Lieberman Withdraws

Senator Joe Lieberman, who had the most consistency between his policy statements and his record of any of the major candidates and who had the strongest credentials on foreign policy and national security in the Democratic candidates, announced his withdrawal from the primaries tonight.

Chris Dodd spoke after Hadassah Lieberman's introduction, starting (oddly) with a chant of "Let's Go Joe!" Let's go where? Other than that, Dodd was an excellent speaker, staying optimistic while delivering a eulogy, no mean feat. Dodd seems pretty likable -- not his politics, certainly, but on the stump he's got charisma. Lieberman spoke next, graciously congratulating Edwards and Kerry on their victories, and then mentioning the rest of the candidates as well. He spoke about staying strong on defense and terror -- "we've been attacked by enemies who hate us more than they love life" -- an excellent line. He's standing by his centrism, and well he should.

He got a laugh when he said that he may not have "shouted the loudest" in this campaign; no kidding. He's accepting the verdict of the voters. However you want to cut it, though, Lieberman's fate was decided when both Al Gore and the DLC dumped him, the former for the radical left, and the latter to chase after a faux-Democrat, Wes Clark. Lieberman deserved better for his service to his party than to exit with two knives stuck in his back.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! And Jay Reding has the same perspective on Lieberman.

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