Connecticut Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, who escaped being stripped by Democrats of a major committee chairmanship due to President-Elect Barack Obama’s behind the scenes reconciliatory intervention, used an exclusive interview with CBS’ Katie Couric to make it clear he’s trying to mend fences with Democrats.
His basic argument is — what was he said in the past about Obama in his aggressive support of defeated Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is in the past. Now it’s a brand new day and maybe he shouldn’t have said some things he said…so let’s move on.
One problem with this argument that he makes here and McCain made in McCain’s 2008 presidential election concession speech: campaign rhetoric has grown increasingly demonizing, making supporters feel that unless they get to the polls the Republic’s very future could be at stake. And then — like magic — after the elections it boils down to a big, fat “Never mind! We didn’t really mean what we said!”
Will a new generation of voters follow in their gullible elders’ footsteps and bite the artificially baited polarization hook political party candidates traditionally dangle during election campaigns to motivate partisans — or will they see the artificially baited hook and the bait for what it is… and start swimming away on future election days?
The transcript of the Lieberman interview is HERE.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.