For Dodd and Lieberman, the time has come to go

“You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately....Depart, I say, and let us have done with you.  In the name of God, go.â€

Oliver Cromwell was addressing members of Parliament when he issued that famous invitation nearly four centuries ago. But it sort of fits Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman, who, one might complain, have also sat too long for any good they have been doing lately and who are indeed fortunate they are sitting out this election year.

Of course, neither senator is about to depart and be done with, but there are signs that time for both of them may be running out. Dodd has sat in the Senate for 28 long years and will complete his fifth term in 2010, as the longest serving senator in Connecticut history, and Lieberman will end his fourth term, with 24 years, in 2012.

As he contemplates a sixth term, Dodd may find voters are no longer willing to tolerate fundraising that has netted him millions in campaign contributions from the financial institutions his Senate Banking Committee has inadequately overseen. His largest donors are a who’s who of messed up moneyed interests, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as some no longer with us like Enron’s accountant, Arthur Andersen, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.  

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Last November, The Washington Post reported how “each of the big money interests applauds his (Dodd’s) light-handed approach to financial regulation and considers him a reliable friend.†The story was headlined “The Banker’s Candidate†and called Dodd “a voice of federal restraint when it comes to financial services. He has opposed vigorous regulation of hedge funds, many of which are based in Connecticut. He also was the Senate’s leading champion of a 1995 law that limited shareholders’ right to bring class-action lawsuits against companies for alleged securities misdeeds.†A lot to answer for if the economy is as distressed in 2010 as it is now.

Then there are the sweetheart mortgage deals Dodd obtained from one of the architects of the subprime mortgage scandals, Countrywide Financial Corp. Since June, Dodd has been ducking requests that he release details of the “courtesies†he received from Countrywide that could save him tens of thousands of dollars in mortgage interest payments.  

A few days ago, the senator fell back on the sad, old, politician’s argument that the media should stop hounding him for this information and focus on more important things like “issues people are worried about...losing their homes...getting the economy back on its feet.†He sounded like Sarah Palin explaining the $150,000 spent on her wardrobe.

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Lieberman’s problems could come sooner. If, as anticipated, the Democratic Party increases its 51-49 majority in the Senate, it will be sorely tempted to relieve Lieberman of what remains of his perks as an independent who caucuses and presumably votes with the Democrats. This would include the chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee.  

Lieberman hasn’t been a card carrying Democrat since 2006, when he was beaten in a Democratic primary by Ned Lamont, but then defeated Lamont and a Republican seat warmer in the general election. But since then, his sins against the party that brought him to power have increased many fold as he abandoned his onetime Senate protégé, Barack Obama, to support John McCain for the presidency.

Bad enough that he turned on the party’s candidate, but he’s been pretty nasty about it as he’s toured the country with McCain and Palin.  Those who may have understood his support for fellow warmonger McCain have been hard pressed to accept his characterization of the dreadful Palin as “so strong, so capable, so competent.† Even those who no longer like him know Lieberman is smarter than that.

Lieberman will be 70 and a completely defrocked Democrat if he runs again in four years. He may be reluctant to go out as a loser and opt to retire or, as those of us who recall “Dewey Defeats Truman†should never forget, he could be resigning from the Senate very soon to become secretary of state or defense in a McCain cabinet.              

Dick Ahles is a retired journalist. E-mail him at dahles@hotmail.com