Will Joe Lieberman Face A Primary In Connecticut?
It seems that way due to these voting results. And read this. Did anti-Lieberman blogs (who have been backing challenger Ned Lamont) play a role?
Lieberman’s whole political saga has been a fascinating one. He was considered something of a moderate to conservative Democrat — until Al Gore picked him to run as Vice President. Then some former supporters in Connecticut (and TMV knows what he’s talking about since he is FROM Connecticut and all of his relatives and many friends live there) felt he shifted to the left to run with Al Gore. Some accused Lieberman of quickly changing his positions to run with Gore.
Fast-foward to the Bush administration. Lieberman seemed to reassume back to his previous identity, this time creating many enemies outside of Connecticut who felt he had gone too far to the right and had become too supportive of the Bush administration.
The question now will be: what will happen if there’s a primary? The voting results linked above seem a bit reminiscent of when Sen. Eugene McCarthy ran against LBJ in New Hampshire. McCarthy didn’t win the primary but the strength of his showing meant LBJ would have to deal with him and the supporters he represented.
It documented a notable erosion in support since someone dismissed as Quixotic could do so well. At the very least, that’s what’s at play here.
One Response to “Will Joe Lieberman Face A Primary In Connecticut?”
Matt Stoller at MyDD has the latest numbers.
To those TMV readers who don’t particularly follow Democratic politics Lamont’s 33%, over double the showing needed to qualify for the ballot, represents a huge victory, not only for Mr. Lamont, but also for the netroots groups supporting his candidacy.
I don’t presume to speak for others, but personally what I object to most about Lieberman is not his conservative tendancies, but his corporatist tendancies. Which frankly, I believe, have no place in the Democratic party.