I almost never write about politics here, but I feel compelled to say something about Joe Lieberman. The senator lost his primary campaign last night, so this morning he filed papers to run as an independent. That’s his prerogative, of course. But even though I like Lieberman (and agree with him on party-defying issues like school vouchers), I find the act itself a glaring example of the very type of politics he denounces.

Independent candidacies are fueled by ideas — by a cause or a concern or an argument that the two mainstream parties are neglecting. Think Ross Perot, John Anderson, George Wallace, and so on. Lieberman’s freshly hatched independent effort has no animating idea. He’s running because voters chose someone else for a job he thought belonged to him.

If Lieberman were running as an independent to argue that the Iraq war is a righteous cause, fine. If he were running as an independent to denounce the loony left of the Democratic party, alright. If he were running as an independent to try to ignite a centrist movement that declares a pox on both D’s and R’s, fantastic. (Heck, I’d sign up for that one.) But that’s not what’s going on here. Lieberman is just asking for a do-over. His candidacy seems fueled by little more than a career politician’s desire to stay in office.

Joe Lieberman may be a Democrat. But it looks like he ain’t a democrat. (Recall 2000 when he ran for both the U.S. Senate and Vice President in order to hedge his bets — even though a Republican governor would have selected his replacement had he become Veep.) Lieberman doesn’t believe in the will of the voters. He believes in his own entitlement to public office. What a shame. Okay. I’m done now.

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