Is This the Best Lieberman Can Do? (Yahoo article)

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20060717/cm_rcp/is_this_the_best_lieberman_can

Opinion

Is This the Best Lieberman Can Do?

Kevin Rennie
Mon Jul 17, 9:30 AM ET

Commentators who blame Senator Joseph Lieberman's troubles with Connecticut Democrats on left-wing netroots spend too much time in front of their screens. The revolt against Lieberman comes from rank-and-file Democrats the embattled incumbent once hailed. Proof of that came in May when a third of state Democratic delegates supported little known challenger Ned Lamont over the three-term incumbent. Those delegates were the same stalwarts who attend conventions year after year. Opposition to Lieberman over his support of the war in Iraq explains much but not all of the revolt against the status quo.

Though both candidates are on the air broadcasting commercials to the state. Lieberman has enough money to dominate the airwaves with what so far have been tepid appeals that feature the weary senator. Lamont's have been more alternated from lighthearted, nearly arch, to mocking. If he dips into his considerable fortune, Lamont will be able to match Lieberman everyday. He expressed some reservations about doing that in a January interview, but he's come to like the idea of winning this race. And several million more shoveled into ad buys will not do much to the family exchequer. snip

Both Lamont and Lieberman have enough support to win. The victor will be the one who gets his supporters to the polls on August 8th. And here is where it starts to look like advantage Lamont. The Greenwich insurgent (a new Connecticut oxymoron) has attracted an army of energetic campaign workers.

They are manning the phone banks and hitting the doorsteps in numbers Lieberman cannot match. Washington Republicans' favorite Democrat abandoned the state six years ago and is paying a fearsome price for it this summer. When Al Gore tapped Lieberman as his running mate in 2000, Connecticut lost a senator. Excitement turned to grousing when Lieberman refused to give up his Senate re-election bid. It looked selfish that Lieberman hedged his bets on the national ticket by insisting running for two offices at once.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20060717/cm_rcp/is_this_the_best_lieberman_can

[babylonsister]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Joe could be in

for quite a shock!

[LynneSin]

3. or perhaps we could be the ones in quite a shock

You cannot gauge the buzz you hear on the internet to what the results will be. The vast majority of people out there who vote probably use their computers for nothing more that games, email, sports scores, music and porn. We are foolish to assume that everyone is politically active online like we are.

I'm not taking away the power of the internet. Hell that's probably the reason Howard Dean did get the DNC chair position. But there are still more of them not using computers for political use than us who are.

[babylonsister]

5. I will frankly be shocked if Joe doesn't win, but Lamont is gaining,

and it's not just the internet spreading the word. From the article, Lamont supporters "are manning the phone banks and hitting the doorsteps in numbers Lieberman cannot match." That is what sounds promising to me, and the fact that Lamont has money to burn couldn't hurt.

[LynneSin]

8. I hope that is the case

but even with Dean, we were doing the same thing. We were phoning like crazy and writing those damn letters to people in Iowa and New Hampshire.

I guess I'm just being a realist but then I keep thinking the more we keep doing this stuff, one day it's going to break through and be the norm.

[Bandit]

9. I agree except that it is changing daily

More and more people are becoming politically aware and it is because of the internet. The future is here.

[LynneSin]

1. I hate to say it - there is some valid point to what Lieberman says

And if it pisses you off that Lieberman says we spend too much time in front of our computer screens then perhaps we should do something about it.

Too many times I see assumptions made by DUers based on informal online polls. Hell, I did it myself when I swore up and down that Howard Dean would be the next President of the US. But it seems that what we believe and what the rest of the voting population believes (with the help of Diebold) isn't the same thing.

We need the internet as a source to gather and initiate ourselves into pushing the democratic party back to the left. The internet is a wealth of information and knowledge that we can use in the field to help get the candidates of choice elected. But to use the internet as a gauge as to "who is going to win" is a very scary tactic!

[cgrindley]

2. About the Senate race during the election

It was annoying. Lieberman should have given up his senate seat during the election campaign. His voting record was utterly appalling during his run for VP and hasn't really gotten any better. For entirely unknown reasons, he managed to miss 54% of roll call votes, for example, in 2004.

I think that the people of Connecticut deserve to have a senator who won't miss votes and who has perfect attendance whenever the Senate is sitting. I think we also deserve one who isn't a Republican and who hasn't had his brain softened by pork barrel politics.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. When is the primary?

I will be very interested in watching this play out.

[calico1]

6. August 8. n/t

[calico1]

7. Win or lose the author is right about one thing...

Lieberman is not revered the way Dodd is. And the antics he has been pulling for the past few years assures that he will never be as respected.