Moveonner Left targets Joe Lieberman

One of the realities of Southern life is that your co-workers will probably be either apolitical or ditto head Rush Limbaugh devotees. Last year, I made the rare discovery of another Democrat in my workplace. While some rather major differences of opinion quickly surfaced, I welcomed having a co-worker to my left in a environment so dominated by followers of the Republican Party. My colleague "Hank" is a fairly typical Michael Moore kind of Democrat who watched "Fahrenheit 9/11" three times at the movie theatre and then purchased the video. He's not a bad person - just a little misguided. The day after the 2004 general election was a sad time for Democrats especially where I live. At my polling place, a vote for a Democrat ticket meant supporting a losing candidate in every race from President to local offices. After enduring much ridicule from gleeful Bush supporters on the job, I was glad to see Hank in the break room who was also disappointed in the election results. After a brief discussion of the election outcome, Hank smiled and said "at least Tom Daschle was defeated." It seems that Hank being the typical Michael Moore Democrat held a grudge against former Senate Democratic leader Daschle for having supported the Iraq war resolution. The fact it might be a long time before South Dakota elected another Democratic Senator was unimportant, it was critical in Hank's mind that the evil Daschle be driven from public life.
The Moveonner Left is now targeting Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) for a primary challenge because of his continued support of the war in Iraq. Like my co-worker Hank, these Democrats are more focused on the ideological purification of the Democratic Party than defeating Republicans. I do not always agree with Joe Lieberman but he is respected by individuals in both parties. While I differ with Lieberman's position on Iraq (I am in favor of a gradual withdrawal over the next two years) and support of free trade, I will also defend his right to challenge party orthodoxy. Resources wasted on challenging Lieberman could be devoted to defeating Republicans. It would be a real shame to risk losing a Democratic Senate seat in Connecticut due to the impact of a bitter primary.
If you accept the Daily Kos as the source of all truth, one could get the impression that Joe Lieberman is some kind of right-wing Republican masquerading as a Democrat. In reality, Lieberman's voting record suggests a somewhat left-leaning, centrist voting record. Lieberman received a 75 percent rating from the liberal Americans for Democratic Union. As a pro-business centrist, Lieberman got a 79 percent rating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Despite a generally favorable appraisal from business interests, Lieberman received a 84 percent pro- labor rating from the AFL-CIO. The non-partisan deficit hawks at the Concord Coalition gave Lieberman a 77 percent approval rating.
Democrats need to have a big tent policy in order to build the broad national coalition needed to become the majority party. If every hawkish Democrat like Lieberman is driven from the party, what message will be sent to voters who are focused on national security issues ? The purge of Joe Lieberman from the Democratic Party would be a destructive waste of resources that would suggest that moderates are not welcome in the party. My advice to the Democratic activists is to use reason rather than the raw emotion over the Iraq issue and leave Joe Lieberman alone.