Bye bye Lieberman

I am not a big fan of Lieberman. I don't think he represented the people of CT effectively post 9/11. People I know from CT (I know this is unscientific) tend to be quite liberal, the forgive and live harmoniously types. Though he was liberal on social issues he was very hawkish on the foreign policy front. May be if he supported the Health Care reform he would've done better in my eyes.
I have a lot of problem with his unconditional support of Israel and U.S. policy towards it, the Iraq war, and general support for expansion of executive power during the Bush-Cheney years. However, I can understand where he might be coming from. I admired his resolute support of Gay and abortion rights. Even more reason for me to be confused about his opposition to Health Care Reform.
I was very angry when he appeared at the RNC convention in 2008, supporting McCain. But, I do believe he was supporting a close friend with whom he shared much against an opponent he didn't know much. That shows more character than betrayal to his roots that I wanted to dismiss it as. I think I have come to accept and even admire that stunt.
I had more issues with his opposition to universal health care. Any U.S. house member who is opposed to extending the same quality care they get to everyone in the country has some major misunderstanding about public service and entitlement. I would love to call him a puppet of the insurance industry (CT is the major hub and they are constituents too) but his net worth is a measly $2M, hardly an evidence of him being in the pockets of the Insurance companies.
So, yes he should step down if he doesn't believe his principles will allow him to represent his constituents effectively. But I wouldn't vilify him. He was a man of principles even though I disagreed with him on occasions.