The Land Of Steady Habits Votes For Change

by DemFromCT

Ned Lamont defeated Joe Lieberman 52-48. Lieberman lost his home town, New Haven, to Lamont. Lamont was very strong in the small towns that Lieberman has been missing from.

Senator Joe Lieberman’s hometown, New Haven, went for Ned Lamont, 52.1 percent to 47.9 percent, according to the unofficial tallies. The Lamont campaign says it even beat him in his home precinct.

And as noted earlier, Mr. Lamont won among the Democrats in his hometown, Greenwich (which is heavily Republican). It was slightly more than we said in that earlier post: 68.3 percent to Lieberman’s 31.7 percent.

This is an unprecedented occurrance. You know how difficult it is to change horses in midstream... we saw that in 2004, didn't we?  But in the end, local neglect and desire for change won out.

The astounding nature of the win will only be slightly diminished by the margin of victory. The huge turnout (Presidential year levels) makes this difficult to dismiss as just a non-representative sample of vacationing Dems.

The local reporter for WTNH asked Lieberman on camera and live if he would concede that the big name Dems would desert him in Novemebr. The people won't, Joe said. We'll see if he means it, and we'll see if it's true.

Joe is not running as a Democrat. he's running as a party of one. I salute him for a well-fought campaign, and I suggest he get out of the race. But the seat will not go R, so whatever happens next is his doing. The message to DC incumbents has been sent, regardless. And the press has been given a wake up call they cannot ignore.

It's been quite a night.

Comments

[bugsy]

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
NED NED NED NED NED NED NED NED NED NED NED NED NED !!!!!

[al-Fubar]

Is it okay to just come out and say now that Joe Lieberman is a contemptable snake?

I never particularly liked the guy, for as long as I've had any distinct impression of him. He was sort of annoying. But I didn't actively detest him till now.

And what a strange man this is, who in his "concession" speech - using the term very loosely - chooses to couch his self-absorption and self-righteousness with a sports analogy. I'm not really a sports fan, but isn't that where sportsmanship comes from? As in, if you lose you grit your teeth, congratulate the winner, and acknowledge that the damn game is over?

[Paul Lyon]

I am hopeful that this result will send Mr. Schumer---and all the other DC dems with republican lite tendencies---a message. Similarly for the DLC and such.
I suspect however that they will still need to learn that denial is not a river in Egypt.

Also, the ``small towns'' link above is broken. You are missing the `h' in `http', it appears.

[demtom]

I have to admit I'm disappointed in the margin. It's a bit like when Clinton was elected in '92: I was of course happy about the result, but had the nagging sense it wasn't big enough to head off trouble down the road. In that case, I was correct; we'll see how this one goes.

I'm sure I'll post more tomorrow, when I've had time to sleep on it.

Dem, doesn't it seem some of the figures you and others have cited -- coups in individual towns/areas for Lamont -- should have added up to a bigger win?

[DHinMI]

It's like Joementum took all the wrong lessons from 2000. He's waiting to get the seat despite losing the election. But he doesn't control the Supreme Court.

[DHinMI]

demtom,

I suspect the problem was that Joementum actually did OK in some of the "organization towns" like the cities where labor and the mayors controlled the local Dem infrastructure. That--and the fact that those areas simply have more Dems--probably made it harder for Lamont to run up a margin. But for November those areas and machines will be behind Lamont. And Joementum is probably not riding on a lot of cash, and doesn't have some of the obvious sources from which to raise it. He'll probably get a good chunk of cash from AIPAC donors, and maybe some CT folks. But he's not going to be as competetive in cash for November as he was in the primary.

Now he's going to have to be really frugal, and the powers of incumbency fade away. I think it will be hard to beat him unless the Repubs all but officially endorse him over their own candidate.

[Compound F]

Congrats, TNH!

[Melanie]

The small towns have spoken.

[ab initio]

Good on the Dem voters in CT to vote for change. Stay the course only means more disaster.

But as we saw with the intense MSM and DC Dem establishment effort to boost Joe and denigrate Ned, they will not get the message. It crimps their gravvy train.

I hope though that the Dem party leadership rally around Ned in a visible manner. That will be the smartest way to harness the energy among Dem activists in a constructive manner.

Another take away from this race for me is that Nov will be very close. If the Dems in CT - considered a very blue state - supported a Bush clone to this degree, it will be a lot harder for the Dem candidate in more red districts in Nov what with Rove throwing everything and the kitchen sink.

[Paul Lyon]

The NYT article said that:

``According to interviews of voters leaving the polls Tuesday, Mr. Lamont appeared to be particularly popular with Democrats who opposed the war in Iraq, young people, African-Americans, liberals, and college graduates.''

So who did best among the blue collar/pink collar voters? Can Lamont craft an appeal---and stick by it---to the working class? Is he really prepared to proceed on the basis that our society has grown increasingly unfair and that change needs to be made to make it fairer?

[DemFromCT]

from the Fix:

That decision was met with squeamishness among many within the party establishment who had signaled that they would not support an independent bid by Lieberman. Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh -- who, like Lieberman, has close ties to moderates within the party but is considering a 2008 presidential bid -- quickly announced he would support Lamont.

"Senator Bayh supported Senator Lieberman in the primary because of his respect for Senator Lieberman's service and their long friendship," said Bayh spokesman Dan Pfeiffer. "The Democratic voters of Connecticut have spoken, and Senator Bayh respects their choice and will support their nominee."

Expect many more announcements like Bayh's over the next day or two. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) will speak about the race tomorrow.

Who stands with joe? that's the question.

[DemFromCT]

Paul Lyon, you don't win in New Haven without appealing to the blue/pink collar voter.

[al-Fubar]

I'm guessing that the blue/pink collar vote is more traditional - partly in ideological ways that play for Joe, but also in, well ... traditional ways. Such as "dance with the guy what brung ya." Joe was the Dem they knew, and had voted for before - they never heard of this Lamont guy, and don't hang around on political blogs.

Well, Joe ain't dancing with the guy what brung him; he's dancing by and for himself. That may not go over so well.

DHinMI - unfortunately, cash won't be a problem for Joe - the GOP/lobbyist piggy bank will be wide open for him. Someone needs to keep a close eye on who his donors are, and make sure everyone hears who they are.

[Paul Lyon]

Re the blue/pink collar voters:

Them be the folks that the D's need both to win back, but also to get to the polls at all. IIRC, voter participation is greatest in the top quintile of the income distribution, to the extent that, or so I read somewhere, in a recent national election, 49% of the vote came from that quintile. Kinda hard to make the country a fairer place if one is spending one's political effort fighting over those voters. (But that is what the DLC'ers would have us do, yes?)

[TCinLA]

I never even knew Turncoat Joe existed until 2000, and after listening to him once, it was all I could do to remember I've never voted for a Republican in my life that November, but the thought that whiny little creep could get that close to being President turned my stomach.

The last six years he's gone from bad to worst in my book, and now with his "independent campaign" b.s. he should be officially declared The Enemy.

If there is any "democracy" in the Democratic Party - not the Democrat Party as the thugs say it, but the Democratic Party, the party named for a process, then there better not be any Democratic office holders like that PoS Salazar or Ben "Legend in his own mind" Nelson, showing their "independence"by continuing to support Turncoat Joe's assault on democracy.

[Sara]

DemfromCT -- Will the AFL-CIO formally move to Lamont? -- If so I would imagine that will flip blue/pink collar workers in November, assuming the leadership flip is real.

How many returning students will get registered and vote Lamont this fall? CT has many -- Yale, U of CT, Wesleyan, Trinity, and a few others.

And in particular, what about CT Republicans who have a relatively weak candidate on their line -- will they cross over or stay put?

Apparently HillPac has announced a five thousand dollar donation tomorrow. She can do better than that mind you, she is sitting on a heap of money. But will Bill and Hillary come and knock doors -- do a big fund raising dinner? Hopefully the CT Party will make them put up a little more than a check.

While this is really big -- and I mean it is big when you, as the Brits so nicely put it on the BBC tonight, "DESELECT" a long time office holder, I must admit I wanted a much more robust "Deselection."

[jonnybutter]

I have to admit I'm disappointed in the margin.

Publius is so right to say, among other things, that winning matters the most in the end - a really simple and key insight. I'm fine with the margin because Lamont clearly won.

Pols respond to fear better than anything else, by far. ALL incumbents (especially Republicans) are obliged now to take a hard look at their MOs - a great thing!

Feel the wave.

[freepatriot]

bye bye, joezoe

[Beel]

The Rs are going to immediately go into fear mongering mode--Lamont stands for the dangerous left-wing coming into power and immediately closing out the Iraq War ("wasting" all those "assets" Bush has wasted), taxing and spending, etc. etc. There has got to be a concerted and sustained effort to counter the fear-mongering, all the way to November. Because Lamont's win,in truth, is going to seriously wake Rove & the general incumbent class up. This is the people speaking, as opposed to being manipulated.

[KdmFromPhila]

" I suggest he get out of the race. But the seat will not go R..."

I don't know CT politics at all so I am wondering why do you say that Dem. What are the factors in CT that will pevent his campaign as an Independent from dividing the Dem enought to enable the R candidate to win?

[DemFromCT]

The R is a confessed habitual gambler that would be lucky to get 8% of the vote. The primary has galvanized people as to the metameaning of this vote, and Bush-lovers will vote for Joe.

R's can win in CT, but they can't win this race.

Will the R's replace their guy?

R's rarely do that, there's no deep bench, asnd the D-s and the party of one have the star pawer.

[Pilgrim]

Sara above: I too noticed and enjoyed the BBC "deselect." Yes, nicely put. He's being deselected, alright, and I am glad to see so many of the party hierarchy quickly moving to do the right thing and support Lamont, thereby increasingly isolating Mr. Sanctimony.

[Pilgrim]

Sara above: I too noticed and enjoyed the BBC "deselect." Yes, nicely put. He's being deselected, alright, and I am glad to see so many of the party hierarchy quickly moving to do the right thing and support Lamont, thereby increasingly isolating Mr. Sanctimony.