Lieberman gets out the vote in 2006 (photo via Lieberman 2006)

Reconcile the guy who wants to filibuster health care reform if he doesn’t get the bill he likes with the guy running for re-election who said all this:

WASHINGTON — After spending most of his Senate career advocating piecemeal health care reforms, Joseph I. Lieberman said Wednesday he strongly supports universal health care.

Lieberman devoted a conference call with reporters to an issue that his main rival in the U.S. Senate race, Democratic nominee Ned Lamont, has highlighted in recent days.

“I have long supported the goal of universal health care,” Lieberman told reporters. “Ned Lamont can talk about it. I’ve been doing something about it all the time I’ve been here.”

In reality, Lieberman has a long record of killing health care reform, opposing reform bills since the beginning of the Clinton Administration. But when his job security was threatened in 2006, he stepped up as a “strong supporter” of universal health care.

Lieberman has claimed that his rejection of health care reform has nothing to do with the fact that his home state of Connecticut has the highest concentration of insurance jobs in the United States. But he keeps going back to not wanting to add to the federal budget deficit, which is a complete dodge since even the President has vowed not to sign a bill unless it’s deficit-neutral. It’s a way for Lieberman to talk about his opposition without having to say he is protecting powerful interests.

A lot of this is posturing, of course. Lieberman wants to say he’s against the bill “as it stands now” to get some goodie or another out of it in the future. And if he allows the motion to proceed, we’re many weeks away from his ultimate decision. But make no mistake – Joe Lieberman has been an enemy of health care reform practically since his election to the US Senate.

UPDATE: And if the White House really has no quarrel with Reid and is four-square behind his strategy, they can prove it by leaning on Joe Lieberman to allow a final vote on the bill. After all, he owns the bill now, as Sherrod Brown said today.

The campaign of Sen. Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., agreed to pay a $50,000 civil penalty after the Federal Election Commission concluded that the campaign repeatedly flouted the law in disbursing cash payments to volunteers during Lieberman’s bruising Democratic primary against businessman Ned Lamont in 2006.

The FEC opened an investigation in late 2006 after Lamont’s campaign lodged a complaint alleging that Lieberman was using a "slush fund" to fuel his campaign in the waning days of the primary. Lamont’s campaign cited more than $387,000 in unexplained expenditures listed only as "petty cash."

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The FEC recently posted on its Web site a conciliation agreement with the Friends of Joe Lieberman showing that the case had been settled with the campaign’s decision to pay the civil penalty.

According to the conciliation agreement, federal campaign law allows a political committee to maintain petty cash fund for disbursements "not in excess of $100 to any person in connection with a single purchase or transaction." The treasurer, the law says, must keep a record of all petty disbursements, the date, purpose and identity of each recipient.

The agreement says that the Lieberman committee made cash payments to 1,003 canvassers totaling $344,496 for get-out-the vote activity. The agreement says: "In making the payments, the committee withdrew very large amounts of cash from its bank account on 14 separate occasions and gave the money to campaign consultants and volunteers who put cash in envelopes that were disbursed to canvassers, frequently in amounts well in excess of $100."

To answer your question. . . yes, I’ve thought of that.

I don’t like "electability" arguments to begin with because they are usually employed to enable the privileged (like Caroline Kennedy, who Reid also supports) and marginalize non-establishment candidates.   But in this case, it was just a complete load of bollocks.

As Nate Silver demonstrates, a Rasmussen poll from December 4 put Jesse Jackson Jr. in essentially a three-way tie with Lisa Madigan and Tammy Duckworth within Illinois. But there’s more to running a race than name recognition, and as Howie Klein notes, Duckworth was a truly terrible candidate:

What makes Tammy Duckworth, who has never won an election to anything, "electable" and Jesse Jackson, Jr., for example, not electable? Nevada voters have never elected an African-American to any statewide offices but Illinois voters certainly have. In November Jackson won re-election with 89% of the vote, the highest percentage of any Illinois incumbent from either party. IL-02 is about 60% African-American so apparently he has some appeal to non-African-American voters as well. As for Duckworth… what is she aside from a creature of Rahm Emanuel who– like Emanuel himself– was used to derail a progressive candidate? (They both won bitter primaries with bundles of cash.)

Unlike Emanuel, though, Duckworth lost her general election race, despite outspending her Republican opponent $4,556,495 to $3,302,702, virtually all of that coming through the good graces of Emanuel, who sacrificed at least 3 viable Democrats around the country so he could funnel DCCC money to Duckworth’s useless campaign. But Harry Reid has decided she is viable? Because she’s white? A pro-war Emanuel puppet? What the hell is this all about? Has Reid lost his marbles?

Matt Renner’s special report for Truthout details what happened in 2006 when Rahm Emanuel, as head of the DCCC, didn’t like anti-war candidate Christine Cegelis running in IL-06 so he recruited Duckworth (who didn’t live in the district) to run against her. I believe the word "unelectable" was used about Cegelis at the time, too.

Rahm poured tons of money into the race and the Democratic establishment did everything they could to sabotage Cegelis. She still held her own against Duckworth, ultimately losing 40-44. (It would take Ned Lamont’s defeat of Joe Lieberman in the CT primary to prove just how wrong Rahm et. al. were about the "unelectability" of anti-war candidates in 2006, thus freeing up Democrats across the country to run successfully against the war and their Republican opponents. But that came too late to help Cegelis.)

As Howie notes, Duckworth ultimately lost the seat to her Republican opponent despite a huge cash advantage (courtesy of the DCCC) largely because people didn’t like the fact that she was from out of the district. As Nate says, "The fact of the matter is that Illinoisans have gotten to see an awful lot of Tammy Duckworth, and they simply don’t like her all that much."

Tammy Duckworth is the very definition of "unelectable" — i.e., she couldn’t get elected, even with Democratic leadership determined to fill her coffers with cash and jam her into office. Well, you can say one thing for them, they never give up.

In light of Reid’s contention that Duckworth was "electable" while Jesse Jackson Jr. wasn’t, blogs like Jack & Jill Politics, JammieWearingFool, Blackfive, Open Left, and Field Negro are raising valid questions.

As Markos says, "It’s not as if Illinois doesn’t have a history of electing African Americans to the Senate."

While our Blue America czar Howie Klein is away, I thought we could surprise him with a thank you post for all he has done over the last few years.

Howie and our other Blue Am folks have organized us to nominate, publicize, and support dozens of progressive candidates. Many of these outstanding candidates are now serving in the U.S. Congress, including some who lost in 2006 but came roaring back in 2008, and others we think can win in 2010.

Look at the landscape a month from now: Rep. Donna Edwards – Rep. Larry Kissell – Labor Secretary Hilda Solis – Senator Jeff Merkley – Rep. Alan Grayson – Rep. John Hall – Rep. Martin Heinrich – Rep. Tom Perriello – a long list of Blue Am candidates who weren’t given much of a chance til a small group of visionary people came along and insisted.

Even the races we lost produced fruit, by showing that we could provide instant national publicity for progressive candidates.  And our support for good folks in unlikely races has helped interest local people get organized to make things better in the future.  

We electrified the Alaska Democratic Party in 2005-2006 by pouring in money and attention when the local folks thought they didn’t have much of a chance, and Senator-elect Begich is the beneficiary this year.

This year’s elections were so dominated by the presidential run that we might not have taken the time to reflect on just how far we’ve come with state and local races.  And this has taken leadership and commitment, so much work behind the scenes.

Join me in thanking Howie and the Blue Am team for all they have done! 

Thomas Suozzi

If you don’t follow New York politics, you might think that it’s unusual for the powers that be to try and hand someone high office. Not so much. One of the other candidates for Senator Clinton’s seat, Mr. Suozzi (also the scion of a Democratic dynasty) had a brush with the invisible hand back in ‘06, when one of Mr. Giuliani’s top fundraisers supported him against Mr. Spitzer as the Democratic candidate for Governor. 

Mr. Suozzi (and Mr. Langone) also had a friend on the Democratic side of the aisle in their battle against the enormously popular Mr. Spitzer: our own (and the DSCC’s) Senator Schumer

Sen. Charles Schumer is secretly encouraging Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi to challenge Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for the Democratic nomination for governor, insiders have told The Post.

Schumer’s backing of the just-re-elected Suozzi — which includes informal advice on strategy and fund-raising — results from a long-standing rivalry with, and a deep personal dislike for, the high-profile Spitzer, Democratic Party insiders say.

…

Party insiders also said Schumer, who has strong ties to many leading Wall Street bankers, has also objected to some of Spitzer’s aggressive prosecution of investment-banking firms and insurance-industry executives.

So why would Senator Schumer do that? Well, he was never a big fan of Wall Street regulation (the Times provides us with an extensive list of regulations Mr. Schumer has helped kill – sometimes with the help of Sen. McCain’s friend Mr. Gramm – although he says now that he thinks some minor regulations would be OK, as long as they don’t restrict Wall Street).

But there were other rewards

Mr. Schumer became a magnet for campaign donations from wealthy industry executives…

As a result, he has collected over his career more in campaign contributions from the securities and investment industry than any of his peers in Congress, with the exception of Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzed federal data. (By 2005, Mr. Schumer had so much cash in reserve that he shut down his fund-raising efforts.)

Ms. Kennedy has, I heard, hired Sen. Schumer’s former chief of staff for her own big-money bid. Welcome to NY.

I do like what A Tiny Revolution has to say about it

Unlike [Blagojevich], [Schumer] understands the subtle difference between a senator’s seat and a senator’s soul: the first one you buy; the second one you sell.

Indeed.

I guess we’ll just wait until after the confirmation hearings to hear where our senior Senator scents the best price.

California voting is open until 8pm pacific time. You absolutely must go vote right now if you have not. The exit polling for Proposition 8 is very, very tight.

We cannot allow the religious fundamentalists to win in California tonight as the country celebrates the end of these awful Bush years.

Please, please, please go VOTE NO ON PROP 8.

Thank you.

We were way down in the polls and I was busy leaving messages on answering machines when a young volunteer came bounding into my rabbit warren and announced breathlessly, "Paul Newman is on the line." A little skeptical, I shot back that I was on the line with Vladimir Putin so hold all calls, but our savvy volunteer suggested that this was a call worth taking.

"Thanks for calling, Mr. Newman," I parried.

"Cut the Mr. Newman crap, it’s Paul," was his opening line — unmistakably the real deal.

Warming up to the task, I got right to the ask –  ads, robocalls, direct mail, fundraisers, autograph.  He said that he was a little hesitant since he had done a little work for John Kerry and that a WSJ blog had immediately called for a boycott of Newman’s Salad Dressing, which funded his Hole in the Wall Gang charity.  But Paul never sat on the sidelines and he later said, "I hate those things, but let’s do the automatic telephone call."

Before you can say "Cool Hand Luke" we had drafted up a short script, which he said was crap and he would do his own.

He wrote something up and then called around Connecticut, pretending to be a robocall and judging the reaction. He called back with the results: a couple of no answers, two answering machines, and one guy who shouted, "Hey Marge, there’s some kook on the phone pretending to be Paul Newman."

I sympathized, noted that I had developed a close personal relationship with hundreds of answering machines around the state, and he said ok. He liked writing his own scripts, and later did a TV ad where he called me ’spunky,’ not senatorial, just spunky, and towards the end of our campaign he ad libbed a radio ad where he accused Joe Lieberman of sneaking off with his Ned Lamont for Senate lawn sign in the back of Lieberman for Senate Hummer. Let’s make sure that his Hole in the Wall Gang charity does not suffer from Paul’s indiscretions.

To me, Paul was Cool Hand Luke, challenging the good ol’ boys and the conventional wisdom, with a delighted twinkle in his eye.

We’ll miss you, Mr. Newman.

Photo of Markos Moulitsas, Ned Lamont and
Jane Hamsher by Hekebolos

Ned Lamont visited the Big Tent today. He’s kinda like Mick Jagger for bloggers. With the serious possibility that Joe Lieberman will be McCain’s VP choice, it was great to see Ned and celebrate the fact that together,  two years ago, we kicked Joe out of the Democratic party.  (We’ll have video up tomorrow.)

 I have to admit I’m rooting for Lieberman now to be McCain’s running mate.

I’ve considered it carefully, and I’ve decided that forcing the Democratic oppo shops  to research his ugly record on Alito, energy, Homeland Security oversight, etc.  and show that he wasn’t, in fact, "with us on everything but the war" is worth the price of having his sanctimonious puss on TV 24/7.

Of course the comity pimps of the party will still run around saying he’s "a great man," but it would be satisfying to watch the party machinery forced to turn against him nonetheless and admit what we all know two years ago.

We were f*&#ing right.

Standing behind a lectern in Michigan this week, with two trusted senators ready to do his bidding, John McCain seemed to forget for a moment that he was only running for president.

Uh-oh, it looks like somebody’s in danger of not getting to sit on McCain’s lap:

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says he talks to McCain, a personal friend, several times a day. McCain’s top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was until recently a paid lobbyist for Georgia’s government. McCain also announced this week that two of his closest allies, Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), would travel to Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi on his behalf, after a similar journey by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice…The episode also follows months of sustained GOP criticism of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who was accused of acting too presidential for, among other things, briefly adopting a campaign seal and taking a trip abroad that included a huge rally in Berlin.

And results similar to Rice too, no doubt, as the Russians have gotten all they wanted…and they’ll keep it.

Say, it sure would be interesting to know when these "daily" talks started and what they were comprised of? I’m pretty sure even the GOP cannot assert a "Presidential Candidate" privilege. Especially since the criticism of Russian actions shouldn’t cause us to completely ignore the fact that Saakashvili is a bit of a rouge and a chunk of moron himself.

This video of McCain the other day sums up the whole … "John McCain Experience" — if you’ve seen a more pathetic campaign stop since "Bob Dole Stagediving" you’ve watched entirely too much C-Span:

Which, if you’re like me — and I know I am, reminds you not so much of any other candidate but this:

Today we salute the residents of Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, people in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Yesterday they elected one of the most outstanding people any of us has ever met who is willing to be a public servant. You have done yourselves a great service and you have done this nation a great service.

I also want to thank the approximately 1,800 Blue America donors who contributed $6,600 to Donna’s campaign in 2006, and then came back this year and helped fuel her grassroots campaign with another $62,868. Donna has told me that without our immediate help after the narrow but heartbreaking defeat in 2006 she might not have been able to make it back for her smashing victory this year.

And make no mistake, this is a victory of monumental importance. Today’s Washington Post mentions that Donna is the first African-American woman to represent Maryland in Congress and that is a great milestone for that state. But I was thinking of something else when I mentioned "monumental." Donna Edwards is an archetypal progressive leader– a human game changer– who epitomizes what Blue America is all about. I have every confidence that she is bound for glory– or, more likely the U.S. Senate– but as a congresswoman I expect that she will be, like a handful of representatives, someone who is working full time for ordinary Americans– and not just working, but working smart. I was just a child when I met JFK, and not much older when I worked for RFK, and I’ve met my share of politicians– and then some– since. But I have to say that I’ve never met anyone as committed to solid values and principles who’s even considered running for office. On top of that, Donna is one of the most strategically-minded people I ever met.

Today is a great day for Maryland, a great day for Blue America and a great day for the United States of America. We need more progressive leaders like Donna Edwards. As part of the insidious incumbent protection program, Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi worked hard to defeat Donna. But Hoyer celebrated with her last night and Nancy plans to swear her in tomorrow.

Edwards said her first order of business will be a bill that would increase the minimum wage and tie it to inflation. She has also promised that until her bill or a similar one is enacted, she will donate her congressional pay raise to a scholarship fund for 4th District graduating seniors who are continuing their education. While Edwards would like to sit on the same congressional committee as Wynn– Energy and Commerce– there are no openings, so she says she would be interested in Education and Labor or Transportation and Infrastructure, both useful positions for a district with a substantial union base that also has traffic problems.

Yesterday we raised over $70,000 in one day to help hold Steny Hoyer accountable for betraying the Constitution, the Democratic Party and the American people. I would so much rather use that money to elect more progressive candidates like Donna, but unless we let our elected leaders know that we expect them to work for us, not for the corporations and not for criminals like Bush, we will exist in a netherworld between democracy and fascism forever.

If you want to help us make Steny Hoyer wish he had never thrown his lot in with Bush and Cheney, here’s the page. If you would like to help a progressive candidate defeat a corrupt and reactionary Democratic stooge (like Al Wynn, but much worse), please donate to Georgia state Senator Regina Thomas here. Or if you want to just put your money into retiring exceptionally bad Republicans, you can find a whole gaggle of them on our Blue America page– from James Inhofe (R-OK), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), David Dreier (R-CA) to Scott Garrett (R-NJ) and Tim Walberg (R-MI)– where we are helping solid progressives like (respectively) Andrew Rice, Debbie Cook, Vic Wulsin, Russ Warner, Dennis Shulman and Mark Schauer replace them.

But pat yourself on the back today because progressive America won a huge victory over the Insider power elite and you have been part of it. Thank you.