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Monday, August 7, 2006

Lieberman’s Last Day as a Democrat?

Posted by on August 7 at 10:56 AM

As Dan noted below, tomorrow is the Connecticut primary, which is being billed as a watershed moment for the Democratic Party (and, more so, for the liberal blogosphere).

The primary has been the talk of the netroots for months. When I was in Las Vegas back in June writing about the Yearly Kos blogger convention, Markos Moulitsas, probably the most widely read liberal blogger in the country, essentially bet his prestige on a netroots victory over Lieberman, telling the crowd in no uncertain terms: “Liberman is going to lose.”

I saw Markos’s bet as a play for clout as much as an act of political retribution against pro-war Lieberman, and I wrote that Moulitsas and the liberal blogosphere were due for a huge clout-perception-payoff if the prediction of a Lieberman loss proved true.

It looks like it’s going to prove true tomorrow. Polls are showing Lieberman is likely to lose the primary to anti-war and netroots-backed Ned Lamont, a scenario that would force Lieberman to either abandon his long career in the Senate or run in the general election as an Indepentent. And Dan Balz of the Washington Post is now previewing the potential clout payoff for the netroots this way:

A victory by businessman Ned Lamont on Tuesday would confirm the growing strength of the grass-roots and Internet activists who first emerged in Howard Dean’s presidential campaign. Driven by intense anger at President Bush and fierce opposition to the Iraq war, they are on the brink of claiming their most significant political triumph, one that will reverberate far beyond the borders here if Lieberman loses.

One more day until we find out what actually happens. In the meantime, for Lamont vs. Lieberman addicts, some links:

Washington Post on Lieberman’s big speech.

Hartford Courant, via The Note, on possibilities for the morning after.

The Note itself on why the case against Leibarman is sui generis (and therefore maybe not the “watershed” people think it is).

Chicago Tribune on voters abandoning Lieberman.

Kagan on why Lieberman is the “last honest man.”

Salon on why “it is hard to overstate what a profound and monumental upset it will be if Ned Lamont defeats Joe Lieberman.”


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Dan lots of your fans love the politician name denfinitions you do. Santorum was a good start. Let's all do what we can to get new definitions out there -

Lieberman - noun - A clot of blood than forms on an infant's penis if the Rabbi doesn't suck the blood away quick enough. -- The Rabbi used his tongue to dislodge the Lieberman that had formed on the penis. (There are three stages required for the performance of a ritually correct circumcision in Jewish law: the removal of the foreskin; the tearing of the underlying membraene so as to expose the glans completely; and the sucking away of the blood, m'tsitsah)see- http://www.sexuallymutilatedchild.org/mohel.htm

So if Lieberman goes independent, that means a neo-con will likely get elected, huh? (with Ned and Joe fighting for many of the same voters)

When Lieberman loses, whether he runs as an independent or not, about 25% of the Democratic Party leaves too. Shit like this is going to put another R in the White House in '08. Markos needs taking down pronto.

Good riddance, never like the guy. Always thought he was a Republican.

That's because you have no friggin' idea who Lieberman is, what he stands for, or what his voting record is.

No, I know his initial stand was for NOT counting stock options as an expense, and trying to increase the national debt by making certain stock transactions exempt from oversight.

if it walks like a duck, and gets kissed by other ducks, and has ducklings, it's a frickin duck. shoot it already.

and FNARF, repeating today's editorial column from the WSJ won't save Loserman's bacon. I get the print edition - it's great bird cage liner.

I didn't read the WSJ. I never do.

The bursts of self-righteousness over Lieberman are going to kill the Democratic Party for good. If Democrats continue to apply the Kos standard of ideological purity, which is absolutely Stalinist in its execution, they -- and we -- don't stand a chance. You'll end up with a sub-Nader candidate getting four percent of the vote, as all the normal Americans flee in disgust from the vituperative cannibalism of the left.

"YOU! YOU VOTED FOR THE STOCK OPTIONS! TRAITOR! YOU MUST DIE! DIE I SAY!"

That's actually pretty mild compared to most of the blogosphere's relationship with Lieberman, who remains a good and decent man with whom other good and decent men and women can afford to disagree with from time to time. That's all.

If this puts a Republican in the NJ Senate chair, we're in big, big trouble.

Unless the CT GOP finds a way to switch candidates, they're not in the running.

If Lamont wins tomorrow, Lieberman wins in November.

A Lamont win sends a big signal on the war, but events in Iraq are already sending a bigger signal.

And the netroots have gone all-in on a lose-lose proposition.

Ronk is right. Lieberman wins either way. The polls that predict his loss in the primary also predict his win in a three-way race in the general.

The "liberal blogosphere" can wank itself all it wants about revolutionising politics, but it can't change the fundamental political facts of Lieberman's district.

FNARF, Lieberman may be a decent guy, and yes we can disagree on some issues and still manage to work together. However, what is hurting Lieberman is his strident support for Bush's War. A majority of the public wants us out of Bush's War. Lamont wants us out of Bush's War. Therefor, Lamont is the more mainstream candidate. This has little to do with the blogosphere or ideological purity. Disagreeing over participation in a war is not a trivial disagreement. The blogosphere has helped publicize this, and helped raise a bit of campaign money for Lamont, but really can't claim a victory if Lamont beats Lieberman. If Lieberman looses, he has only himself (and his support of Bush's War) to blame, not the blogosphere.

Oh, and Lieberman is from Connecticut, not New Jersey.

The polls that predict his loss in the primary also predict his win in a three-way race in the general.

The most recent three-way poll has him tied with Lamont in the general, 40-40-13.

A loss in the primary is going to be an anchor - no one likes to support a sore loser. Not to mention all the Democratic institutional support he's relying on for the primary will evapourate.

That's actually pretty mild compared to most of the blogosphere's relationship with Lieberman, who remains a good and decent man with whom other good and decent men and women can afford to disagree with from time to time. That's all.

Except Lieberman is the one who claimed anyone who criticized the President was helping the terrorists. *He*'s the one who's intolerant of different views. Oh, he's changed his views(how principled) now that he's courting voters, but when it counts, he's giving cover to Republicans.

There aren't enough bloggers in CT to make this competitive. Lieberman neglected his state and refused to listen to his constituents, all the while holding views on major issues that are severely out of step with his state. That's why he's in trouble.

Shit, New Jersey, Connecticut, I'm sorry. I agree, and have said so many times, Lieberman dug his own grave here. But the attack-fest that's coming from the bloggers is a disaster for the Democrats in the long run.

There is a very large portion of the Democratic Party, though getting smaller all the time (as is the Democratic Party) of more conservative voters who feel abandoned by the lefty Dems, and have for some time. The bloggers are not coming to their rescue; the bloggers only notice them as figures of ridicule. But we need them to win.

It's not so much that I want Lieberman to roll on forever, it's the TONE and the style of the attack on him that I object to, because, like the blogosphere in general, it is completely insensitive to nuanced argument, and is instead focused on ideological purity and circled wagons. You're with us or against us. If a poll shows that some percentage of Americans is "against the war" that's the same thing as a slam dunk for Bush-haters. But that's ridiculous.

If Kos was allowed to pick any person alive as his candidate, and run him or her against Bush in a special election, that candidate would get slaughtered. Ordinary people, some of them, are disappointed in Bush, but they're freakin' terrified of wild-eyed Kos. The ones who've heard of him, that is. There's a strong thread in the blogosphere of "well, Bush fooled 'em in '04, but we've got our message out, and people SEE now, they all agree with US" which is bullshit. Bush still holds 40% of popular support.

Folks: Lieberman is not a decent guy. He is a pompous, self-righteous, hypocritical ass. He gave unspeakable legitimacy to the forces who impeached Clinton. he has given unpardonable cover to GWB's warmongering and torture.

Worst of all, Mr. Lieberman has tried (and may succeed) in cheating his constituents of meaningful representation in the Senate. CT is a complex, but basically liberal liberal state. You'd never know that from Lieberman's most important public positions in the Senate (the war, Clinton, abortion rights, etc.).

He is dangerous because he refuses to represent the people who elected him, and prefers to threaten them: Vote for me (even though I've fucked you hard) because if you don't you'll get a Republican. I'm sorry. As an American and as a democrat (and not least as someone who lived a great deal of my life in CT) that is an unacceptable ultimatum.

Grow up people. The republicans have built a nasty, strict party discipline -- even though the core beliefs of the party are wildly at odds with the beliefs of many republican voters. There is no harm in the Democrats building in some discipline of their own.

And trust me. Pitching Lieberman is not handing the seat to a republican. Ther republican candidate has about 10% support state-wide. If Lieberman loses the primary it will be Lieberman vs. Lamont, and Lamont will have a lot of support. Lieberman will not be popular if he runs, despite losing the primary.

Lieberman: The skidmarks that feces occasionally make in a toilet after flushing.

The most recent three-way poll has him tied with Lamont in the general, 40-40-13.

If that's true, then Lieberman will be stealing votes from the Republican candidate. Big fucking surprise. So, basically, the Republican candidate is toast.

Lieberman has always supported abortion rights. That kind of distortion (not to mention the shit-stains remark) is exactly what I'm talking about. I think the Dems are throwing away the best opportunity they've had in a decade here. Get used to your Republican hegemony and full-time kleptocracy.

And since when is savaging the career of your own candidate, who WON the vice-presidency just six years ago, supposed to further "party discipline"?

It's exactly this style of Democrats attacking Democrats that emboldens the Republicans. I wonder how much money Karl Rove gave to Lamont's campaign? God, he must be loving this.

Kos was the force that gave this race national attention, but the voters of Connecticut are the ones rejecting (hopefully) Lieberman, fair and square. A liberal state like CT must have been humiliated to have their elected senator constantly willing to reach accross the aisle to his Republican fuck buddies while frequently stabbing the Dems in the back. He was all over Clinton back in the day about a stain on a blue dress, then fully supports an illegal war by a Republican presdent? Then he has the audacity to run against the democrats nominee if it isn't him? THis guy is NOT a democrat, plain and simple. He does just enough to get elected in his liberl state, but shows his true colors whenever the cards are down. Well, the voters in Connecticut are getting wise and Joe's little charade may be up. While i agree with FNARF, that infighting in the party is no good for the Dems, this doesn't represent that at all. This is a house cleaning, not by the party, but by the voters. IF you think Rove would rather have Lamont win this then Lieberman, you must be MAD. The republicans love this guy and i bet he gets crazy Republican support in a run as an independent.

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