.
2naSalit
(86,332 posts)Xolodno
(6,384 posts)But I find in interesting this gets released at the same time another "Joe" is rumored to be thinking about doing the same.
vanlassie
(5,663 posts)dsc
(52,152 posts)I am assuming he still is. Whatever else you can say about him, his position on abortion was in the mainstream of the party.
Tetrachloride
(7,817 posts)Couldnt keep his eyes open, imho.
maxrandb
(15,298 posts)I actually had to type; "is Joe Lieberman still alive?" in my Google search bar.
Oh what a glorious day it will be when I have to do the same for Donnie Dipshit
Celerity
(43,124 posts)madinmaryland
(64,931 posts)DetlefK
(16,423 posts)It was full-blown PANIC!!!
According to Fox News, the fate of the US, nay, the fate of the entire western hemisphere, rested on Joe Lieberman staying in the US Senate!!!
Response to Nevilledog (Original post)
ExTex This message was self-deleted by its author.
48656c6c6f20
(7,638 posts)How Joe met Joe, a republican love story.
Yeah I'm looking at you Mr. Coal.
marybourg
(12,586 posts)what kind a a person Lieberman was, Al Gore knew it too, and better. And yet he chose him. Still not sorry . Had Gore won, we never would have had Obama. Rather have had Obama. Fire away!
JohnSJ
(92,061 posts)and would not have invaded Iraq based on a lie. If Gore had won, he wouldnt have appoint Alito or Roberts, and he sure as heck would have fought for the environment
Regardless of his piss poor choice of Lieberman as a VP, we wouldnt be facing a lot of the problems we face today, especially in regard to the SC
sakabatou
(42,136 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,684 posts)JohnSJ
(92,061 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,684 posts)That election changed everything. Somewhere in the universe, a parallel univers is living our lives.
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,852 posts)It was still a no-brainer between them and the ticket of Dumbya / Darth Vader, but Lieberman added absolutely ZERO excitement for me as a Democratic voter.
VGNonly
(7,482 posts)...with friends like that....
pansypoo53219
(20,955 posts)joetheman
(1,450 posts)UTUSN
(70,649 posts)Sewa
(1,250 posts)Never liked that whinny voiced phony 💀🤙
Sympthsical
(9,041 posts)That is a deeply funny line by the writer.