The most closely watched primary tomorrow is the race between incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and upstart challenger Ned Lamont. Lamont has based in entire campaign by attacking Lieberman for his support of the Iraq war. The hard left blog community led by DailyKos have lobbied hard and helped raise money for Lamont (who doesn't need it).
Lieberman is a fairly center-of-the-road Democrat who scores in the 80s in the ADA polls but has been and continues to trail Lamont by what appears to be a significant margin of "likely voters".
A Lamont win could make the seat competitive for the Republicans in November especially if Lieberman runs as an independent which he has indicated he will do. Alternatively a Lieberman win as an independent may make him less friendly to the hard left that increasingly appears to be running the Democratic Party. Perhaps, dare-I-dream, he might even caucus with the Republicans?
Strategically, if we accept the fact that Lamont, Dean and the segment of the Democratic Party represented by DailyKos is a relatively small but hellaciously vocal element then a Lamont win might suit well. It would have the effect of pushing moderate Democrats to the Left and, thus, less appealing in the general election.
However.
Giving legitimacy to a callous and callow opportunist like Lamont who has deployed his considerable personal resources to try and win solely on an irresponsible cut-and-run platform in Iraq is unacceptable. A win for Lamont is a win for the the thinking that produced "Peace in our time." It's bad for the Republic. So here's to hoping that Connecticut Democrats have some sense and Lieberman carries the day.
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