With the planned retirement of U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in 2013, Connecticut businesses are losing a second, long-time advocate in Washington, D.C., following former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd”™s departure ”“ even as Gov. Dannel M. Malloy pressures federal agencies for a bigger share of funding.
Lieberman made his formal announcement in Stamford, where he was born and grew up before heading to Yale University.
In that speech, he only gave passing mention to his accomplishments to aid businesses ”“ most notably his work to keep the U.S. Navy submarine base in Groton open, after a Pentagon commission laid plans to close it at a cost of 30,000 jobs by some estimates.
And during the health care debate of 2010, Lieberman became a key swing vote after digging in his heels against any public option ”“ a measure that could have potentially harmed Connecticut”™s gauntlet of insurance companies.
While Lieberman sat on the Senate small business and entrepreneurship committee and co-sponsored some legislation, throughout his Senate career he appears to have more relished the roles he has played in defense and homeland security policy ”“ and his legacy as a senator is indelibly linked to those.
In several instances, however, he has fought hard in support of the business interests of Connecticut corporations, which at times has been a balancing act ”“ including this year as Congress continues to funnel funding for a supplemental engine co-designed by Fairfield-based General Electric Co. for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, despite Pratt & Whitney already having one on the books.
Lieberman has served 40 years in public office, 24 of them in the U.S. Senate. Elected a state senator in 1970, he would win the election for Connecticut attorney general in 1982. In 1988, Lieberman beat incumbent U.S. Sen. Lowell Weicker, and within a few years would win headlines for his early support of President George H.W. Bush”™s decision to push Iraq forces out of Kuwait. He would later support President George W. Bush”™s contention that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction as justification to invade and topple Saddam Hussein.
He was the running mate of Al Gore in his narrow presidential loss in 2000, the first vice presidential candidate in U.S. history to practice the Jewish faith. Lieberman announced his own candidacy for president in 2004, but quickly abandoned the campaign after failing to win in the initial round of state primaries.
His political career reached its nadir two years later, after he lost the Democratic nomination for his own Senate seat to political neophyte Ned Lamont. Lieberman hastily won a spot on the ballot as an independent and went on to win reelection thanks to support from Republicans in the general election, and two years later publicly campaigned in support of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Lieberman”™s political path appeared to meander in the waning years of his career, in a prepared statement announcing his retirement he said it was because he adhered so strongly to a core set of values.
“I have not always fit comfortably into conventional political boxes ”“ Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative,” Lieberman stated. “I have always thought that my first responsibility is not to serve a political party but to serve my constituents, my state, and my country, and then to work across party lines to make sure good things get done for them.”
Freshman U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is already pledging to attack tax loopholes that he says favor some corporations. As Lieberman”™s tenure comes to a close and Blumenthal new to his Senate tasks, the state”™s best allies for now may be its members of the U.S. House of Representatives ”“ and perhaps Malloy, who was in Washington for President Obama”™s State of the Union address while pleading the state”™s case for more transportation funding.
