The Hartford Courant Endorses Joe

posted on October 26th

The Hartford Courant, the largest newspaper in Connecticut, re-endorsed Joe today:

Three months ago, we endorsed Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in the Democratic primary because he is a much-needed diplomat in a warring Congress.

We still believe he is the right choice and warrants voter support on Nov. 7.

The three-term, 64-year-old senator lost the primary election in large part because of Democrats' anger over his support of President Bush's policy in Iraq. He is now running as a petitioning candidate. He remains a moderate respected in Congress for his talent in working across party lines.

This election is not solely about a war gone sour. There are critical domestic matters long simmering -- the solvency of Social Security, health care access, huge budget deficits and more…[And] it will take more members of Mr. Lieberman's ilk to restrain a free-spending, scandal-plagued Congress and an increasingly powerful president, or to turn attention to other urgent matters such as the environment and energy independence.

In 1991, Mr. Lieberman told a conference organized by the Heritage Foundation and the Progressive Foundation that "the old assumptions of the left and right are no longer working" and that the political system needed to embrace "a new consensus that drops ideology and replaces it with rationality." He has been true to this vision the past 18 years, earning bipartisan political capital that will be needed in the difficult six years ahead.

The Courant cites Joe’s solidly progressive voting record on domestic issues while applauding his ability to put people ahead of politics by working with Republicans like Senator John McCain and Senator Susan Collins on policies to improve our national security and protect our environment.

And despite Ned’s misleading attempt to caricature Joe into a Bush lackey, The Courant rightly reminds voters that this is untrue. The editorial points out that Joe hasn’t “given Mr. Bush…a free pass,” citing Joe’s harsh criticisms of the Bush Administration’s environmental record and his threat to subpoena Tom Ridge in 2002 when Bush refused to allow the then DHS Secretary to testify before the Government Affairs Committee.

The Connecticut people got an important reminder from the oldest most continuously published newspaper in America that Joe Lieberman is the only candidate in this race who has the experience, independence, and influence to get things done for them. We couldn’t agree more that Joe’s 18-years of experience have earned him the “bipartisan political capital that will be needed in the difficult six years ahead.”

------
Posted by: Eric Blankenbaker on 10/28/2006 at 1:16 PM