Connecticut’s Sen. Joe Lieberman is not going to seek a fifth term in 2012, but totally not because he has a slim chance in retaining his Senate seat! Having beat the drum for the Iraq War and John McCain, he’s upset the liberals that are generally responsible for putting him in office. So the pseudo-independent will leave office having pushed through that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal, and having given Saturday Night Live writers oodles of material. Also, this is a pretty good estimation that he won’t be heading into a presidential run, so rest easy.
count him out
Sen. Joe Lieberman Will Return To The Underworld From Which He Escaped
Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...
We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?
Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated
ALEX
I have read several scathing articles about Lieberman since this news about his retirement (read the one on SLATE by Emily Bazelon, for example) and although I agree with most of them (he’s the Devil, he’s an Alien, he’s Whatever) I have not read anyone saying that he was only as powerful as the Democratic majority allowed him to be.
After Lieberman supported McCain in 2008, he should have had his leadership positions pulled out from under him and been relegated to Crowd Without for the rest of his term. Harry Reid and President Obama spent the last two years cowering to the Liebermans and Nelsons and Snowes and came across as weak rather than confident and forceful. I don’t care for the Republicans, but their leadership would NEVER have allowed a similar turncoat to have a voice after such actions.
Kevin
To be fair, he had a “slim” chance of winning a fourth term back in 2006 and yet here we are. If someone’s been doing a job for 30 years, I don’t think they need much of a reason to consider retirement.
Gay Republican
Yeah, go ahead, dump on the guy who repealed DADT. Thank you Joe and best wishes!
Bill Cooney
Now, the only problem is finding a strong Democrat to run for this seat. That obnoxious Linda McMahon may want to spend another couple of million seeking political office.
alex
Who knows what his inner circle was telling him back then about supporting McCain? Maybe Lieberman ignored all the news reports and all the flip-flopping because McCain has been his friend for such a long time. I hate it when I get an idea in my head and there’s no one to tell me how awful it is. I’ll give him a break on the “scathing” because of the fact that his other crazy idea was getting DADT repeal DONE (or as DONE as a senator can get it).