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- Written by: Rita Cormulley
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Our Opinion
The disturbing results of this week’s primary elections in Michigan and Connecticut confirm that, for both parties, these are impossibly difficult times for pragmatic moderates in the sensible center.
What a shame the trend in politics is so clearly moving toward the extremes and toward a greater entrenchment by the only people who will be left standing - party firebrands whose major qualification for the job is that they will fight the good fight even if it doesn’t do any good for the country.
We may even get to the point where there’s no such thing as a liberal Republican or conservative Democrat, and where ideological purity is an essential part of winning
.
That’s a sad place to be.
It’s where Republican voters find themselves in Michigan, where first-term Rep. Joe Schwarz lost his bid for re-election after being attacked from the right as not conservative enough.
The apparent deal-breakers for Michigan Republicans were Schwarz’s support for stem cell research, which inflamed pro-life activists, and what some considered his failure to hold the line against government spending, which angered anti-tax groups.
Then there is what happened in Connecticut, where three-term Sen. Joseph Lieberman was attacked from the left and ousted by Democrats for not being liberal enough.
There, the big issue was Lieberman’s unrepentant support for the Iraq war. Left-wing bloggers, Michael Moore devotees and Bush-haters decided to make an example out of Lieberman, and so they elected political novice Ned Lamont.
It is troubling that rather than looking at the overall public servant, both of these men were targeted by hot-button issues. Most Americans favor stem cell research, yet apparently in a partisan primary it can still serve as an effective firebomb as it did against Schwartz.
And while Lieberman got a kiss from Bush, they aren’t going steady. Aside from the Iraqi war, the Connecticut senator has voted against the president’s wishes on most major issues.
An undaunted Lieberman plans to run in November as an independent. The key to Lieberman’s chances are the 48 percent of Connecticut Democrats who voted for him and must decide whether to support him as an independent or support Lamont, the Democratic nominee, rather than risk losing the seat to the Republican if Lamont and Lieberman split the Democratic vote.
In an attempt to avoid that scenario, the Democratic establishment in Connecticut is already rallying around Lamont.
There will be the customary dancing in the streets by those on the far-right in Michigan and those on the far-left in Connecticut. The bullies in both parties will puff out their chests, and parade around as if they have accomplished some magnificent feat.
They need to think again. The purging of moderates and centrists isn’t good for the democratic process.
It only makes our political discussions more coarse, and our politicians more locked into the party orthodoxy. And it undermines the sort of across-the-aisle cooperation that tends to get things done by teaching elected officials that the way to stay in power is to stick with your own kind, stay on the attack, and put rhetoric before results. That’s exactly the wrong lesson.
Let the extremists dance and relish their victories in Michigan and Connecticut. But make no mistake, there is nothing here worth celebrating.
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- Written by: Rita Cormulley
- Category: Letters
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It’s been noted ad nauseum but apparently hasn’t reached the pinnacles of the Copley News editorial room: Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman didn’t lose his state’s primary because his constituents are too far to the left of the senator’s “centrist” position; he lost because he has effectively become a Republican insisting he’s still a Democrat.
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- Written by: Rita Cormulley
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This one reminds ash of the “liberal whiners” label which, as she observed, was selective at best. It’s been noted that conservatives tend to play victim as a tactic and so it is with this fellow, who somehow manages to wrap it in a supercilious tone. By the way, ash’s friend, whose politics are so congruent with ash’s that detractors often referred to them both (which is why ash eventually introduced herself), also replied, patiently explaining that various terms he used interchangeably are not, in fact, synonymous.
• Can just anybody write a column in the newspaper?
After repeatedly reading opinions from the same frustrated liberals, I feel like I have to respond. But first I wonder what the newspaper's policy is in allowing someone to write an article.
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- Written by: Rita Cormulley
- Category: Letters
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Few have accused me of optimism. That’s probably because I’m not an optimist. But recent indications from the newspaper, Internet, and cable news stations have been hopeful.
The President’s approval rating is steadily slipping.