"...If I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost Middle America..."

Welcome the fold :)

Could someone please send this diary to Chuck Schumer?!

If Joe doesnt want a Democrat to be elected from Connecticut, then I don't have any use for him.

I wouldn't be very surprised if Lieberman announced he was leaving the party at the upcoming debate.

I've argued with bluenc in the past about the Connecticut U.S. Senate primary and I'm sure that I will disagree with him on many issues over the coming years.  However, his diary here sums up, in my mind both my thoughts on the importance of the primary, and even more importantly what a big tent really means.

No, we don't need to send this message to Chuck Schumer.  We need to send this message to whomever selects the next DSCC Chair.

I hearby nominate bluenc.

I have changed my mind about him too

Seems Joe L will be pushed out of the dem party yet still win re-election.

Net effect is one less democrate in the senate woo hoo kos all your liberal money and you are just a re-incarnation of nadar.

Its time for liberals to understand that no matter what YOU think America is a DEMOCRACY.

If Joe L has enough votes as an independant and wins and you think thats a wrong thing you seriously need to re-evalutate your affiliations with the American democratic process.

You knew most democrats don't vote in primaries.  You knew those who do tend to be more liberal.  You knew Joe L. had an easy victory in the general election.

But you wanted to be Darth Nadar.........

And now we will be 1 dem down in the senate.

Damn, all the DLC trolls are backing Lamont, who woulda thunk Lieberman could fall so far.

In terms of politics, is this the DLC way of saying that Connecticut's senate race isn't a proxy race like the CA-GOV and MT-SEN races the DLC just lost?

I mean, the DLC can't win primaries in red states, they can't win primaries in blue states, are the trolls just now hopping on board because big money can always read the writing on the wall?

No matter which DLC trolls hop on the bandwagon, this is still a battle against the DLC. When Lamont wins, the DLC will lose.

Hey, this is Connecticut, folks. Spend an afternoon in Westport. This ain't no disco; it ain't no country club either; nor is it L.A. It's friggin Connecticut. Just don't ask.

Point of law regarding Lieberman running unaffiliated: can you do that in CT after filing in a primary for the same office?  In NC you can't do that.

What is the timetable here?  In NC, we've already had our primary.

If Lieberman can withdraw by a certain date and declare himself unaffiliated, what is the deadline for that?

 As it stands now, Joe Lieberman is going to comfortably win the primary over Ned Lamont. Latest polls have him up ten to fifteen points.

 Joe has incumbency.

 Joe has name recognition.

 So why is Joe acting like such a whiny little brat? Why is his campaign in code-red full-panic mode? Why does he have to resort to smears, lies, and name-calling when it's 95% certain that he's going to win this primary?

 It's truly unbelievable. Has a respected, nationally-known politician ever publicly melted down like this in the face of a still-longshot threat to his comfortable sinecure? Because Joe's behavior is borderline irrational. I mean, equating his own party's voting base to jihadists and terrorists? Those are not the remarks of a rational person.

 This suggests a serious character flaw in Joe -- a complete inability to maintain his cool under pressure, even light pressure.

 Does Joe Lieberman have the temperament to be a senator? Is this the reason he rolls over for Bush so readily? I'm not sure he even has the temperament to be a bus driver.

 It's amazing to see his true nature come out like this. I only hope that enough Connecticut voters, the type who aren't political junkies, notice before the nation is stuck with him for six more years.

He's standing still while Lamont gains on him.  He knows people have had many years to get to know him, and his ability to grow his support is limited.  Whereas Lamont has reached just a fraction of Democrats so far (as of the last polling, way over half said they hadn't heard enough about Ned Lamont), and yet Lamont's already got 40% of Dem primary voters.

Welcome to the fold. Why i find this diary offensive is your condescending tone when you describe the  attitudes you had prior to your turnaround. Nothing has really changed about Lieberman since Lamont has accepted the challenge. THe only thing is he is more desperate now and his supporters are showing their true colors. Now I am not going to take you to task because it took you longer to see the truth about Lieberman, but for you to have such contempt for others for merely wanting to challenge liberman? What if Lieberman didn't act so desperate this campaign - would he been acceptable to you since his policies would still have been the same?

You said you thought Stoller and others were morons for their thoughts on this race in the past. Yet you call yourself a moderate. Calling them morons and thinking of Lamont as silly and stupid for just daring to run is rather extreme for a "level headed moderate" citizen to be feeling. So anyone who doesnt think the way you do on the left is a moron, but when you belated agree with them, they are no longer morons? How would you feel if those who are still not convinced now think the same of you? You thought Lamont's challenge was not just merely unwise, but SILLY AND STUPID. Why? First of all, if you remember the way the whole campaign started, you will see many of us wanted Lamont to run but were not sure he would win. Obviously, the ideal goal even back them was for him to win, but we were not naive. Even now, many of us realize it will take a lot of hard work to unseat Lieberman even in the primary.

I have said many times, I do not consider myself to be on the left. However, I really find it offensive how the left gets denigrated with such ease in this country by self proclaimed moderates. When Gore loses, moderates blame the angry left. Yet when Dean loses, maybe we should blame the condescending angry moderates becxaue they can't stand ideas differing from their own either. RESPECT GOES BOTH WAYS. I have mostly a liberal outlook but have strong ideas some associate with conservatives and libertarians(just look at my diaries). However, I would not feel ashamed if someone called me a liberal because that is my basic outlook on life and I will support my liberal fellow americans even if they disagree with me on some topics.

ANother surprise. I actually think Lieberman is doing nothing really wrong if he chooses to run as an independent and take part in the primary. What i find offensive is Chuck Shumer saying he will support Lieberman even as an independent. That is a slap in teh face of all democrats. I do think Lieberman should be taken to task by the media and opponents for trying to have it both ways. That is just good politics to expose him and let him suffer the consequences of his choice.  But I do understand why a candidate would want to run as an independent if that deluded candidate truly thinks he is doing a lot of good for this world. It is our job to call him on that early enough to damage him politically.

Instead of running ads savaging Lamont and trying, like Captain Queeg with the strawberries, of recapturing the mojo of the 1988 (!) bear ad, maybe, just maybe, he ought to run a series of positive ads on why he's a good Democrat. Not "I'm good on the environment" or "I'm good on jobs" but "I'm a good Democrat and I'm proud to be one."

That's it. Just convince primary voters he's a good Democrat and this thing is in the bag for him. That he is unable, unwilling, or both to do so speaks volumes about why he's about to be on the bad end of a major embarrassment.

I think we need to take these comments straight to Schumer and the other Congressional leaders who think they've got a tap on the minds of Democratic voters. Last week Democracy for America posted a link to its petition calling for Democratic leaders to support the winner of the Connecticut primary.  I hope you all will take a second to sign it.  Even if you're not from Connecticut, we need to stand together as a party and know that our leadership is working for our interests.  And they should know that we don't want them endorsing someone if the people have already voted for their own candidate.  That doesn't fly in CT, and it shouldn't be allowed anywhere else.