"Someone who is concerned merely with seeming to be reasonable"

Hilzoy identifies the crucial problem with Lieberman, and identifies another classic example of Holy Joe putting himself above the party that I had forgotten:

Prizing genuine pragmatism, reasonableness, and statesmanship is a good thing. Prizing your reputation as a pragmatic, reasonable, statesmanlike politician is something else entirely…

This, I think, is what bothers people about Lieberman: that when push comes to shove, he is more concerned with his reputation as one of the reasonable people who rises above mere partisan bickering than with principle, and that this leads him both to trash his own party (since, of course, a Democrat can only establish his bipartisan bona fides by embracing Republican positions and criticizing Democrats), and to compromise even when compromise is wrong. His obvious flirtation with the idea of leaving the party can only strengthen this impression.

As a friend of mine reminded me recently, this isn’t the first time Lieberman has placed his own narrow interests above those of the party. Back in 2000, when he was nominated to be Al Gore’s running mate, he had to decide whether to continue running for his Senate seat. Had he withdrawn, the Democrats would have been able to nominate someone else, and that person would almost certainly have won. If he stayed in the race and Gore won the Presidency, however, Connecticut’s governor would have named his replacement; and since Connecticut’s governor was then a Republican, Lieberman’s replacement would have been a Republican as well.

Which, of course, is why this alleged man of principle won’t rule out a destructive third-party run. Which shouldn’t stop anyone from voting for Ned Lamont. (Check out part 2 as well.)