Joe Calls it Quits – A Tribute to Sen. Lieberman

By Cliff Smith

Joe Lieberman, who has announced his intention to retire next year, is the only senator in the last 27 years to combine liberal fiscal and social views with hawkish foreign policy positions in the tradition of Harry Truman and Sen. Henry ‘Scoop’ Jackson.

It was during Harry Truman’s rise that a rift began in the Democratic Party.  He was arguably more hawkish and opposed to Communism than any of his peers, especially those in his own Democratic Party.  Truman’s role in the party was filled by Scoop Jackson.

Jackson was liberal on economic matters, moderate on social issues and unapologetically hawkish on foreign policy.  In fact, Jackson represented the right wing of the foreign policy debate during the Nixon-Kissinger years.  Although Jackson remained a loyal Democrat until his death in 1983, many of his aides and followers defected to the Republican Party.

For a short while, it seemed the Truman-Jackson tradition within the Democratic Party was finished.

But then came Joe Lieberman.  In his first campaign in 1988, Lieberman ran to the right of very liberal Republican Senator Lowell Wicker and won by a margin of 10,000 votes.  It took him a while to establish his footing, but his backing of a strong foreign policy and support for liberal economic policy fit within the Truman-Jackson tradition.

Although Lieberman was critical of President Clinton’s behavior in office, he generally backed the administration’s centrist views.  Lieberman was particularly forceful in his defense of Clinton’s use of force in the Balkans while Republicans, largely for partisan reasons, veered toward isolationism.  It was his independence and affability, while still sounding the right liberal notes, which earned him Al Gore’s attention and the VP slot in the 2000 presidential race.

After 9/11, Lieberman became one of the most articulate and unapologetic supporters of an aggressive foreign policy targeting radical Islam.  Meanwhile, his own party moved decisively in the opposite direction.  Regardless, Lieberman has consistently defended the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Because of his independence, he was stranded by the Democratic Party in the 2006 primary.  But since the Republicans put forth a ‘placeholder candidate’, Lieberman was able to win re-election as an Independent.

Lieberman wasn’t just disliked by the hard left.  He was loathed by the hard left in a way few politicians are loathed.  In fact, even in his retirement, few colleagues are being gracious.  There is little recognition for being the 60th vote on the most liberal heath care bill to ever pass in America, nor for his hard work to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the waning days of the 111th Congress.  Instead, he’s been condemned by the hard left as being nothing more than a political opportunist.

This is perhaps understandable, given endorsement of Republican John McCain for president.  But it’s also dead wrong.  Lieberman, far from being a political opportunist, has perhaps risked and given up more for his positions than conceivably any other politician in America.  And if Lieberman hadn’t stood by the Bush administration’s direction in Iraq and Afghanistan, he possibly could have become the Democratic Presidential nominee in 2004.  Furthermore, he wouldn’t have lost his 2006 primary challenge if it weren’t for his alliance with the Bush administration.

Lieberman is left without options.  He has alienated the left to the point that he actually boasts higher approval ratings among Republicans in his home state.  Yet, he couldn’t run as a Republican in 2012 due to his long history of economic liberalism, particularly his ObamaCare vote.   He could run as an Independent again, but Republicans are unlikely to nominate a mere placeholder candidate this next election.

Presidential nominee or not, Lieberman’s career leaves a significant mark on American politics.  Without his confident support for the surge in Iraq, it is very possible that the Republican minority in the Senate would have splintered and defunded or blocked the increased military commitment.  (It’s rumored that Republicans were one vote away from breaking apart before the surge started working.)

We know the rest of the story after the surge.  It put America on a path for success in Iraq and kept the tenuous nation from falling into a civil war.  For this, I consider Lieberman to be a hero.

Lieberman will leave the Senate in two years, with no heir to carry forward the Truman-Jackson tradition.  Farewell, Sen. Lieberman.  You will be missed.