Lieberman's Political I.D.

Karen Hunter, Hartford Courant ombudsman and a former ACES board member, notes the stickiness of political identification as defeated senator Joe Lieberman attempts to cast himself as an "Independent Democrat". I'll bet there are kinds of little minefields of political language out there that we should share and make politicians play fair.

Joe Can Run As Independent, But Democrat?

Exactly what is an independent Democrat? one e-mailer asked Wednesday, the day after Sen. Joseph Lieberman's primary defeat.

Lieberman has been describing himself in those terms for years now. But after he made it clear that he would not let a defeat in Tuesday's Democratic primary keep him out of the U.S. Senate, that he would start his own political party to continue his campaign through to November, the e-mails began trickling in. Prompted by blogs, I suspect, they admonished The Courant for allowing him to use the term "independent Democrat."

A New York e-mailer wrote the day after the primary: "Please quit publishing the inaccuracy that Lieberman, if he really runs in November, would do so as an `independent Democrat.' He would be running as an `independent' period."

The reader then cited section 9-453u of the Connecticut statute governing petitioning parties. It says that the party designation "shall not incorporate the name of any major party" or "minor party which is entitled to nominate candidates for any office which will appear on the same ballot."

Point taken. Lieberman is not running as a candidate for an "Independent Democrats" party, but apparently he can call himself one. Lieberman remains a registered Democrat.

Political reporter Mark Pazniokas said he uses the term "petitioning candidate." He said that when "independent Democrat" appears, it is within quotation marks.

Copy Desk Chief Harvey Remer agreed. "It's campaign hype." He instructed his staff to "restrict the phrase `independent Democrat' to a description of what Lieberman says he's running as. The party he is forming is called Connecticut for Lieberman." Remer counseled that when `independent' is used, it should be lowercase. He said, however, that he prefers the "third-party" designation.
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