when connecticut voters go to the polls on tuesday and choose between ned lamont and joe lieberman, it’s hard to predict what will happen next. it’s very possible that lieberman will lose to lamont, but even though this may happen, i don’t think that this will determine the national mood of the country. there are several reasons why i believe this. the first reason is that lieberman’s campaign staff is almost as incompetent as john kerry’s was during his race for the presidency (and that’s really saying something). it’s safe to say they have made a couple serious mistakes, the most glaring of which was the debate advice they gave him. attack your opponent if you see a weakness. seize the opportunity to emphasize your experience and qualifications. all that makes sense, but it’s not necessary to be condescending, rude, or arrogant as you sell yourself to the viewers and the audience. if the viewers saw it the way i did, i can’t imagine that lieberman gained anything by acting like that. it only plays into that out-of-touch washington insider stereotype that his detractors are trying to suggest.
the second reason is that lieberman has been unable to sell the rest of his liberal resume and his commitment to most causes beloved by those at daily kos and huffington post. even daily kos’ second favorite democrat, bill clinton, can’t seem to convince the locals that joe lieberman is the right man to represent their interests in washington, dc. lieberman has a serious image problem and there’s no easy way to fix that.
then again, it’s not about joe lieberman. it’s not even about what a great guy lamont is. the netroots are using ned lamont. it’s a way to cast a protest vote against someone they can’t get rid of just yet…george w. bush. it’s more than iraq. these people want to send the message that agreeing with george w. bush on anything, no matter how small the issue may be, is unacceptable, and that such behavior should be punished. i don’t believe that lieberman opponents would have any serious objection to most of his voting record, but the debate over the war in iraq has become so vicious that there’s bound to be a few political casualties along the way.
the voters have a right to make up their own minds whether lieberman or lamont could best represent them. both of them are too liberal for me, but not too much for connecticut. what a lamont victory would lead to is not some kind of political tidal wave where all the iraq war supporters are drummed out of congress, but a deep ideological struggle between the netroots crowd and the DLC for control of the party’s message. that could be dangerous for them. i can understand why the centrist dems are nervous about this race, because while a lamont win may not have any national implications, it still could cause some ideological chaos within the ranks. if that chaos splits up the democratic party, it will hurt them in november.
tags: joe lieberman, democrats, ned lamont
You couldn’t be more right. Once again, dead on.
Centrist Dems, including myself, are nervous about this race because of the very reasons you mention.
My notion is that there are still many more centrist/conservative Dems than left wingers. But it’s the left wing of the party that is most visible and much more organized (netroots). Centrist Dems tend to not make a lot of noise. Roughly 35% of registered voters in this country are registered as Democrat. That’s millions of people. I think we both know there is no way that that many voters in America are left wingers. It’s just not accurate or possible.
It looks like Lieberman is going down. And if the Democratic voters in his state feel that way, then so be it. But I agree with you and if Lieberman loses that lone event could change the political landscape in this nation. Good or bad I don’t know yet.
LOL!!! OMG!!! You Democrats are GREAT fun to watch!! LOL!!!
You Dems would cut of your nose to spite your face!!! Even though Joe’s voting record show’s he is a true BLUE liberal I guess he’s not far enough to the LEFT for you!!
You might as well stick the name “Michael Moore” on the ticket….cause that’s what you are gonna get!!
The Republicans don’t have a prayer…everyone knows that. But to vote out someone with as much integrity and stature as Joe is FOOLISH!!
Go ahead….vote in Michael…er…Ned…..let see how well he serves the state.
…sitting back and watching the fun…
I think that you are right that there are more centrists than left-wingers in the Democratic party. It’s way past time for the centrists to try to regain control of the Democratic party.
I think that if a Lamont win causes a split of the Democratic party on ideological grounds, then yes, it could have a significant national impact. Otherwise, I’m not convinced that it will mean much of anything to the rest of the country.
Ned Lamont is not Michael Moore. He’s liberal, but other than that, he seems like a pretty normal person.
Joe Lieberman doesn’t have a divine right to be re-elected. He has to work for it just like any other candidate. I have a higher opinion of him than of Ned Lamont, but if Lieberman loses, it’s his own fault for running a bad campaign.
America disrespects-distrusts the far left as much as the current admin in power. You think you’re helping the Dem cause by voting out Sen. Lieberman, but in actually his ouster will alienate mainstream electorate AND empower the Repulican Right to paint your ENTIRE party as liberal. (You can even see it in the blog entry above). That will deeply setback efforts by the Dems to appeal to moderate America, the electorate that will decide the next presidential election, and the place where I reside politically. Steve Jarriel, Vienna, VA; former resident Simsbury, CT; former TV reporter, WFSB, Hartford, CT.
Steve,
I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m a Republican and a conservative…and I don’t live in Connecticut. 🙂 I think that you are right in your analysis of American views of the far left and the current administration. The question is which feelings are stronger when it comes to actually voting on it.
I do not believe that a Lamont victory by itself would sway opinion on a national level. That does not mean that I want him to win. If the choices are Lieberman and Lamont then Lieberman is the right choice.
If the Democrats want to be portrayed as centrists, then they need to ditch Howard Dean and stop pandering to the nutroots. Karl Rove didn’t create Howard Dean. He’s not the one who allowed these far left people to start controlling the message. It’s not our fault that the centrists in your party allow this.
Well, said…but with Lamont now victorious, it does seem that he’s tapped into some national discontent…it’s more than ineptness at Lieberman headquarters. I blogged about this today on my page. Take care.
I’m not sure how much a race in Connecticut is an accurate indicator of the national mood, unless you point specifically to Bush fatigue, or something similar to that. I don’t think this race symbolizes an increasing desire to vote for candidates like Ned Lamont.