Lieberman-Lamont Short Takes

by DemFromCT

[UPDATE]: Name the Republican and win a kewpie doll. First Read weighs in on Schlesinger's $20,000 war chest.

Here's some local coverage:

Congressional candidate Diane Farrell indicated yesterday she would not support U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman if he lost the Aug. 8 Democratic primary and ran in the general election as a petition candidate.

"I endorsed Joe several months ago. I've told him I disagree strongly with him on the war and a few other issues. And I've told him I'll support the winner of the primary on Aug. 8," Farrell said in a statement issued by her campaign...

Farrell's communications director, Jan Ellen Spiegel, added the campaign is confident Lieberman will win the primary.

"People forget Joe Lieberman is quite a fighter when it comes down to it."

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., has said he believes Lieberman will win and be the Democratic nominee. Dodd and many other Democrats have been reluctant to discuss how they would respond if Lieberman loses the primary.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a longtime Lieberman supporter, on Tuesday told The Associated Press she hopes he will be the party's nominee but will "honor the decisions made by Democratic primary voters."

Also, here's a sympathetic (sort of) Lieberman story:

Senator: 'I am no President Bush'

Lieberman promises Democratic loyalty

The debate is tonight at 7 pm, on CSPAN. Local coverage will be most interesting, but note that Lieberman still retains a lead in older polling while Lamont has the Big Mo. The primary is Aug 8, petition deadline for running as an indie is Aug 9. Think that will come up tonight?

Comments

[p.lukasiak]

Re: Hillary....

I don't think this has anything to do with a "principled" stance. Its all about not being crushed in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries.

This is especially true with regard to Iowa, where you have to be enough of a committed Democrat to hang out all night at a caucus meeting.

Both states have a major stake in maintaining respect for "grassroots" political movements, and I seriously doubt that any Democrat with presidential aspirations is going to take a stance different from Hillary's. (BTW, didn't Feingold do it before Hillary?)

[DemFromCT]

p.lukasiak

it was the move Hillary and Farrell and everyone else has to make. Biden and Salazar are jerks. They put personal cronyism above country.

[demtom]

I wouldn't disagree with you, Paul, but given the tone-deafness displayed by Congressional Democrats over the past four years, I'm relieved to see that the message has at least penetrated as far as Hillary. And she, I would add, is probably a canary in the coal-mine: should Lieberman lose the August vote, I think he was hoping for a massive rally-round from his congressional colleagues; this suggests he's very unlikely to get it -- that, in fact, the opposite (a great swing to Lamont) would be far more likely.

[DemFromCT]

I credit Peter Daou with Hillary's tonal adjustment.

[DemFromCT]

from First Read:

Could a general election that includes a Democratic nominee Lamont, an independent Lieberman, and Republican Alan Schlesinger (the only Republican in the race) possibly result in Schlesinger winning in this deep-blue state? Probably not, even though some state Republicans are excited by the prospect. In a three-way race, per the June Quinnipiac poll, Lieberman got 56%, Lamont 18%, and Schlesinger 8%. Eighty-seven percent said they haven't heard enough about Schlesinger, whose latest FEC report showed he has raised just $20,000.

[emptywheel]

I half wonder whether Hillary isn't relishing the possibility of taking the shiv Holy Joe stuck into her husband over Monica and return the favor.

[Mimikatz]

Around here we are wondering about Barbara Boxer. I can't believe she'd really support Lieberman over Lamont if Lamont wins the primary. I think a lot of Dems are just hoping that if they support Ol' Joe he will win. But if he doesn't, would someone who has cultimated the netroots/progresives as assidiously as Boxer throw all that over? Hard to believe. At some point ideology has to trump cultural similarities.

[Love]

Lieberman will split the Democratic vote and hand Jeb Bush the presidency.

[demtom]

Mimikatz, I'd be shocked if Boxer stuck with Lieberman post- a primary loss. I think this is just collegiality now (though I don't get why she's extending it to the point of campaigning for him). As I said before, if someone as conventional-wisdom-y as Hillary says she'll stick with the party nominee, there's no way Joe would get more than half a dozen Senators to cross lines and endorse him -- with Boxer way down on the list of likelies.

[DemFromCT]

The candidates in the Senate for lieberman endorsement if he loses the primary are the D members of the gang of 14.

Republicans

* John S. McCain III, Arizona
* Lindsey O. Graham, South Carolina
* John Warner, Virginia
* Olympia Snowe, Maine
* Susan M. Collins, Maine
* R. Michael DeWine, Ohio
* Lincoln Chafee, Rhode Island

Democrats

* Joseph I. Lieberman, Connecticut
* Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia
* E. Benjamin Nelson, Nebraska
* Mary Landrieu, Louisiana
* Daniel Inouye, Hawaii
* Mark Pryor, Arkansas
* Ken Salazar, Colorado