Yet another Republican advises Joe to jump ship

I'm sure Alan Schlesinger appreciates Bill Hamzy's advice to Joe Lieberman.

A former state Republican Party chairman Monday urged U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat, to run for re-election as an independent.

"Although I don't claim to know what Sen. Lieberman is going to do, if I were in a similar situation, I would definitely run as an independent if I wanted to continue serving in office.," said state Rep. Bill Hamzy, a Plymouth Republican.

"I believe that loyalty to the people you serve is more important than loyalty to your party," said Hamzy, whose 78th District includes Plymouth and northwestern Bristol.

"This is especially true in Sen. Lieberman's case," Hamzy said, "because since the primary will be held on Aug. 8, a small minority of registered Democrats will determine who is on the ballot in November."

Hamzy said he doesn’t agree with Lieberman's stance in favor of the war in Iraq "but I do believe the general voting populace should have the opportunity to vote on his candidacy."

Is it safe to say that Hamzy will not be supporting the Republican nominee for Senate?

While he's not technically a Liebercrat, as a former Republican chairman, Hamzy's comment should tell you a lot about how Republicans feel about their own nominee who's running for the senate.