Joe Lieberman essentially has two options for 2012: Retire or become a Republican.
The Connecticut senator and Democratic exile hasn’t made up his mind whether to seek a fifth term, Lieberman and those close to him say. But if he does, the GOP ticket appears to offer his best shot at reelection.
“That’s his only hope,” said John Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO and a former state Democratic chairman.
Even that, Olsen and others involved in Connecticut politics say, looks like a long shot. But no other avenue appears to be open to the 68-year-old Lieberman, who won a three-way contest in 2006 after losing the Democratic primary to a challenger from the left, Ned Lamont.
One reason is that the ballot line for the Connecticut for Lieberman party, the vehicle he used in 2006, is no longer available to him.
After the 2006 election, a group of anti-Lieberman activists took over the party with the hope of embarrassing the senator by running a candidate against him in 2012. But its candidate for Senate this year failed to garner the 1 percent of the vote needed to keep the party’s automatic ballot access next cycle.
To run as a third-party candidate again, “He would have to form a new party with some other name,” the party’s chairman and failed Senate nominee, John Mertens, said. “And it could not use the word ‘Connecticut’ or ‘Lieberman’ in the name,” under the state’s election regulations.
(Read More: Politico)
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6 Responses
Teh article suggests that access to a line called “Connecticut for Lieberman” is the deciding factor, which is ridiculous. Getting on the ballot isn’t the problem, but winning a three-way race would be, unless the Democratic nominee is an extreme leftist. However neighboring Rhode Island has an independent governor, and nearby New York City has an independent mayor – so independents are necessarily doomed in that region. And one should remember that in 2006, Lieberman’s significant issue was foreign policy, but at present that isn’t a big issue, and in other areas (economics, social issues), Lieberman is a very mainstream Democrat.
what about running as “Tea Party” candidate?
Hopefully a republican will beat Obama out of the white house in 2012 and offer Mr. Leiberman a cabinet position (like secretary of homeland security or many others he would be good at).
How about running on the “Joe” party. Everybody in CT already knows him as Joe Lieberman anyway. As long as there is no Lieberman party on the ballot to confuse with him there shouldn’t be a problem.
He has a lot of options: 1) Hew can make a new party, it’s not hard to come up with names (“Joe’s New Party”, “America Rocks!”, “The USA Party”, etc.) 2) He can run in an existing 3rd party like the Libertarians or the Whig Party 3) He can become a (rather left leaning) Republican, which he should do now if he’s going to do it at all 4) He can try again for Democratic nomination with Bush out and the Iraq war over he has a chance.
Lets all realize that nuch ala ma’sos, he is STILL a democrat & a democrat REMAINS a democrat no matter what!
If he choses to run as a Republican (a RINO no doubt!) I sincerely hope he is beaten in the Primaries by a true Conservative.