Seantor Joe Lieberman is regarded by his partisan comrades as a pariah, because after several trips to Iraq, he is defending the position of the United States in the War. No other Democrats in leadership are doing so. Instead, they are pandering to the MoveOn cut-and-run faction in the very hours before the Iraqis vote for their own government.
The Washington Post reports that:
Many Democrats were appalled by Lieberman’s comments, although few were willing to reprimand him publicly.
“Senator Lieberman is past the point of being taken seriously in the caucus because everything he does is seen as advancing his own self-interest, instead of the Democratic interest,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide, who described discontent in that chamber as “widespread.”
The only hint of “self-interest” here would be the possibility of becoming Donald Rumsfeld’s replacement as SecDef. This is what the members of the party who nominated Leiberman for Vice-President think is a plum job? Is a refusal to “reprimand him publicly” a statement of the principle they will apply to Al-Zarqawi if they can force a timetable for retreat in Iraq?
If the discontent is “widespread”, why don’t they give it voice? Because it doesn’t serve their self-interest.
The self interest here is all on the Democrat Party side. Lieberman has had the courage to resist it instead of riding it for purely political gain. It’s easy to see who’s “past the point of being taken seriously.”