Lieberman Isn't a Centrist He's an Odd Man Out

Paul Krugman considers Joe Lieberman a centrist. From someone who considers herself a centrist (that would be me, although I don't like the term "centrist" because it's most often use to slam people. I prefer non ideological, independent thinker, open minded. But those phrases take too long to say), Lieberman is not a centrist. He's self-important. He gets off on being the odd man out:

The people who really have to make up their minds, then, are those in between, the self-proclaimed centrists.

The odd thing about this group is that while its members are clearly uncomfortable with the idea of passing health care reform, they’re having a hard time explaining exactly what their problem is. Or to be more precise and less polite, they have been attacking proposed legislation for doing things it doesn’t and for not doing things it does.

Thus, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut says, “I want to be able to vote for a health bill, but my top concern is the deficit.” That would be a serious objection to the proposals currently on the table if they would, in fact, increase the deficit. But they wouldn’t, at least according to the Congressional Budget Office, which estimates that the House bill, in particular, would actually reduce the deficit by $100 billion over the next decade. Krugman