On Thursday morning, patrons of the newly reopened O’Rourke’s Diner were surprised to discover that Senator Joseph Lieberman, an Independent Democrat representing Connecticut, would be joining them for breakfast. An entourage of press and Congressional staffers trailed behind.
He was there for his “cup of joe with Joe” tour, according to one congressional aide who wished to remain anonymous.
“It’s his way of keeping in touch with his constituency,” she said.
The senator did indeed have a cup of joe, which he hastily gulped down in between conversations with diners.
Lieberman achieved national attention during the 2006 senatorial elections when, after failing to earn the Democratic nomination, he ran as an Independent and won. He has maintained independence in the Senate, and, as one of the most vocal supporters of the war in Iraq, is often chided by Democratic leaders for siding with Republicans.
After pulling up in his Lincoln Continental and giving a brief statement to News Channel 8, Lieberman entered the diner from the back.
News Channel 8 later reported that he spoke on behalf of Senator John McCain in response to allegations from The New York Times that McCain may have had an affair or an otherwise ethically inappropriate relationship with a female lobbyist. Lieberman has thrown his weight behind McCain’s campaign, further inflaming his controversial political position.
His procession made its way through O’Rourke’s exposed kitchen, under the busy surveillance of photographers and cameramen. It was a scene of much commotion, with anxious reporters pursuing the senator—knocking plates to the floor—and patrons lined up out the door waiting for a table.
“I love O’Rourke’s,” Lieberman said. “I’ve been coming for years.”
Lieberman also spoke on the upcoming presidential elections.
“I approached this primary as an independent…to choose which candidate can best represent our national interest,” he said.
The Senator also commented on the War in Iraq. “Things have really begun to turn around,” Lieberman said. “Al-Qaeda is on the run…and we are beginning to withdraw troops.”
Shirley Conroy of Orange, Conn., also patronizing O’Rourke’s at the time, remained skeptical of the Senator’s appearance.
“It would have been more meaningful without the cameras and the hubbub,” she said.
Beth Rondinone of Middletown was excited by the opportunity to meet the Senator, although she doubted Lieberman’s straightforwardness.
“You have to wonder if the answers he gave would have been the same without the cameras,” she said.
Lieberman’s claims that troops are being withdrawn from Iraq and that conditions in Iraq are improving are somewhat contentious ones.
According to the Associated Press, five of the extra brigades deployed in the summer of 2007 were recalled in December of that year, and four more are scheduled to return in July of this year. However, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recently signaled that this decrease may not occur, echoing the projections made by the senior commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus. If this holds true, troop levels through 2008 would remain at around 130,000, roughly the same number as just prior to the surge.
Like Lieberman, the Bush Administration has touted the success in the reduction of violence in Iraq since the troop surge that began in early 2007, although some foreign policy thinkers believe it has more to do with the employment of the Sunni Awakening movement than actual civil stability.
“The Bush regime is paying Sunni insurgents $800,000 a day not to attack US forces,” wrote Paul Craig Roberts, assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term, in “Counterpunch,” a political newsletter. “In other words, the ’surge’ has had nothing to do with any decline in violence.”
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