According to the standard version, Mr. Lieberman is the victim of ferocious “liberal bloggers” from around the country. Dispersed across the United States, these meddling left-wing activists somehow conspired to launch Ned Lamont’s primary challenge, and then somehow mesmerized voters, perhaps via the Internets, to reject the Senator they had chosen three times before. Combining Internet technology with progressive ideology, the miasmic and unwholesome blogosphere now threatens to swallow poor Joe in a cloud of angry, buzzing bytes.
Can we please dispense with this silliness. Perhaps initially, the left blogosphere offered Ned Lamont a voice to gain some initial momentum, but it is Ned Lamont that has offered a voice to the voters of Connecticut who feel disenfranchised by Lieberman's views.
If it is over one single divisive issue, the Iraq War, fine, so be it. Lieberman once offered that same voice to voters over a divisive issue, the Vietnam War, when he was beginning his career. Those who don't remember history are doomed to be buried by it, and it looks like memory has long ago left old Joe.
This campaign also reminds me a little bit of something that happens not just in politics, but in the lifespan of careers in so many fields. It's a simple fact that in the eyes of the American people one day you're hot, one day you're not. More often than not, those who are no longer hot have to be dragged kicking and screaming from the main stage. I think that explains Lieberman's behavior during this race.
The voters of Connecticut are tiring of Lieberman's old song and dance and want a new tune to whistle along to as they stroll to the voting booth. In other words, the hook is out, and Lieberman is about to get jerked off the stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment