Lieberman Plays It Safe
Come Nov. 8, in all likelihood, Joseph Lieberman will still have a government job. With his refusal to drop his Senate re-election bid, the only question is whether it's the job of vice president or that of a United States senator.
Friday was the legal deadline for him to drop from the Connecticut Senate race and make way for another Democratic candidate on the ballot. But Lieberman, who is way ahead in the polls, said emphatically that he would not drop out.
"I really think it would, in many ways, be an act of bad faith if I pulled out at this point," Lieberman said Thursday, noting that absentee ballots had already gone out in Connecticut. "I promised no October surprises, and there will be none."
Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano, the Republican challenger, called the decision "selfish."
"I think the people of the state of Connecticut ought to stand up and take notice that this man is not only being selfish in running for two offices, but he has taken the voters of Connecticut for granted by not participating in the democratic process," Giordano said Thursday.
Lieberman has campaigned one day in his home state since Al Gore chose him as his running mate in August.
Giordano has taken to calling Lieberman "No Show Joe" and last week staged a mock debate with a cardboard cutout of Lieberman. Giordano said voters should express their unhappiness over Lieberman's absence by voting Republican.
If Lieberman wins both the Senate race and the vice presidency, it will fall to Republican Gov. John G. Rowland to appoint a successor to serve until the next statewide election in 2002.
Democrats in charge of the Legislature have said they would pass a bill calling for a special election, but Rowland said he would veto it.
Lieberman expressed hope Thursday for a special election if he becomes vice president but said Rowland's stance did not deter him from maintaining both candidacies.
"The worst thing that would happen is there would be a special election in 2002," he said.
The two-term senator has said dropping out would be, in a sense, undemocratic because a small number of state Democratic party officials would be left to choose a replacement, without the benefit of a primary vote by citizens.
But former Sen. Bill Bradley said Lieberman should drop the Senate bid to show he is focused on winning the White House.
"It would be an irony if Al Gore wins the presidency and we lose the Senate by one vote," Bradley said Thursday in Seattle, where he campaigned for Gore.