CT-Sen: Hatin' Joe in Connecticut

[WI_DEM]

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 11/11-13. Likely voters. MoE 4% (6/30-7/2 results)

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Joe Lieberman is doing as U.S. senator?

Approve 36 (45)
Disapprove 61 (43)

If the 2012 election for U.S. Senate were held today would you to reelect Joe Lieberman would you consider voting for another candidate or would you vote to replace Lieberman?

Reelect 35
Consider Someone Else 18
Replace 48



Brutal. It seems that the people of Connecticut don't like the Republican version of Lieberman, the one that trashed Democrats on the campaign trail with John McCain, the one that spoke at the RNC convention, the one that failed to hold the Bush Administration accountable in Congress, and the one that pretended Katrina never happened.

He's already in trouble with his constituents. But look what happens if Lieberman follows through on his threats and caucuses with Republicans:

If Joe Lieberman loses his committee chairmanship at Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and switches his allegiance to the Republican Party would you that make you more likely reelect Lieberman more likely to consider voting for another candidate or more likely to vote to replace Lieberman?

Reelect 31
Consider Someone Else 15
Replace 52



And those numbers look a lot worse with Democrats and Independents, since they are propped up by happy Republicans. (Full crosstabs below the fold.)

So Lieberman can threaten all he wants to caucus with Republicans if he doesn't get everything he wants. Fact is, he's in shaky electoral territory, and it would only get worse if he decided to become a Republican.

Call his bluff. Give him another committee chairmanship in an area where his ideology matches up with the Democratic Party. He won't leave the Democratic caucus. It would be career suicide.

No one likes Joe except for Republicans, yet there are the Senate Dems, once again ready to capitulate. Apparently, old habits die hard.

But maybe they'll prove us wrong and do the right thing.

Update: Oh, and the people of Connecticut are still suffering buyer's remorse:

If you could vote again for U.S. Senate would you vote for Ned Lamont theDemocrat Alan Schlesinger the Republican or Joe Lieberman an Independent?

Lieberman (I) 34 (36)
Lamont (D) 59 (51)
Schlesinger (R) 3 (7)

www.dailykos.com

[Bake]

1. Sweeeeeeet!

I hope Droopy Joe is paying attention. The ice is getting thinner.

Bake

[EconomicLiberal]

2. Why the heck did these people re-elect him then?

We knew about all this stuff in 2006.

[WI_DEM]

3. yep, a lot of people on DU posted in '06 that he wasn't to be trusted

but still it wasn't only GOP and Indie votes that elected Lieberman in CT in 2006, but over 30% of Dems pulled the ballot for him instead of the candidate who won the primary.

[CTyankee]

5. As a volunteer for Lamont I did lots of phoning, both in the Dem primary and the General

election in 06. Even tho Lamont had LOTS of ads running in the state, I talked to many folks who didn't know anything about him. They knew Joe. Joe was familiar to them and had generally been somewhat popular (altho never much with my crowd in New Haven). There were even folks I called in the GE who didn't know Joe was no longer running on the Dem ticket.

Ned Lamont was also viewed as a rich guy from Greenwich who could just go back to his cushy life if he lost. Lamont didn't go over too well with the ethnic white voters w/o a college education across the state. They tended to agree with Joe on the war and the economy wasn't in the tank.

My heart was sinking toward the end of the campaign. What I was hearing with my own ears on the phone with voters I called was being borne out by the polls. It was almost a relief to me that I was slated for a trip to Italy, leaving the day before the GE and quietly voting absentee beforehand. I saw the bad news on CNN in my hotel in Rome, but it wasn't until I got to Siena a few days later that we found out that the Senate had a Dem majority. A gelato and quick victory dance in the Campo was in order...

[bunnies]

4. Thankfully, this will be Joes last term.

Better late than never CT! :)