Barackface: Lamont Victory

This is remarkable. This victory really challenges the conventional wisdom. Lieberman almost became Vice President in 2000. In 2006 he has lost a primary in his state.

Iraq is on the verge of a civil war. Iraq is not how you do nation building. The offensive in Lebanon has driven home the point even further. War is not the way to go.

The anti war buildup has been coming a while, but Lamont has shown he can channel it productively and meaningfully. He has been pragmatic. He has stuck to the basics in his campaign.

Some neocons have come out saying now it will be easier for them to paint the Democrats as too liberal, and as too weak on defence. That is wishful thinking on their part. This Lamont victory will energize the Democratic base for November. Lieberman's run as an independent might actually help keep up the energy. Lieberman will lose also in the general. I hope he changes his mind, accepts defeat, and does not run again.

Lamont's job has only now begun. He has to continue with his pragmatic style. He has to give a repeat performance, and win big in the general. This is the beginning of the end of the Bush presidency. Lamont's appeal is national.

In terms of mechanics, I am very impressed with his use both of the netroots and grassroots, what I call screen time and face time. You can not bring only one of the two to the table. Need both. Lamont's victory has been stylish that way.

The blogosphere is not like the issue groups. The blogosphere will permeate through the entire political process. As broadband spreads, the internet will become more and more central as a medium.

This is a sweet victory for the DFA. Dean stands vindicated. Lamont's style was an imitation of Dean 2004.

Lamont will have to become a centrist progressive. That means expanding the agenda beyond the anti-war stuff, important as that is. That means maintaining the common sense approach to the mainstream governance issues. But good thing Lieberman is running in the general. Lamont gets to cash his anti-war shriek a little bit longer.

This is an impressive victory. The apple cart has been overturned.

Now take over the Congress in November.

Lamont: The Iraq War Ferment In The Democratic Party
Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
Lieberman, Lamont
The Israeli Offensive

In The News

Lieberman Loses In Democratic Primary "People are going to look back and say the Bush years started to end in Connecticut"
The Unmaking of a Senator: How Bloggers Staged an Upset TIME signaled the ascendancy of a legitimate new power center in the Democratic party, the Netroots...... The much-hyped Internet activists of the Howard Dean presidential campaign, liberal blogs like Daily Kos and activist groups like MoveOn.org had generated lots of buzz, but few results at the ballot box until now........ a victory no one could have expected even four months ago. ...... Markos Moulitas of Daily Kos appeared in one of his early ads, former blogger and Internet organizer Tim Tagaris left his job at the Democratic National Committee to work on Lamont’s campaign and bloggers from the site mydd.com headed up to Connecticut over the last several days to call voters and encourage them to support Lamont. And MoveOn.org strongly supported Lamont despite pleas from Democratic leaders not to....... Lamont pour $4 million of his own money ..... Lamont's campaign manager, Tow Swan, is a veteran Connecticut political operative who helped run the strong turnout operation ...... Hillary Clinton has hired a blog outreach adviser and called for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation, two moves that could help her win the favor of the liberal activists ..... there’s an anti-incumbent mood in Connecticut, which could spell trouble for the three House Republicans there.
Did bloggers cost Joe Lieberman an election? CNET News.com, CA Bloggers may have claimed their first victory in a high-profile election campaign....... the routine advertising, speechifying, and door-to-door salesmanship ..... Lanny Davis, a lifelong liberal and President Clinton's former lawyer, wrote this week that he was savaged by his fellow Democrats for defending Lieberman. Davis described how he experienced "the hate and vitriol of bloggers on the liberal side of the aisle" and concluded "the far right does not have a monopoly on bigotry and hatred and sanctimony." ..... war in Iraq .... 89 percent of Dems disapprove of Bush's handling of it ...... his name recognition could easily make it a serious three-way race.
Liberal McCarthyism
Joe Lieberman loses Conn. Democratic Senate primary Boston Globe, United States
Democrats plan unity meeting despite Lieberman's loss to Lamont Boston Globe, United States
A Man of Means, Pushing for Change New York Times, United States When Mr. Lamont, 52, entered the race last March, skeptics wrote him off as a dilettantish limousine liberal. .... a $30 million home in Greenwich ..... Their combined assets total in the hundreds of millions of dollars ..... Mr. Lamont’s wealth was only partly from his trust fund. Much of it was earned by his wife, and some of it came from his own entrepreneurship....... Both he and his wife have made a lot financially during their lifetimes ...... volunteered at a Bridgeport public school, teaching a course on how to start a business ......
Senior US Democrat loses senate primary race CTV.ca, Canada
In Setback, Lieberman Calls for Round 2, Despite Obstacles in His ... New York Times, United States
Suzanne Nossel: Letting Go of Joe Yahoo! News
Support for war weakened Lieberman from start USA Today
Lieberman Loses, Vows Independent Run ABC News
Lieberman loses: Ned Lamont wins Conn. primary Boston Herald, United States
Lamont Defeats Lieberman in Primary New York Times, United States
Lieberman loses Senate race in Conn. USA Today
Shock loss shows US anti-war mood BBC News, UK Washington insiders from both parties have long been muttering that George W Bush's Republican party is going to lose ground in elections in November. The only question, they say, is how much ground. Enough to lose control of one or both houses of Congress? ...... the first man in decades to beat an incumbent senator in a primary race..... "You can't run in Connecticut as Bush and Cheney's favourite Democrat." ..... Bush lost the state by a landslide in both 2000 and 2004. ...... even before the votes were tallied, centrist Democrats who shared Mr Lieberman's positions were tacking to the left to take the party's mood into account. ....... Top Republican strategists may take short-term delight in Mr Lieberman's humiliation, hoping it will enable them to continue portraying the Democrats as weak on defence. ..... as long as Bush and the war remain unpopular, then this will not be a problem for the Democrats in 2006
Lieberman Concedes Connecticut Primary to Lamont Washington Post, United States
Connecticut Democrats oust Lieberman MarketWatch
Lamont Relied On Net Roots -- And Grass Roots Washington Post, United States Almost no one saw it coming. Six months ago, Ned Lamont's name recognition was, within the margin of error, zero. ...... stuck to a simple message ...... blending both new- and old-style politics. He tapped the Net roots to promote his cause -- but the grass roots to win over voters. ....... Lamont's campaign soon came to resemble Howard Dean's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination two years ago. ..... As the hype grew, the campaign stuck to the basics. ..... went from town to town, house to house, for months ...... One early move was to launch a primitive Web page seeking 1,000 volunteers in all 169 of the state's municipalities ....... They began a voter-history project to track down people who voted in every obscure local primary and referendum -- information that was not available in statewide rolls....... campaign relied heavily on "house parties," or small neighborhood gatherings ....... Organizers used the events to build their lists of likely voters and add to the volunteer ranks. Eventually, the campaign put the whole system online....... "Their voting techniques are on the cutting edge of politics" .....
Lamont Beats Lieberman in Conn. Primary Salon
Lieberman Concedes Primary Race, Will Run as Independent Los Angeles Times, CA
War in Iraq could be key issue in race for US presidency Irish Independent, Ireland
Lieberman Loses Connecticut Primary Bid Washington Post, United States
Connecticut Democratic Voters Reject Lieberman After 18 Years Voice of America
Lamont Beats Lieberman in Conn. Primary ABC News
Lieberman loses tough battle over war ABC News
Lieberman Concedes Defeat in Connecticut's Democratic Primary Bloomberg
Top Democrat trails in vote count BBC News, UK
Lieberman trails in tight battle ABC News

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