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Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2006
Posted on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 07:30:19 AM EST
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Bump and Update: According to a new Quinnipiac poll, Ned Lamont leads Sen. Joe Lieberman 54% to 41% among likely Democratic primary voters. This compares to a 51% to 47% Lamont lead in the last poll two weeks ago. 85% of those polled said their minds are made up.

The Washington Post has more on the poll. There's also a nice profile of Lamont in the Hartford Advocate, explaining his opposition to the war.

*****
Original Post:
8/2/06

The Connecticut Primary is six days away. Political Wire reports tonight that Joe Lieberman is planning for a loss and will shake up his campaign staff if it happens.

Expect Lieberman to can anyone who was associated with 2004 Kerry campaign and replace them with a team of pungent veterans who will take the fight to Lamont. As Lieberman tours the broiling state, you can almost hear the gloves coming off in preparation for a fight to the finish in November.

Lieberman thinks he will get the spotlight with his petition run if he loses the primary. Even the Republicans look like they will line up behind Lieberman, since the Republican challenger is so weak:

Support from Republicans for Lieberman will continue now that embattled GOP contender Alan Schlesinger (a/k/a Alan Gold) has finally filed his most recent finance report. It provides another dismal look at Schlesinger's effort to fight above his weight in the contest. To date, Schlesinger has raised a paltry $63,581.00 from contributors and has lent his campaign $50,000.00.

If Lamont wins the primary, I think it's due to the blogosphere and Firedoglake in particular. I just don't see how he could pull this off without them. In the event Lamont doesn't win the primary, the blogosphere still pulled off a huge coup. The national media has been all over this race, focusing on Lieberman's decline. Considering Lamont's limited prior political experience and that Lieberman has lined up some serious dough, it is a huge deal that there's even a serious contest.

It's gone beyond the war in Iraq. Connecticut citizens can't help but know right now that Joltin' Joe is the poster boy for "Republican Lite." I hope the Republican endorsements in the coming days do him in.

I'm not saying Lieberman has been a terrible Senator. I'm saying that he's held the seat so long he's come to believe he owns it, and that it is his moral compass, not that of the citizens who elected him, that matters. He was a horrible pick for VP in 2000 (Gore, what were you thinking?) and he's done nothing since to temper or adjust his views so they are in line with those of his constituents.

I could care less what Lieberman personally believes. He represents the citizens of Connecticut. He should have learned from Ben Nighthorse Campbell in Colorado -- when your values no longer mesh with those of the citizens who elected you, you either switch parties or quit. Should Ned Lamont win the primary, Lieberman's continued insistence that he is a true Democrat while staging a run against the Democrats' chosen candidate should show everyone his true colors. He's out for Lieberman, not the citizens of Connecticut.

Update: Digby found this video of Republicans coming out for Joe Lieberman.

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    Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting | 12 comments (12 topical)
    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#1)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 11:54:19 PM EST
    I think his threat to run as an independent sealed his loss in the primary...and perhaps in the November election as well. No one likes an arrogant a-hole politician and that's the most arrogant move anyone has made in recent history. And speaking of arrogance, I bet Lowell Weicker would love to run as the Republican candidate, just to siphon votes away from him from. Now that would be cool!

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 05:36:11 AM EST
    Now he's got Tom DeLay's endorsement too. Let's see how that sways the Connecticut Republicans.

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 05:45:49 AM EST
    "If Lamont wins the primary, I think it's due to the blogosphere and Firedoglake in particular. I just don't see how he could pull this off without them." I love FireDogLake, but I think you're wrong about this. The Connecticut Democrats I've talked to say that Lieberman has been fraying his relationship with his local party and local supporters for years, and that it wasn't the blogs that turned the tide, it was the emergence of a plausible alternative in Lamont.

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#4)
    by Slado on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 06:53:49 AM EST
    Although I support Liberman, because I'm republican, I do love that a nobody can actually knock off a party big shot in the primary no matter their party affiliation. This whole episode is fascinating and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming days. I'm done making predictions. Liberman could win the primary, lose then run as in independent then who knows. Maybe he'll just become a Republican and run against Lamont again. Nothing is out of bounds at this point.

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#5)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 07:20:03 AM EST
    Smart move on the part of the Republican Guard. What is important is to get your voters to effing vote. In the race for the 50th in San Diego, the voter turnout was only 38%! That's just crazy.

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 07:44:00 AM EST
    I'd actually been bracing for a Lieberman win, and of course as we saw from our last election "miracles" can happen. I mean, how did Little George pick up eleven million votes from 2000? How could he lose the popular vote 2000, lose the new vote and last minute vote in 2004, and still win? This may be too much of a blowout to steal, and I don't know if Connecticut's stealable anyway. It'll be hard to underestimate our victory if this is pulled off, though. If this isn't a paradigm shift, such things don't exist.

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#7)
    by squeaky on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 08:02:50 AM EST
    Although I support Liberman, because I'm republican....
    Kinda says it all. To see more republican endorsements of Lieberman tune into digby's youTube post.

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 08:59:54 AM EST
    This guy looks and sounds like the reincarnation of Mike Dukakis in the 1988 election against Bush's father . . . can't wait to see Lieberman riding around in a tank.

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#9)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 09:09:11 AM EST
    pneumatikon - Read your own remarks and you'll know. To steal a quote from someone... "The best thing the Repubs have is that they are running against Demos."

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#10)
    by Slado on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 11:35:05 AM EST
    Squeaky actually I support lamont to win the primary and Liberman to win the general election. That will work as good as a Republican victory. Here's a good link about how Lamont is probably farther ahead then the polls indicate. Lamont vs. Liberman

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#11)
    by Andreas on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 12:06:22 PM EST
    Except for his decision to challenge an incumbent senator, Lamont is an utterly conventional figure in American bourgeois politics. His position on the Iraq war differs little from that of Senator John Kerry or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, calling for a withdrawal of American forces to bases in Iraq and Kuwait and turning over the active combat role to the military and police of the US-backed stooge regime. Lamont fully supports the US-Israeli war against Lebanon, and has made statements defending the Israeli bombing that were indistinguishable from those of Lieberman. The great-grandson of one of the original partners in J. P. Morgan, Lamont was a multi-millionaire from birth, then built an additional fortune of an estimated $200 million from a business providing specialized cable-television services to colleges and universities. He is the great nephew of Corliss Lamont, the millionaire who ran as a third-party "peace" candidate for governor of New York in 1958. He was briefly a councilman in Greenwich, the upper-class suburb of New York, and once ran unsuccessfully for state senator. While the support for his campaign expresses massive popular opposition to the Iraq war and the Bush administration, as well as disgust with the Democratic Party establishment, Lamont's candidacy is a dead end for those seeking to bring an end to the war. Were Lamont to be elected, he would quickly be brought into line on Iraq, as his fervent defense of Israeli aggression demonstrates.
    Democratic Party leaders rally behind pro-war Senator Lieberman By Patrick Martin, 3 August 2006

    Re: Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 05:18:43 PM EST
    Che's Lounge CA-50 is almost solid Republicans. The chagrin from the Duke Cunningham scandal probably made a lot of Republicans stay home, rather than vote for a Republican or a Democrat. The race to replace him was not administered according to law, the result was so close that a COUNT is needed to verify who won, and a lawsuit has been filed to straighten it all out. It's a despicable mess. No matter what the turnout, a Democrat coming that close to winning -- and may in fact have won, when all is said and done -- in a famed Republican stronghold is very telling about what the voters across the nation will be wanting in November. If we can just get the breaks on the election fraud through the extremely hackable machines and other rasty tricks, I think the numbers by which Democrats are returned to a Congressional Majority will be staggering. DeLay might get some Republicans out for Lieberman, but I bet he'll get more Democrats out for Lamont.

    Lieberman and Lamont: Six Days and Counting | 12 comments (12 topical)