Marie Cocco: The Lieberman-Lamont Litmus Test

[im10ashus]

Ned Lamont does not froth at the mouth, nor does he wear a nose ring. He looks like what he is: a preppy political neophyte, suitably nervous about challenging a noted United States senator who has spent more than three decades in public office.

The media now have fixed their gaze on the Democratic primary contest between Lamont and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Their debate last week—an uneven match between a polished and aggressive incumbent and a jittery but earnest challenger—was televised nationally. Much breathless analysis is being devoted to the Lamont-Lieberman race, despite indications that the contest remains what it always has been: an uphill struggle by an inexperienced candidate against a powerful and well-financed incumbent.

It is surely possible for Lamont to beat Lieberman in the Aug. 8 primary. The date in sleepy midsummer favors candidates whose supporters are more fervent, and so more likely to vote. The enthusiasm gap so troubles Lieberman that he intends to run as an independent if he loses the primary, a career-preserving option that tends to prove his detractors’ theory: That Lieberman has become a self-absorbed pol for whom staying in office, not serving the people’s will, is paramount.

Win or lose, do not expect the truth of Lamont’s quest to be told by the purveyors of conventional wisdom. It already has become shrouded in media mythology. In this story line, the Lamont candidacy is the product of fevered left-wing bloggers whose Web-based rants against President Bush in general and the Iraq war in particular have the potential to taint the national Democrats as limp, “pre-9/11” peaceniks.

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http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060710_marie_cocco_lieberman_lamont/