Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Lack of Joe-mentum?

While the nation gears up for the mid-term election battles between Democrats and Republicans, it seems the more fascinating battles may take place during the primary season between Democrats.

Liberal voters, fed up with years of Democratic Party weakness in the face of the Bush administration, have started to send a message to the political establishment: It is not enough to simply be a Democrat to earn our vote. You also have to stand up for our principles.

The embodiment of this is seen in the Connecticut Senate race.

Incumbent Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) who has a higher approval rating among Republicans than he does among Democrats may run for re-election as an independent.

The Senate seat has been the focus of a heated battle between Lieberman and challenger Ned Lamont, a businessman who made a strong showing at the primary and has been endorsed by Moveon.org, Democracy for America and has strong support from progressive blogs such as Dailykos and MyDD.

Perhaps the most interesting – and disturbing – aspect of this particular battle is that some Washington Democrats seem compelled to support Lieberman over Lamont, even if the Senator leaves the Party due to lack of support from Democratic voters.

Given Lieberman’s record - his continued support for the War in Iraq, his opposition to gay marriage, his politicizing the Terry Schiavo incident, his opposition to the repealing of Bush’s tax-cuts, his affiliation with the non-liberal Democratic Leadership Council, his straying from liberals on Social Security, and his let's-play-nice attitude toward Bush – its hard to see how any principled liberal could pull the lever for Joe-mentum.

Regardless of how the 2006 primaries turn out, it will be interesting to see how these political battles unfold in 2008, given that Hillary Clinton, widely viewed as the front-runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination, was booed by liberal activists at the Take Back America Conference due to her stance on Iraq.

Posted by Michael Corcoran at 04:44 PM

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