Joe Lieberman willnot endorse Conneticut’s Democratic candidates for Congress, he announced yesterday.
Declaring himself a “non-combatant,” U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, in remarks at a New Haven press event Friday, raised anew the question of whether his “independent” candidacy will help Republicans hold onto three Congressional seats in Connecticut — and control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Lieberman — who after losing an Aug. 8 Democratic primary to Ned Lamont has launched a third-party bid to hold onto his seat in the Nov. 7 general election — was asked whether he still endorses Diane Farrell, Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy, three Democrats looking to unseat endangered Republican incumbents Chris Shays, Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson. “I’m a non-combatant,” Lieberman declared. “I am not going to be involved in other campaigns. I think it’s better if I just focus on my own race.”
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“It’s a little awkward for me now” to endorse the Democratic candidates in the general election, he said, “since they all endorsed my opponent,” Democratic primary winner Ned Lamont.
Indeed it would. Given that the Democratic Party is endorsing and funding his opponent–as it should; Lamont is after all the party’s nominee–it would be odd to expect Lieberman to nonetheless endorse them.
The only question, really, is why he continues to insist he will caucus with the Democrats if elected. Is it out of an odd sense of loyalty to a party that has abandoned him and that he has abandoned, at least temporarily, after being defeated in a far race for the nomination? Or is it just a tactical move to get 40 percent or so of the Democratic vote?
