Lamont continues to make Lieberman very nervous

May 20, 2006

The [tag]Connecticut[/tag] Democratic Party’s [tag]state convention[/tag] met last night, in part to help decide who’d qualify for the party’s primary ballot. All eyes were on [tag]Ned Lamont[/tag], who needed 15% of Connecticut delegates to be able to take on Sen. [tag]Joe Lieberman[/tag] in August. As it turned out, he did a little better than 15%. OK, more than a little.

Backers of Ned Lamont, a Greenwich businessman who has sharply criticized the moderate senator for his support of the war in Iraq, shouted with delight after learning their candidate will be the first to challenge Lieberman to a primary.

Lieberman won 1,004 of the 1,509 votes cast at the state convention, while Lamont won 505. Lamont captured 33 percent of the delegates, well more than the 15 percent he needed to force the primary.

Lieberman’s 66% may sound like a lot, but it’s a rather stunning embarrassment for the incumbent. The man has been the state’s leading Democrat for a couple of decades and was nearly the nation’s vice president just six years ago. He’s never faced a primary opponent and was supposed to cruise to an easy victory last night.

For a largely unknown businessman who has never held elective office, with support from the [tag]netroots[/tag], to come out of nowhere to grab a third of the state’s Democratic delegates suggests a) Lamont is very much for real; and b) the discontent over Lieberman is not a passing fad.

Stay tuned.

Ned Lamont, a Greenwich businessman who has sharply criticized the moderate senator for his support of the war in Iraq …

Moderate senator? In whose eyes?

Let’s all sing for Holy Joe: “Neo-con, oh sweet neo-con.”

  • Er…um…he “shouted with delight?” If Lamont blows this like Dean blew it, I will mail him a stout oak-branch with which to profusely and mercilessly beat himself over the head. But right now, it looks good for old Joe to get hit with a can of political whoop-ass….

  • Where’s that photo of Bush planting a wet sloppy kiss on Lieberman in the Senate? That would make a dandy campaign poster for Lamont, I reckon.

  • I think means that the Dems are going to lose a Senate seat in the fall. Whomever wins the primary August is going to be punished at the polls in November by their opponent’s backers. I think both sides would rather lose the seat than see the other guy win it.

    The netroot gloating on sites like FDL could come back to bite them in the @$$ pretty badly. The Senate Dems are intereted in one thing only – party majority – and they’ll take any sad sack to reach 51. That’s the magic number to take over the apparatus. If the CT senate seat is lost due to spoiler politics, as seems likely, they’ve set themselves up as the fall guys, particularly if Lieberman does get a victory in the primary.

    As a friend of mine pointed out, this is going to be short-term pain for the Dems, but should be a long-term win, as it is probably the only way to pry Lieberman out of the seat.

  • Amen, Tom Cleaver.

    I can’t imagine Connecticut going to a “modern” (i.e., medieval) Republican, but if we lose the seat voting our conscience, to hell with it. I’m tired of DINOs like Lieberman. Screw the slimy bastards.

  • TDems will *NOT* hold meaningful power if they get a bare majority that relies on the votes of people like Joe Lieberman.

    We’ve got a president who brags about breaking the law – and believes that because he’s the president, he’s *ABOVE* the law – and we’ve got people in our own party, who should be, in theory, interested in some combination of oversight and investigation, or at least opposition on the sheer political grounds of gaining more power for themselves and their party (including, one would *HOPE*, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Government Affairs), and he says, “Democrats should realize that Bush will be president for another three years” – which translates, clearly, as: “There is *NOTHING* Bush could do to make me consider impeaching him.”

    Lieberman is not interested in promoting Democratic policies or increasing Democratic power, even against Bush. I don’t know what he’s doing in the party, but it hasn’t been anything good lately.

  • Fercryinoutloud

    I don’t even believe in a 3 way race in Ct if Lieberman loses the Dem primary. It would not fly with Reid who agreed to support Holy Joe as long he runs as a Dem. Reid would kill the preachy bastard, personally, with his bare hands, rather than risk the Ct seat.

  • Fifi,

    Unfortunately, I don’t have much faith in Lieberman accepting a primary defeat. I don’t think he can win as an Independent, but I do think he can spoil Lamont’s chances by drawing away a vital percentage of Dem votes, enough to let the Rethug candidate squeak by. Why would Lieberman give a darn over Reid’s opinion? At that point, it’s just revenge. The guy has shown himself very happy to backstab when it suits him.

    The frustrating part is that if Lieberman wins the primary (likely), Dem voters who really and reasonably loathe the lying weasel will sit out the election rather than vote for him. That could produce enough of a vote deficit to let the R. win, too. At that point, it is open season on those who rejected Lieberman for preventing the Dems from taking a seat. Losing a seat held by Holy Joe is a mixed blessing, but losing it in a way that allows bashing of new Left voices is purely bad.

    So, it’s in the netroots’ interest for Lamont to win the primary, and have Lieberman backstab with a vengeance so the blame is squarely on him, where it belongs in the first place. If Jeebus really loves us, Ned will still eke out a Senate victory.

  • No more DINOs. No more excuses. No more hugs and kisses. No more Gary Condit. No more James Traficant. No more Holy Joe. Please!

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