While Lieberman is out giving the proverbial “fuck you” to Democrats in Connecticut, the Democratic leadership have spoken and show where their support now lies:
Democratic Leader Harry Reid and DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer issued the following joint statement today on the Connecticut Senate race:
“The Democratic voters of Connecticut have spoken and chosen Ned Lamont as their nominee. Both we and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) fully support Mr. Lamont’s candidacy. Congratulations to Ned on his victory and on a race well run.
“Joe Lieberman has been an effective Democratic Senator for Connecticut and for America. But the perception was that he was too close to George Bush and this election was, in many respects, a referendum on the President more than anything else. The results bode well for Democratic victories in November and our efforts to take the country in a new direction.”
The results of yesterday’s primary could be a definite glimpse into the near future. It very well could indicate that more voters are going to turn to candidates opposed to Bush’s war then to the stale “stay the course” candidates.
Connecticut is going to be a very interesting race this fall and I don’t think anyone knows how to predict this one. We are treading in new territory now in the way of politics, but there are a few key points that need to be considered.
- How many Democrats went out and voted for Lieberman yesterday, but will switch support to Lamont because he is the Democratic candidate?
- How effective will Joe’s campaign be without the backing of such groups as the DSCC and other Democratic backers?
- What effect will the Republican candidate have in this race as he becomes more visible in the race now?
The last point really needs examining. Alan Schlesinger is the Republican candidate and has not had much exposure yet. This is due in a large part to the Democratic primary. Now that we are entering the home stretch, Schlesinger will start becoming more visible. A more visible and liked Schlesinger will result in more troubles for Lieberman. Voters will decide between Schlesinger and Lieberman more than they will between Lamont and Lieberman.
Considering the extremely high turn out in yesterday’s primary, the Democrats in Connecticut are pretty much decided with exception. That exception hurts Lieberman. Short of major Lamont meltdown, Democrats who voted for him will not switch to Lieberman. The same is not true for Lieberman. The fact is many people vote party lines no matter what. There are people who voted for Lieberman yesterday, but as of last night changed their support to Lamont simply because he is the parties candidate.
Now take the financial angle of everything. Lamont now has the power of the DNC and DSCC behind him. He will enjoy the company of such names as Hilary Clinton, Harry Reid, and Evan Bayh supporting and campaigning for him. This will certainly hurt Lieberman and make his campaign all the much difficult to run effectively.
One thing I would like to see is a report on Joe saying his website was “hacked” this week. I believe the investigators should put this as a priority and the findings should be released ASAP. If it comes out that Joe’s site in fact went down because of his poor choice of hosting companies (a high probability), then the people need to know that Joe and his campaign took to the national airwaves yesterday to make false accusations of breaking the law and aimed those accusations at Lamont. This investigation will not be difficult as servers log every access and error (unless of course those logs got deleted). Remember, Joe has selected a new hosting company and is still receiving the same errors.
Their is much work ahead for Lamont and this should not provide reason to get lax in his campaign. He will need all the support he can get to win the home stretch and we can all help. If you have the financial means to help then please donate to Lamont’s campaign at the Blue America page.