Anti-Climacus

LINK: TNR on Gore and Lieberman.

" But it will be regrettable if the way Lieberman gets out of his pledge is by prolonging, or even escalating, his public feud with Gore. That's because, much as it may pain either man to admit it, each could benefit from the other's advice. Gore, for one, is right in his rebuttal of Lieberman: Being a New Democrat isn't the same thing as being pro-business; it's also about being anti-special interest--not least when the special interest in question happens to be business . In his op-ed, Gore got at this point by arguing that "'when powerful interests try to take advantage of the American people, it's often other businesses that are hurt in the process'--most of all, smaller companies that play by the rules."

But Lieberman is also right. Gore did his best to obscure this important nuance by pushing his crude "people versus the powerful" line in 2000. Certainly an alternative--say, "public interest over the special interests"--could have packed the same rhetorical punch without scaring off middle-class voters. If Lieberman really wanted to be a team player, he'd stop his public posturing and make this point to his old running mate over martinis at the Palm. Instead, he's using it as a wedge to break up their old partnership and free himself to run for president."