| If the Liebercrats are seriously making an effort to snatch back the reins of the party, thus preventing further embarrassment to Holy Joe, they can do so simply by registering two people who could then out-vote Orman. Orman needs to guard his flank.
However, at the moment, Orman doesn't seem to have given much thought to building party membership. Over coffee and cake at Claire's Cornercopia, he explained that he sees the new CFL as a vehicle for bringing critics of Lieberman together to bitch and moan about Joe's stand on various issues (although, needless to say, those were not his exact words).
Thing is, it needs no political party to do that. In fact, such a forum exists and you're reading it. In fact, several such forums exist.
If the newly reconstituted Connecticut for Lieberman party is going to serve as a vehicle for holding Joe Lieberman and his traitorous supporters in the Democratic Party accountable for their actions, it needs to do so in a manner that only political parties can do -- namely, by fielding candidates, which entails some sort of selection process, which in turn presupposes warm bodies who are registered members of the party and who take an active interest in the party's affairs.
Certainly, having CFL candidates pop up in elections across the state would create, at the very least, some entertaining political theater. The more you turn it over in your mind, the more intriguing the notion becomes.
Orman, however, is uncertain how that might be accomplished. There is also a question in his mind as to whether CFL can run candidates for any other office besides the U.S. Senate. These are questions that Orman needs to get answered. Soon.
If Orman is going to build CFL party membership, at least to numbers that will make a recapture by Liebercrats unlikely (and after our chat he seems increasingly leaning in that direction), where will he get them?
Personally, I could not in good conscience urge any Democrat to switch. If you have enough energy to get involved in CFL, even if just to have a little fun and raise a little hell, then you have enough energy to get on your town DTC, where IMHO your hell raising will do a lot more good.
Perhaps what Orman needs is an outreach program to members of the Green Party or unaffiliated voters. At least that way, he isn't sapping the strength of the party to which, unless I am very much mistaken, he owes ultimate allegiance.
It's an intersting conundrum and it will be interesting to see how Orman and those who support him solve it. But until that happens and until CFL decides what it wants to be when it grows up, Connecticut for Lieberman 2.0 remains an interesting idea in search of a rationale. |
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