August 11, 2006
Precursors to the 2008 election? What happened to loyalty?
This past week should be a wake-up call for every member of the House and that one-third of the Senate up for reelection. We watched primaries in Connecticut, Michigan and Georgia where the incumbent was sent packing, and while both national parties are wildly spinning the results, it's plain to see that America is pretty fed up with Congress overall.
While national media paid closest attention to the defeat of Sen. Joe Lieberman (D, CT) in his primary run against anti-war candidate Ned Lamont, the defeats of Rep. Joe Schwartz (R, MI) and Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D, GA) give credence to the notion that voter
frustration isn't directed exclusively against Republicans as the party in power, but at incumbents overall. "Throw the rascals out" is emerging as the election rallying cry.
Keep in mind that in the recent Pennsylvania primary, the voters KO'd just about the entire state legislature leadership, again out of frustration with either a do-nothing reputation or an unwillingness to do what the voters want, rather than what the self-serving individual elected official wants.
In most polls I've seen that testify to the overall frustration with the most partisan, ineffective and unproductive Congress in recent memory, most folks tend to hold their own elected representatives outside that definition. But I think this week's primary results show that voters have reached the point where they're willing to vote change for the sake of change.
I find the most appalling example of ham-handed, narrow-minded and petty politics to be the Connecticut primary. Say what you will about Joe Lieberman's politics, the man is and has been one of the few class acts in the Senate for the last 18 years. He has been a strong advocate for Connecticut, generally voted with his Democrat brethren, was one of the national standard-bearers in the last election, but also had the strength of conviction to back the President on the war in the Mideast and the war on terror.
That's why the wholesale abandonment of Lieberman by his party's leadership is just so wrong, and so symptomatic of the greater problem: It's become the Party that's most important -- be you Democrat or Republican -- not the voter or even the institution of government. To cast aside the man who stood as the Democrat vice presidential candidate over a single issue in lieu of demonstrating strict party loyalty shows just how narrow the thinking of modern politicians has become.
I'm excited Lieberman is running as an independent. If he wins, it will send a strong message to both parties that to forgo humanity and loyalty in the race for political power will cost dearly. If he wins, perhaps it will inspire other well-meaning politicians to think about doing likewise, abandoning their myopic and perhaps outdated parties in favor of independent thinking and action.
Perhaps it is time to throw the rascals out.