Ask the people: Lieberman’s decision could sprout interesting questions

It’s going to be interesting to see what will happen now that Sen. Joseph Lieberman has decided that he is not going to let a Democratic primary loss slow down his attempt to keep his seat.

After losing to a challenger in the Connecticut primary last week, Lieberman announced that he would be running as a write-in candidate on the November ballot, with or without the support of his party.

And, not surprisingly, he does not have the support of his party. Democrats are already coming out of the woodwork to protest his decision.

The whole idea is interesting — a popular Democratic leader who is sent packing in the primary decides to take his candidacy straight to his constituents and to let them decide if they want him back in office or not.

Odd, yes, but still, intriguing. What’s wrong with the senator making sure that those who decided he should not be a candidate to return to the Senate were indeed representative of the feelings of his constituents?

Why should any party be afraid to let the voters make the final decision? Isn’t that what this process is supposed to be about anyway?

Sometimes it seems like politics factors too much into representation — that it is not so much what ideals you represent as a candidate that matters, but who you know or which group you can mobilize to pack the ballot box.

It is going to be interesting to see if politics really does begin at home — or if a national party can determine who voters can choose.

And it will be a battle worth watching.

Published in Editorials on August 14, 2006 10:28 AM