Senator Joe Lieberman, who had the most consistency between his policy statements and his record of any of the major candidates and who had the strongest credentials on foreign policy and national security in the Democratic candidates, announced his withdrawal from the primaries tonight.

Chris Dodd spoke after Hadassah Lieberman's introduction, starting (oddly) with a chant of "Let's Go Joe!" Let's go where? Other than that, Dodd was an excellent speaker, staying optimistic while delivering a eulogy, no mean feat. Dodd seems pretty likable -- not his politics, certainly, but on the stump he's got charisma. Lieberman spoke next, graciously congratulating Edwards and Kerry on their victories, and then mentioning the rest of the candidates as well. He spoke about staying strong on defense and terror -- "we've been attacked by enemies who hate us more than they love life" -- an excellent line. He's standing by his centrism, and well he should.

He got a laugh when he said that he may not have "shouted the loudest" in this campaign; no kidding. He's accepting the verdict of the voters. However you want to cut it, though, Lieberman's fate was decided when both Al Gore and the DLC dumped him, the former for the radical left, and the latter to chase after a faux-Democrat, Wes Clark. Lieberman deserved better for his service to his party than to exit with two knives stuck in his back.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! And Jay Reding has the same perspective on Lieberman.

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» Lieberman Bows Out from Jay Reding.com
Sen. Joe Lieberman is now speaking in Arlington, VA, announcing that he is dropping out of the 2004 Presidential race. Chris Dodd introduced Lieberman, and his speech didn't make this sound like a concession at all, despite the fact that... [Read More]

Tracked on February 3, 2004 8:51 PM

» Goodbye, Joe from WiredOpinion - Jonathan's Journal
Joe Lieberman is officially dropping out of the race. Here's a goodbye from a fan. I always liked Joe Lieberman, and there was a part of me that was always rooting for him. Centrists are appealing. Oh well -- I... [Read More]

Tracked on February 3, 2004 9:09 PM

» Lieberman's Out from Strange Women Lying in Ponds
Captain Ed blogs on Joe Lieberman's exit from the Dem race. It's really too bad. Lieberman was the only guy from the field who I could have considered voting for, because he's the only one who unequivocally understands that we [Read More]

Tracked on February 3, 2004 9:24 PM

» Joenertia from Amish Tech Support
Forget Joementum... it's time to learn Joenertia! Joenertia (n) is the concept in political physics by which a candidate named Joe at rest tends to stay at rest, held in a resting state by political friction or the lack of... [Read More]

Tracked on February 3, 2004 9:33 PM

» Lieberman Bows Out from Pennywit

With no state willing to endorse him, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) has bowed out of the Democratic presidential sweepstakes. Linked from InstaPundit, Captain Ed offers this

Tracked on February 3, 2004 9:42 PM

» Joenertia from Amish Tech Support
Forget Joementum... it's time to learn Joenertia! Joenertia (n) is the concept in political physics by which a candidate named Joe at rest tends to stay at rest, held in a resting state by political friction or the lack of... [Read More]

Tracked on February 3, 2004 9:58 PM

» Lieberman Bows Out from Feste...a foolsblog
Joe Lieberman isn't leaving the race, his party left him. Ironic that the only candidate not running away from the Clinton record was abandoned by the DLC in favor of Clark. Draw your own conculsions. The Captain's Quarter sums up... [Read More]

Tracked on February 3, 2004 10:12 PM

» DODD "LIKABLE"?? from Patterico's Pontifications
I normally agree with Captain Ed, but how can he say that Chris Dodd "seems pretty likable"?? Like the words "President" and "Kerry," the words "Dodd" and "likable" don't belong in the same sentence. Otherwise, I agreed with his post... [Read More]

Tracked on February 3, 2004 11:11 PM

» Joe jokes from Brendan Loy's blog
Will Saletan, in Wonkette's words, "exhausts all the possible Joe-okes known to man." Indeed: Antiwar Democrats in Iowa found his support of the Iraq war Joefensive. He went into a Joesdive. He was Joewhere. In New Hampshire, however, he sensed... [Read More]

Tracked on February 4, 2004 1:03 AM

» Joe jokes from Brendan Loy's blog
Will Saletan, in Wonkette's words, "exhausts all the possible Joe-okes known to man." Indeed: Antiwar Democrats in Iowa found his support of the Iraq war Joefensive. He went into a Joesdive. He was Joewhere. In New Hampshire, however, he sensed... [Read More]

Tracked on February 4, 2004 1:34 AM

» Tuesday primaries and cauci from It's a Crock!
Yawn. Double yawn. OK, so Kerry did well as expected. Edwards made a decent showing by winning S. Carolina and enhanced the likeliness of his future veep-hood. Dr. Dean didn't [Read More]

Tracked on February 4, 2004 2:43 AM

» We've been Wonk'd from Brendan Loy's blog
Wonkette, printing somebody else's eyewitness report (from an e-mail, apparently), uses one of Dane's pictures and links to his report. Thanks, Wonkette! The fame of Our Man in Arlington grows. :) Meanwhile, over at the Captain's Quarters, somebody com... [Read More]

Tracked on February 4, 2004 9:17 AM

» We've been Wonk'd from Brendan Loy's blog
Wonkette, printing somebody else's eyewitness report (from an e-mail, apparently), uses one of Dane's pictures and links to his report. Thanks, Wonkette! The fame of Our Man in Arlington grows. :) Meanwhile, over at the Captain's Quarters, somebody com... [Read More]

Tracked on February 4, 2004 9:28 AM