Kiss of Death : The plight of Joe Lieberman

I've been a fan of Joe Lieberman for many years . In fact I voted for him when he ran on the ticket with Al Gore. But Lieberman made a tactical decision to support Bush's war in Iraq and he is now paying the price for it. Watching the debate it was easy to tell who the seasoned politician was. Ned Lamont did indeed have the look and feel of a amateur. However Lieberman's continued support of the war in Iraq is nothing short of treasonous to the Democratic party. As long as Joe Lieberman remains the democratic senator from Conneticut the Republicans will always be able to point to him as the so-called voice of reason within the Democratic party. He , along with Senator Hillary Clinton , allows the Republicans to give this unpopular war at least the appearance of bi-partisan support. This is why the Republicans love him. They need Lieberman. Without Lieberman, Clinton and others like Ben Nelson , the Republicans will be forced to bear the responsibility and the blame for this war themselves as they should . This enrages the many voters who hate this war. Lieberman cannot seem to understand this. He and his good friend John McCain can bitch and moan all they want about the lack of " civility" in politics these days , but the fact remains that there is no place for " civility " when 2,500 plus of our troops have died in this farce. For him to continue to support this war even in the face of what looks like a civil war in the making is not principled , as he repeatedly argues, its preposterous. It shows an inability to admit that he was and continues to be wrong about this. Any Democrat who still thinks going to war in Iraq was a good idea will not get my vote. And that includes Senator Clinton. For Clinton and others like her supporting the war is a tactical decision. The idea is to stick close to the Republicans positions so they cannot criticize you for being a weak-willed Democrat who doesn't have the will to support the War on Terror. But tactical decisions is not what this country needs today. We need leadership. Part of being a leader is being able to admit mistakes and change course. Leadership is about courage , and that's a virtue Lieberman has shown little of in the last 5 years. For this alone he should be shown the door.