With all due respects to Duncan...

The normally-astute Duncan Black tries to trace the Lieberman sellout to 2004:

I'm really not sure I buy the "Joe got all pouty when no one wanted him to be president" theory. He was pretty wankerific before the presidential primary campaign heated up (and, of course, during it.)

Most of us would trace Lieberman's sellout of the party and its values to at least 2000, when he:

1. Allowed Dick Cheney to claim that "I tell you that the government had absolutely nothing to do with [his financial success at Halliburton]." It was only on October 9th--four days after the debate--that the Gore/Lieberman campaign responded, and

2. Did nothing in a timely manner during the Recount Time, most especially after the Republicans used out-of-state operatives to disrupt and delay the Dade County recount:

In a belated response to Wednesday's events, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman on Friday issued a meek appeal for the Republicans to curb their operatives' activities in Florida: "These demonstrations were clearly designed to intimidate and to prevent a simple count of votes from going forward," he said. "This is a time to honor the rule of law, not surrender to the rule of the mob." [emphasis mine]

What Connecticut--and the world--saw during the recount is the recurring Lieberman pattern: say too little too late, and only try to support Democratic values when they don't matter.

(cross-posted at Marginal Utility)