Oh yeah, remember when Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman for the Democratic Senate nomination?
In Connecticut’s U.S. Senate race, a new SurveyUSA poll shows Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) soundly defeating Ned Lamont (D) and Alan Schlesinger (R). Lieberman gets 51%, Lamont 38% with Schlesinger trailing at just 7%.
As we know, the moral victories are not enough — and let’s not kid ourselves: Lamont’s victory in the primary was only that. If Lieberman’s elected as an independent, he’s only going to be more awful and spiteful against his own former party. And you get six years of that. Lovely.
I don’t see the big bloggers — Kos, MyDD — very interested in this bit of unwelcome news. Why not?
Please share widely!
That might be the reason. They’re preoccupied.
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It’s frustrating as all getout that Lieberman is walking the tightrope so successfully. He’s still getting all kinds of Dem support when clearly the GOP has the most to gain in his win. Taht the GOP has completely abandoned their own candidate in the race is the worst part IMO. Nothing like sacrificing your values and your personel in times of difficulty, huh?
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My crystal ball shows Lieberman taking over for Rummy, and Jodu Rell (R) putting in a moderate (R) for 5.8 years of CT senate. Since CT is pretty moderate on fiscal issues, that senator could roost for another 12 or 18 years after that. So, CT may have traded a wolf in sheep’s clothing for a wolf.
isn’t going anywhere but back to the Senate. The primary showed two things:
1. The NetRoots can only influence primary elections if the focus all of their resources at defeating (not electing) a candidate.
2. Lieberman (or any other established maverick) can raise enough money and has enough name recognition to run as an independent and win.
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Lamont’s only hope was for the National and State Republican party to try to make the race competitive and support Schlesinger. However, the RNC never viewed CT as a possible pickup and instead focused on protecting incumbents in places like Rhode Island and Ohio. Although 83% of Dems who voted for Lieberman the first time signified their support in the latest poll quoted above, Lieberman has surged because of independent support. Lieberman’s appeal to independents mean either of two things:
1. Lieberman presents a paradigm for an electable democrat-not only in CT but elsewhere. This scenario would lend credence to DLCers who advocate a stronger national defense and use of the military, as well as more business friendly policies.
2. Liebermans appeal is not based on politics, its the pork he has brought back to CT. I happen to disagree with this contention.
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Also, I was in CT helping Lieberman in the primary battle. While I was there, I talked to staffers and NONE had heard of any proposed move to the Defense department except from the political gossip collumns of the Washington Post. Such a movie is pure fantasy, and, after all Lieberman has done to retain this seat, it would be highly unlikely for him to give it up. In 2000, he ran for it simultaneously with the VP run. Furthermore, sacking Rummy isnt Bush’s style. He prefers the loyalty of his inner circle and has already refused offers of resignation from Rumsfeld, such as after Abu Ghraib.
Lieberman has surged because of independent support.
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No. Lieberman has surged because of Republican support. There are plenty of Republicans to go around in Connecticut — after all, 3 of the 5 congressional districts elect Republican representatives. The GOP candidate for senate in CT is polling 7%.
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I’ll say it again: Lieberman is winning because of Republican support. Claiming that his surge is due to indie support is just empty rhetoric his campaign is spewing designed to make him seem more moderate than he really is.
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While I was there, I talked to staffers and NONE had heard of any proposed move to the Defense department except from the political gossip collumns of the Washington Post.
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Where else would they hear? Pillow talk with Karl Rove? If thee were any official source on it, it would sink Lieberman’s campaign like a stone. Is it strictly rumor at this point? Of course. If it were anything but rumor, those staffers would be sending their C.V.s out looking for new jobs, since Joementum would come to an instant halt.
While Joes leads Lamont in the race for independents, it’s really his vast majority with republicans that is giving him this race. Ironically, the last poll I had showed that Lamont was also beating the Republican among Republican voters.
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The Republican party, both locally and nationwide has given up on their candidate and have tacitly endorsed Lieberman for the seat.
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Going back to someone’s question about the national bloggers ignoring the poll, I find it interesting. I was really amused by the coverage of the Lamont win, from both the main stream media and the blogosphere, basically stating that it was the blogs that gave Lamont the victory and that they were taking over the party. While the blogs were definitely helpful in Lamont’s campaign, I think a lot of people overlooked how not liked Joe is by a lot of people in the Connecticut Democratic party. In ’88, when he ran against Lowell Weiker, Joe was everywhere, at every picnic and fundraiser no matter how small. In the 18 years since, he could never be bothered. Chris Dodd, you could always count on him to come to a local fundraiser or party event. Dick Blumenthal (CT AG) was always willing to help. But Joe, he was too important and too busy. I think that arrogance hurt his standing with the local party leaders etc. I think that pent up frustration with Joe, combined with Lamont’s ability to use the netroots and a certain frustration with W (and the Iraq war) all combined in a perfect storm of sorts to give him the win. However, without that “instutional support” (he got over a third of the convention vote and the former state party leader worked hard for him), I don’t believe that Lamont would have had the same standing that allowed him to win that race.
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Obviously this poses a problem for Lamont in the general in that he cannot capitalize on some of that indside politics disgust for Joe with the independents or Repubs.
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Just my .02.
Lieberman is besting Lamont 53-37 in a state in which most voters are independent (http://www.surveyusa….)Empty rhetoric? or sixteen point lead? you tell me, stomv?
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Let’s face it, as much as it scares progressives, Lieberman is a principled candidate who appeals across party lines and is seen by most as a consensus figure. Except of course, for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
Joementum and Kos.
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Bob made an interesting comment some weeks back, here on BMG:
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If the poll holds up, Kos’s track record gets even worse….not only failing to help Dems pick up seats, but actually costing them seats….
The “netroots” is not Daily Kos.
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The “netroots” are the newly minted and long-time activists who have come together on a whole host of issues, including the war, the national deficit, etc.
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I think Dave, Charley and Bob are right to learn lessons from Kos and to handle things differently. Politics is local. Kos has become a national common link for those who work at the local level. The site content cannot possibly represent enough to satisfy those in fifty different states (which is why it is not relevant in the same way that it was, but may become again during the next presidential). Ideas happen in each community and don’t translate to the national level. BMG is the answer in MA. Congrats to BMG for doing a good job and filling the void.
First, the election in November 7th. That’s well over a month and a half. That’s eons in political time. Think about where Lamont was on July 8th. The race will heat up again after primary season winds down and the prospect of truly knocking out Joe Lieberman becomes a reality.
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Second, why aren’t Kos and MyDD promoting the notion their guy isn’t doing well in the polls? I dunno, let me scratch my head about that one for a bit…
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Third, there’s a lot of Senate races to focus on right now. MT, MO, VA, RI, TN, OH, and PA to name the top tier (in no particular order). Focusing on a race between Democrats and a former Democrat isn’t necessarily the message the Democrats, the blogs, or progressives want or should be spreading.
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Fourth, bloggers are very “flavor of the month” oriented. Right now they’re focusing on Disney and the 9/11 “docu-drama-propoganda” debacle. Lamont will be back.
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Finally, I just want to get something off my chest. I love the NetRoots, I really do. It’s worth looking at a Pew Study of how blogging is being done, for what purpose and to what result. That said, most people still haven’t heard of blogs or blogging. Ned Lamont’s victory was in part because of the blogs, certainly, but more, it was because of the awesome organization, the money that was pumped into the race (by bloggers, yes, but also by Ned Lamont himself). Not to mention DFA, MoveOn.org, SEIU 1199, and the teacher’s unions. Grassroots organizing, augmented by bloggers, was responsible for Lamont’s win. Blogging is a great, wonderful and now necessary tool in today’s political calculus. But I do feel that dailykos and others do puff up their importance from time to time…
But I don’t see any mention of it on the two blogs that were making the most noise about Lamont. I wouldn’t expect a headline of “Hang Your Heads in Grief: Lamont is Going Down” … but concern? Exhortation to keep at it? Anything?
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And yes, I’m using the big blogs as an indication of grassroots concern in general. But as far as I can tell, I don’t like the slope of Lamont’s polling line.
that the Lamont race has become an important one for the national community, and dropping it or not writing about it following a primary win isn’t helping. I’ve often wondered why the MA Gov race hasn’t received as much attention on Kos as well. There have been many posts by a number of people here, and nothing has stayed up for long or been main paged.
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I know for fact that the Republican party in MA has been encouraged to contribute to the Lieberman campaign. Joementum’s polling is no doubt more a result of Republican votes than that of independents. Lieberman has been the odd duck out in CT politics for a long time (I’ve been to major events and watched how he is shunned by many in the Dem party). So, I’m not terribly convinced that the polling is an accurate reflection of the race. As the election nears, it will be interesting to see the trend lines.