The curse of Joe Lieberman

By Michael J.W. Stickings

McCain wingman and anti-Democrat Joe Lieberman may be a senator from Connecticut, but he's apparently doing worse than nothing to his pal's chances in his home state.

A new Quinnipiac poll has Obama up big over McCain in Connecticut, 56 to 35.

Of course, Connecticut is a fairly liberal state, and usually a solidly Democratic one, and Obama should win it without too much difficulty. But would it help McCain to have some Joementum on the ticket?

You'd think so, right?

Er, no. You'd be wrong.

In fact, according to this poll, it would actually hurt McCain to have him on the ticket "If McCain picks Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate, only 14 percent of Connecticut voters say they are more likely to vote Republican, while 32 percent are less likely and 52 percent say it won't affect their vote."

In other words, Lieberman is deeply unpopular in his own state, with many more voters against him than for him and a majority not caring at all.

In most states, I suspect, many voters would be happy and honoured to have one of their own on a presidential ticket. Not so in Connecticut, where Lieberman has only 14 percent of voters enthusiastically behind him -- that is, behind him enough for his inclusion on a presidential ticket to make a positive difference to them

McCain may be happy to have him on his side, a renegade former Democrat who has turned into a Republican, but his own state has soundly rejected him.

For all I care, he can continue to suck at McCain's teat for the rest of the campaign.