Ned Lamont, the man who made Joe Lieberman an Independent, said today that Democrats in Connecticut are fuming about Lieberman’s public option posturing in the same way they were about the Iraq war back in 2006. That was the year Lamont soundly defeated Lieberman for the Democratic senate nomination, only to lose to him when Lieberman reentered the race as an Independent.
“National Democrats said [our race] was all about the war in Iraq,” Lamont told TPMDC this morning. “They said that except for that, Joe was a good Democrat.”
But with the health care vote and other matters, Lamont said, Lieberman has “not been working hard with Democrats to get universal health care as he promised. He’s been sort of obstructionist.”
In 2006, national Democrats figured prominently in the Connecticut senate race, but mostly on the side of Lieberman. During the primary, prominent Democrats, including Reid, encouraged Lamont not to run and stumped for Leiberman. Their claim was that Leiberman was a strong Democrat, despite his unpopular support for the war in Iraq.
Two years later, he was giving a speech at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis on behalf of the GOP’s presidential nominee, John McCain. Lieberman strongly endorsed McCain and was said to be his first choice for runningmate. Lamont said that Democrats in Connecticut haven’t forgotten it, despite Liberman’s causing with Democrats and his renewed promises to be a Democratic ally after McCain lost the ’08 race.
“I would think so, yes,” Lamont said when asked if Lieberman will face a strong challenge from his former party after his health care posturing.
For the record, Lamont said, had things gone differently in 2006, the Senator from Connecticut would not be standing in the way of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health care reform proposal. Though he remains an advocate of universal coverage, he said that health care proponents “can’t afford” to squander the chance at reform offered by Reid.
“Everybody would do things differently [if they were there,]” Lamont said, “But I think it’s a big step forward. I would vote for it, yes.”
As for the motivations behind Lieberman’s threats to stop the Reid bill if it is not significantly changed, Lamont wouldn’t speculate.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said. “But I would have thought that after all that transpired in the last year, he would have shared his concerns in private, rather than making all the public pronouncements against the bill.”
Correction: This post originally stated that President Obama stumped for Lieberman during the general election. That is false. Obama supported Lamont with at an email and public statements during the general. It is true that before and during Lamont’s run in the primary, he was seen as running against the wishes of the establishment Democratic party.
