I've been easier on Lieberman than some of my fellow travelers, but his recent remarks against Gore and his announced intention to run a "me too" campaign that will be about as effective as his "me too" debate with Dick Cheney demonstrate a few things:
1) His lack of loyalty alone makes him undeserving of support.
2) He seems to believe he can win a presidential campaign by running against fellow Democrats. While this is an inevitable necessity in a contested primary, this early in the game it is a bizarre attempt to position himself as a George Bush Democrat.
3) Coming out fighting like this might signal his intention to run even if Gore does, which he had promised not to.
4) Raise all the money you want Joe, you'll be about the first to drop out of the primaries. Why bother?
Joe Conason has some similar remarks:
One possible pleasure of the 2004 presidential primaries would be watching the swift elimination of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who represents the insurance industry in Washington and infrequently visits his home state. The sanctimonious senator attacks Al Gore -- a man deserving rebuke because he so foolishly overestimated Lieberman's talent and appeal -- for behaving too much like a real Democrat in 2000. He must not have read the polls after Gore's populist convention speech, which kicked their numbers upward. It's hard to remember anything Lieberman said or did that helped as much, and easy to recall much he did and said that was useless. And if Gore runs again, Lieberman might have to honor his pledge not to run against the former vice president.
