The last Mohican

Joe Lieberman, traveling through the Mideast, put a stake in the heart of the negapussses crying for election delays in Iraq.

In a telephone call from Tel Aviv, Israel, the Connecticut Democrat said conditions in Iraq, including an increase in trained Iraqi security forces, have improved since his last visit in July. And he said the escalating violence aimed at intimidating Iraqis to postpone the election or not vote is not working in most of the country.

His comments came just days after Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) called for an election boycott, and after the largest Sunni Muslim political party announced its withdrawal from the election because of security concerns.

"Senator Lieberman and I had a pretty clear indication from the deputy prime minister and a couple of his associates that at least some of them may be wanting to find a reason to postpone the election," said Sen. Mark Dayton (news, bio, voting record), D-Minn. "We emphasized that we thought it was imperative that the election be held as scheduled."

Lieberman added that the deputy prime minister told them that postponement would present a greater risk.

"Postponement would be taken as a victory by the terrorists and it would be an infuriating result for the majority of the country that wants to vote," Lieberman said. "Nobody thinks this is going to be perfect or neat, but it will be a beginning, a very credible beginning."

I can't figure out why Lieberman isn't a Republican. He sure can't be a Democrat.

Who knows what might have happened in November if the Democrats had nominated Senator Lieberman instead of the bozo from Boston. (Hat tip to Captain Ed.)