The Nation on Joementum: "Who's A Democrat?"

From The Nation:

Who's a Democrat?

William Greider writes that the question of party identity takes on weird new relevance now that Joe Lieberman is cross-dressing in Connecticut. Defeated once as a Democrat, tiresome Joe is now running again as an independent. Only he professes he’s still a loyal Dem at heart. How can we know he’s not lying?

Many, and most of them far right wing types, cite Jim Jeffords defection from the Republican party as very much akin to what Lieberman has done here in jumping ship from Democrats who declined to support him for his fourth term bid as U.S. Senator from Connecticut.

However, I do not see the two men and their situations as directly comparable. Here are some of the differences as I perceive them:

1. Jeffords jumped ship outside of election time while Lieberman has only done it to try to keep his seat
2. Jeffords did not embrace the Democratic Party when he moved from the GOP on May 24th, 2001 while Lieberman has fallen all over himself to kiss up to the Republicans
3. Jeffords had majority support for his decision while Joe does not; in fact, his primary support is from the GOP
4. Lieberman has changed allegiances ONLY because Democrats refused to support him; with Jeffords, he had a very legitimate point in saying that the Republican party as it had come to quite a different platform had made it nearly impossible for moderate GOPers to be part of the party
5. Jeffords did not change his ideology whereas Lieberman has, embracing the whole "Democrats hate our freedom and are the agents of al Qaeda"
6. Jeffords actively discussed and solicited feedback from voters who had elected him when he chose to move from Republican to Independent status; Lieberman however is pretty obvious that he has joined with the GOP (and not really as an Indy although that's how he's running) just to save his ass in November; Joe cares not at all how the voters feel and only wants to keep his plush job