Lieberman Increasingly on the Outs with the Dems

From every indication, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is probably a genuinely nice guy. I disagree with a lot of his politics and didn't think much of him during the 2000 election debacle, but he has shown himself to be a man of principle, and those principles are costing him friends.

The NY Times has a piece today on the increasing divisions within the Dem party and the conflict between the "cut-and-run" crowd and Sen. Lieberman who is backing the president's approach in Iraq and reporting the progress that he has seen.

Five years after running as the vice-presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket and a year after his own presidential bid, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut has become an increasingly unwelcome figure within his party, with some Democrats seeing him more as a wayward son than a favorite son.

In the last few days, the senator has riled Democratic activists and politicians here and in his home state with his vigorous defense of President Bush's handling of the Iraq war at a time some Democrats are pressuring the administration to begin a withdrawal.

Mr. Lieberman particularly infuriated his colleagues when he pointed out at a conference here that President Bush would be commander in chief for three more years and said that "it's time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that."

"We undermine the president's credibility at our nation's peril," Mr. Lieberman said.

Much of the open criticism has been from liberal groups and House members. But his comments have also rankled Democrats in the Senate. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the minority leader, phoned Mr. Lieberman this week to express concerns with his views, Mr. Reid's aide said.

"Senator Reid has a lot of respect for Senator Lieberman," said Jim Manley, a Reid spokesman. "But he feels that Senator Lieberman's position on Iraq is at odds with many Americans."

Sorry Harry, but Sen. Lieberman is at odds with many Dems, but certainly not most Americans, and that's what's causing so much of your distress. When someone leaves the "Defeaticrat" reservation and actually has the guts to support the president, especially someone with the gravitas of Lieberman, it causes significant distress to the "white flag" crowd of Reid, Pelosi, Kerry, et al.

Sen. Lieberman has made a bunch of new friends in the GOP, and there were even rumors that he might be the next Secretary of Defense. He's quickly knocked those rumors down.

And poor Joe has the idiot brother of (or is it brother of the idiot) Howard Dean living in his state and agitating against him:

James H. Dean, brother of Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, lives in Connecticut and heads Democracy for America, a group that is gathering signatures on the Internet for a letter that criticizes the senator.

An aide to James Dean said he and others from the group would deliver the letter to Mr. Lieberman's office in Hartford on Tuesday. The aide said the letter had 30,000 signatures.

Advice to Sen. Lieberman: Just get Howard the Donkey to speak out against you. It will assure your reelection.