Eighteen Years, Eighteen Years
Roughly:
Joe Lieberman got his political start in the anti-Vietnam-War movement; and now he is a target of the anti-Iraq-War movement. His loss in the primary prompted him to run for Senate as an independent. As part of his anti-Vietnam-War activites, in 1970 Lieberman (with Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham) supported the Reverend Joseph Duffey over incumbent Connecticut senator Thomas Dodd–father of the current Connecticut senator and potential presidential candidate (“It’s an itch. Could grow, could disappear.”) Christopher Dodd. The growing support for Duffey prompted the elder Dodd to drop out of the primary and run for Senate as–what else?–an independent. That year, 1970, Dodd and Duffey split the Democratic vote which helped Republican Lowell Weicker win the race. Weicker held the Senate seat for 18 years before losing it to Joe Lieberman, who may yet lose his Senate seat of 18 years.
By the way, in 1990, Weicker won the Connecticut governorship. He ran as an independent.
