As if I needed another reason to desire the political demise of Sen. Joe Lieberman, I saw that his wife, Hadassah, last week took a job with p.r. firm Hill and Knowlton to lobby for the pharmaceutical industry.

You may remember Hill and Knowlton for their manipulation American of public opinion in 1990 with regards to invading Iraq. Hill and Knowlton fabricated the tale of Iraqi soldiers pulling Kuwaiti babies out of hospital incubators. (http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html)

Power couples like Joe and Hadassah illustrate the marriage of industry and government, and they also demonstrate the bankruptcy of the Democratic Party. Hadassah has appeared at many Democratic Party functions stumping for her presidential wanna-be hubbie.

For too long, no challengers have surfaced who could strip Lieberman of his senatorial splendor.

But last week, Professor John Orman, who teaches political science at Fairfield University, expressed his desire to unseat Lieberman.

Orman specializes in the presidency and pop culture, especially rock and roll music. And he used to agree with Joe Lieberman's policy stances.

Lieberman supported Orman in Orman's an ill-fated run for Congress in 1984 against Republican Stuart McKinney. Orman ran a liberal, bare-bones campaign, but lost to McKinney 70 percent to 30 percent (about 150,000 votes to 70,000).

Both in 1988 and 1994, Orman said he voted for Lieberman

"In 2000, I didn't, because he didn't tell me which of the jobs he wanted," Orman said, referring to Lieberman's hedged bet when he ran for both Senator and Vice President. Orman filed a complaint and the state ruled that Lieberman's dual candidacy was perfectly legal. Ethically, it stunk.

Orman decided to challenge Lieberman only this year.

"The thing that crystallized my thinking was that President Bush finished his State of the Union address and gave Joe Lieberman a kiss," Orman said. "It showed to me how close my Democrat Senator, Joe Lieberman, was to the President. I'm an old school Democrat. I believe Joe is a Republicrat."

The key to winning, Orman said, is taking a year to lay to groundwork to debate Lieberman about the direction of the Democratic party.

"I think for the future of our country, the parties have to be different," Orman said. "The Democratic party must be oppositional. It cannot be a party that seeks accommodation with the Republican agenda."

The recently passed bankruptcy bill that strips consumers of rights is a classic textbook example of Democratic appeasement of Republican corporate domination. Lieberman voted for it.

Not only do the College Republicans at Fairfield University volunteer for Lieberman, Orman said, Lieberman will have the support of the elected state Democrats like Sen. Chris Dodd, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and perhaps most importantly, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz.

Orman's strategy is to primary Lieberman in August 2006. If Orman fails to force that primary by garnering 15 percent of the delegates at the May 2006 Connecticut Democratic Convention, he will have three weeks to collect 12,600 petition signatures to force a primary.

That is more signatures than Ralph Nader needed to access Connecticut's presidential ballot in 2004. That 12,600 number comes from a challenger needing two percent of the last official number of state Dems (currently 650,000). He would need 6,000 additional signatures, because Secretaries of State usually invalidate a third of the signatures.

If Orman loses a close primary Ð say 51-49 percent Ð he said would consider entering the general election in November.

Until then, you have to be a Democrat to vote for him.

And once Orman's website is up and running, we'll tell you where it's at.

4/03/05

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For too long, no challengers have surfaced who could strip Lieberman of his senatorial splendor.

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Prof. Seeks to Unseat Lieberman

For too long, no challengers have surfaced who could strip Lieberman of his senatorial splendor.