(Untitled)

[morekitsch]

Joe Lieberman is up for reelection in Connecticut. He's had the job for a while and has significant national name recognition, but his constituents are upset with him because of his steadfast support for the war in Iraq. The is apparently some doubt about whether or not he'll win the Democratic nomination. So, of course, a number of Republicans

Comments

[pmat]

Well, I won't argue your general point that trying to get a weaker opponent rather than a stronger candidate is ugly.

However, the democrats in Texas are getting a bit of an unfair representation in the reporting on this one. They are not suing to keep Delay on the ballot. They are suing to keep OFF the ballot a substitute, who would otherwise be on it without having to go through any of the normal processes (winning a primary, or collecting a bajillion signatures) required of everyone else on it. If you're going to have limits on how one gets on the ballot at all, they ought to apply across the board.

As for a two-party system, nobody mandates it. Anderson and Perot shook it up at the national level, Friedman and Strayhorn are shaking it up in Texas. It would be interesting to know why it persists so strongly in the US, though.

[morekitsch]

I was under the impression that Delay had made sure that he resigned in a way that current laws would allow for a replacement. I agree that it is unfair that he can esssentially choose a replacement after the primary. I think he is trying to make use of the laws that allow for a replacement if a candidate dies. I guess that the courts will decide if he did it correctly. My point is that there is a precident for appointing candidates in extraordinary situations. I would hope that "realizing you can't win" isn't a good enough situation, but if the law currently allows it we should focus on changing the law

[pmat]

If current plans continue to hold, I'll be in Texas for one to two weeks in late October and early November. Not any sooner, because (again if current plans hold) I'm getting new knees in between. And yes, catching up would be great :-)

[morekitsch]

Yay!

[ilana_gefen]

I can't say I am too familiar with the Lieberman issue. As for the Tom Delay affair, if he were to be taken off the ballot

[morekitsch]

I think B is most likely and I don't like it either. It may or may not be legal, and I guess the lawsuit will settle that. One point of clarification: the lawsuit is not seeking money, but is seeking to keep Delay from replacing himself on the ballot.

I think you and I probably agree that politics is much less inspiring that we'd like it to be, considering the people involved are all fighting for their ethical and moral causes.

[ilana_gefen]

re money seeking: my apologies. When I see "suing," I auto think of pressing charges in order to gain monetary compensation

[cmat]

(by what grounds can dems claim they deserve money?)

Duh? Are they suing for damages?? I thought they were just suing to keep the ballot replacement from happening.