Joe Lieberman to Kyrsten Sinema: Come on In, the Water's Warm [View all]

[Celerity]

Few others know quite what it’s like to infuriate the Democratic Party by leaving it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/us/politics/joe-lieberman-kyrsten-sinema-democrats.html

https://archive.vn/dPufI



If there’s anyone in America who knows what it’s like to infuriate your party as you leave it behind, it’s Joe Lieberman, the former vice-presidential candidate and senator from Connecticut who made a similar calculation when he became an “independent Democrat” in 2006 — and won.

And though they differed over the Iraq war, which Lieberman, now 80, passionately supported, he’s thrilled that Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is joining him in exile to become the 22nd sitting senator since 1890 to switch parties. Sinema made her move official last week by filing federal paperwork as an independent candidate, though she has yet to say that she will run again in 2024.

Lieberman dared not risk another independent run in 2012, and is now a lobbyist. I spoke with him about life as a political apostate, his decision to endorse John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and how he threatened Democratic leaders who tried to punish him afterward. Here’s our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity:

What’s your reaction to Senator Sinema’s decision to switch parties to become an independent?

I’m encouraged by it. We’re in a time when the two major parties have not played the role that they are intended to play, which is to help the country solve some of our problems, when in fact the two parties have become the problem, at least in the way they are behaving. And that’s why, as I like to say, the fastest-growing political party in America is no party. Sinema hasn’t said that she’s running in 2024, but I don’t think she has any choice but to run as an independent. It’s possible that the Democrats would somehow make peace with her and renominate her. But I consider that to be so unlikely as to be impossible.

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