January 17, 2004

WaPo Favors Lieberman

The Washington Post editorial staff has published a mostly favorable assessment of Senator Joe Lieberman, calling him the candidate "whose views align most closely with those of this page." Here's an excerpt:

Mr. Lieberman is progressive on most issues (abortion, the environment, gay rights) without being a captive of the party's orthodoxy. During three terms in the Senate, he has defied the teachers unions to support experiments with school vouchers and efforts to hold schools accountable for their performance, infuriated trial lawyers by supporting reasonable steps to rein in abusive lawsuits, and confronted Hollywood over gratuitous sex and violence. He's moderate on fiscal matters, combining one of the most progressively structured tax plans of the Democratic field with a pledge to limit the growth of most federal spending to the rate of inflation. He brings a deep commitment to civil rights, nurtured in marches in Mississippi while a college student. His assertive approach to national security contemplates U.S. intervention on behalf of democracy and human rights, not only in Iraq but throughout the globe. All this is a mixture that would serve him well in the Oval Office, even if it may be turning off some Democratic primary voters.

Lieberman has said and done much to earn my respect in the last few years. Even his abandonment of some of his principled positions in order to comport with the Democratic Party platform after having accepted the V.P. slot on the Gore ticket is understandable in my view. Sad, but understandable. I think he has campaigned with integrity and consistency in the race to this point. Which of course is why he's running way back in the pack. It's good to see mainstream liberal publications like the Post and The New Republic endorsing him.

For comparative purposes, here are the links to the Post's views on Dean, Kerry, Edwards and Gephardt

Posted by dan at January 17, 2004 09:53 PM
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