Democratic Underground - What the hell happened to ED KOCH?

I thought he was a liberal NYC mayor and congressman! Yet, from all I've heard, he's been bashing the left, has called Dean "McGovern II" and has endorsed Bush. What happened? Or am I just uninformed and he was always a conservative? Has he made a sharp turn right?

ON EDIT: I found this article on him, it sort of explains some of the transformation of Ed Koch.

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_22/whatshedoin.html

On Sept. 12 on Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes,” on a segment on 9/11, Koch said, “I think been terrific. And I have never voted in the past for a Republican president…. But I am voting for George Bush this time around. And I will tell you why. He has created what is now known as the Bush Doctrine, equal to the Monroe Doctrine. And what is the Bush Doctrine? That we will go after the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. And he’s kept his commitment, unlike anybody else in the world. And certainly unlike any of the nine or so Democratic candidates for president. And the worst one is Howard Dean. I mean, that’s McGovern II.”

snip

Gold said Koch was himself an “ultra-liberal” when he ran for district leader and then challenged Bill Passannante for Assembly; then became more moderate when he was in Congress from 1968-’77; then decided he had to be more centrist when he became mayor; then there’s post-9/11 Koch.

“Since 9/11, Koch has become a neo-con, really right-wing, xenophobic,” Gold said. “He feels Bush has been a strong commander in chief and he supports his whole entourage, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Rice. The other thing that concerns me is in addition to supporting Bush, he’s become a supporter of John Ashcroft. He supports the Patriot Act. National security is his main concern.

snip

Keen Berger, the Village’s new female Democratic district leader: “Koch’s endorsement makes me sad, but not surprised,” Berger said. “Koch endorsed D’Amato. He’s endorsed Republicans and people who are conservative for a decade. I knew Koch when he was a liberal, a leader of progressives.... I think Koch got too enamored of his own views and his own opinions and strayed from the bedrock integrity that should be true for every political leader, strayed from the base from which he came.”

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