On Tue, 8 Aug 2000, Nathan Newman wrote:
> Quite true. And to the extent that Lieberman shares Clinton's general
> policies (which he does), voting for Lieberman is like getting Clinton
> while condemning him - the ultimate having your cake and eating it too.
> Or so Gore hopes at least :)
That's true. But wasn't Gore's first choice Gephardt, who turned him down? That makes it look as if his main intent was to secure his left from Nader. This makes me think that one of the ideas behind choosing Lieberman is that it can be counted on to set off some anti-semitic crazies. Thanks to the internet, those people will publish something nasty in an accessible place, and the Gore campaign will parade it at just the right time to cement the left of the party behind him: see the two parties really are different, they'll say. Such an event would mobilize the democrats and demoralize the republicans, who've done their best to prove those people have nothing to do with them.
Furthering that strategy is the fact that Lieberman, while being to the right of Gore on economic issues and moralism, is golden on the two issues that really push left democrat buttons, namely abortion & the environment. Not to mention that such people are probably mildly jazzed about the idea of the first Jewish Vice President just as they were about the first woman. Just on general principle, despite their better judgment.
So Lieberman gives Gore both the right and the left. I dunno. The more I think about it, the more I think this is kind of a brilliant choice. It's certainly the first bold or interesting thing Gore's ever done, and that in itself gives him a bounce.
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com