Sarah Palin is to Republicans What Joe Lieberman is to Democrats
Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman appear with former Governor Sarah Palin on Septmber 22, 2008 in Media, Penn. (William Thomas Cain/Getty)
Senator Joe Lieberman was on Fox News Sunday this week speaking on the Ft. Hood tragedy proclaiming his committee was going to “investigate” what he believes is “the most destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11.” So, instead of what would usually and regretfully be called a “fragging” or “friendly fire” or some other euphemism, Lieberman used the Republican Party line to define our two wars as Holy Wars. Any act by a Muslim is a terrorist act. We are in a crusade against evil. Therefore Muslims are evil. We’re good, they’re bad.
Then the Senator from the great state of Connecticut is asked about the Health Care Reform bill. Lieberman brushes up against yet another GOP talking point and says, “The public option plan is unnecessary. It has been put forward, I’m convinced, by people who really want the government to take over all of health insurance.” Government takeover of health care. Raise taxes. More debt. You lie.
As I was watching the interview, I thought to myself, ”Wow this schmuck came dangerously close to being one heartbeat away from the presidency.”
Then it occurred to me: Joe Lieberman is the Left’s Sarah Palin.
Now stay with me here. No need to think of Joe in high-heeled boots with a prop baby on his hip. These two folks share roles in their respective parties, not wardrobes.
Both personalities are failed veep candidates and now both have this swarm of melodrama around them as much as possible. Neither can be taken on their word: Palin has a track record of not showing up to events that have advertised her as a speaker, Lieberman has a track record of saying he’s a Democrat.
Sarah goes “mavericky.” Joe goes “GOPy.”
Sarah has an uncanny ability to make it all about her. Who knows why we’re still talking about her. She can’t even get it together enough to get her own website built so the nation flutters over her Facebook status. Joe has an uncanny ability to make it all about him. When the Democrats won the White House, and bigger House and Senate majorities in ‘08 somehow he became the story. Apparently campaigning against your own party is noteworthy to the press.
Do the Republicans like Sarah Palin? Well, sure some of them do. They like the fact that other people like her. She’s more popular because she’s popular. Which is the same assessment I give for American Idol’s ratings. But really, conservative intellectuals agree she does more harm than good to their cause.
Do Democrats like Joe Lieberman? Well he’s been a senator for 20 years, so unlike Sarah Palin, he’s actually been re-elected. He has run for president a couple of times. Someone had to have donated money to keep up the “Joementum.” Joe is liked most now because he’s the super majority. He’s the 60th senator who sometimes says he’s a Democrat and sometimes an “independent” (code for Republican in New England). He’s needed. And when he’s needed he acts out, goes on Fox News Channel and “goes rogue” boasting about his conscience.
When Sarah Palin was needed by her party, she doesn’t have a party. Her most recent act of gratitude to her GOP supporters was to support the Conservative candidate in New York’s 23rd District special election. And the result was the Republican Party losing yet another seat in the House.
So the Democrats are waiting on what Joe will do or say next. The Republicans are wondering if a Sarah Palin endorsement isn’t magic to the opposition. But what it really means is that both major parties are being held hostage by their least predictable (think unstable) minorities.
Which is not democratic. It’s dramacratic.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tina Dupuy, James Mitchell. James Mitchell said: RT @TinaDupuy: Im wondering if I just didnt coin the term "dramacracy" http://bit.ly/bSxVx |Maybe, I see DramacraZy in google search. [...]
Ms. Dupuy,
I see your point but there is one big problem with your blog. You wrote: “Then it occurred to me: Joe Lieberman is the Left’s Sarah Palin.” Mr. Lieberman is not “left”, he has been rather conservative and has acted pretty much like a Republican. I know that you were trying to create some sort of parallelism and that is all fine and good but it does not really work in this case. While Mr. Lieberman can and does make everything about him, that is hardly a quality unique to either Ms. Palin or Mr. Lieberman, it is really a necessary quality for any successful politician.
There is a saying in the acting business (which includes politicians and lawyers) “The key to success is sincerity. If you can fake, you can succeed at anything.” Lying and being insincere are likewise necessary qualities for politicians but most are not every good at it. Most avoid saying anything at all to avoid being insincere for this very reason. It is difficult to construct a lie that works for large numbers of people, a multitude of lies are generally needed which are often contradictory to each other. This creates tension in the liar which is often communicated unintentionally to the audience. A dangerous situation which is easily avoided by making no definitive statement of any kind.
What Ms. Palin does better than anyone else is say things that are completely untrue with complete sincerity and honesty. Her audience can sense this quality and they respond positively to it. She can do this because she actually believes everything she says. When she said that she was opposed to ear-marking Federal funds for specific local projects (i.e. “Pork Barrel”) she really believed that. That she might be the governor of the state with the highest ratio of pork barrel dollars to citizen (twice as much as the next closest state) and that she herself might have requested and engineered such funding caused her not the slightest confusion or tension. The two issues are completely unrelated, it is just another example of the liberal media ganging up on the good simple Christians people of Alaska. Whatever it is she is saying at the moment she really and sincerely believes and that it might contract something she really and sincerely said five minutes earlier or that it might make no sense whatsoever is not a problem. This is why her fans love her.
This is Mr. Lieberman completely lacks, he totally believes in nothing except re-election. He is completely unconvincing when he explains why he says he will filibuster the health care reform bill. He is doing it because the insurance industry, largely based in Hartford, is against it and it shows. His lack of true belief and sincerity positively pours out of the very pores of his skin.
Ms. Palin truly believes everything she says while Mr. Lieberman truly believes nothing he says.
Written with style Tina. But I promise you. No liberal ever mistook Joe Lieberman for having his roots in the Left. He never did.
There has been no evidence a government heath-care program is needed as a solution to the health-care problems nor is there any evidence it won’t cost a bundle and drive other providers out of the industry.
Think medicare. It under pays providers by a substantial sum and is loosing money and has an unfunded liability of around 37 trillion dollars. Social Secuity was well run during its first decade. Congress got a hold of it soon thereafter. It’s going broke and has another multi trillion dollars unfunded liability.
The major problems in health care are caused by government: one is the employer provided health care. Second the state mandates and small markets. Third medical legal actions are heard in common courts rather than specialized court. Fourth medicare, medicaid and the other government run heath programs. There are others, but these four cause a dysfunctional health-care industry structure, and it is highly regulated today.
These problems are not addressed in the health-care plans. The health-care industry is impeded by this poor structure.
These structural problems need solution. A public healh-care plan does not address the solution issue and most likely will make matters worse. In a few years, it will become one of the critical health-care problems.
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