Oh, the perils of blogging. Joe Lieberman’s communications director, Dan Gerstein, has some fundamental differences with his boss. In March of this year, Gerstein wrote on his now-dormant blog that “I disagree with Lieberman about the conduct of the war in Iraq” and that “I view Bush as one of the worst leaders in American history.”
Lieberman, of course, has been perhaps the most staunch Bush ally on the Iraq invasion and occupation among Democrats, and late last year he chided Democrats who questioned Bush’s judgement, saying that “[i]t is time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be Commander-in-Chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war we undermine Presidential credibility at our nation’s peril.”
Gerstein, who was writing to defend himself and his once and future boss against attacks from a Huffington Post blogger and apparently felt a need to delineate differences between himself and Lieberman to defuse charges that his was a reflexive defense of the Senator, obviously didn’t get the memo.
The significance of Gerstein’s comments? Not much, other than that he’s gone back to work for someone whose positions on the fundamental foreign policy issue of our time and the top issue in this election are the opposite of his own. And then’s there this: “Make no mistake, I don’t pull punches when analyzing the party’s problems — we’re in such deep denial I believe there is no choice but to provide a few shocks to the system.”
Hmmm … “shocks to the system.” Maybe something along the lines of booting out an incumbent senator who has spent much of the past several years undermining Democrats, supporting the greatest foreign policy blunder in modern US history and bolstering the credibility of the man Gerstein says is “one of the worst leaders in American history?”
Nah.
Ned Lamont’s crew can have a bit of fun with this.
NOTE: I originally identified Gerstein as Lieberman’s campaign manager. He is the communications director for the campaign.
