My hero this week is Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne. He was appointed by Bush to be the new Secretary of the Interior. He is my hero for a simple reason: I wouldn't want to be taking a job in the Bush Administration right now. That takes guts.


Ned Lamont of Connecticut is my hack this week. He is running against Joe Lieberman for U.S. Senate, probably my favorite Democrat. I have no problem with challenging incumbents in primaries. However, Senator Lieberman is a mainstream Democrat:

Yet if one puts Iraq aside for a moment, most of Lieberman’s record belies Lamont’s portrait of him as a Republican:

• He voted against Clarence Thomas in 1991 and against convicting President Clinton on impeachment charges in 1999.
• He voted “no” on Bush’s tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.
• The nonpartisan magazine Congressional Quarterly recently rated senators on party unity, assessing roll call votes in 2005 in which a majority of Democrats opposed a majority of Republicans. Congressional Quarterly rated Lieberman a 90 out of 100, only a bit less than Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s 92.
• The gay rights group Human Rights Campaign gives Lieberman an 88 out of 100 rating, a better score than 30 other Democratic senators.
• The leading environmental advocacy group the League of Conservation Voters, which mostly backs Democratic candidates, enthusiastically endorsed Lieberman last week and gives him a lifetime rating of 86 out of 100.

Seems like a wasted effort here.

Posted by Ryan S. on Friday, March 17, 2006 at 12:44 AM | Permalink |