Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Why Ned Lamont -- and Democracy -- Won the Day

Many pundits have suggested that the Ned Lamont campaign was the work of partisan extremists and crazed left-wing bloggers who wanted nothing less than to purge a decent man out of the Senate, and in the process, ruin the Democratic Party.

Marty Peretz, owner of The New Republic, said that a Lamont victory would be “Karl Rove’s dream come true.” He added that “If [Lamont], and others of his stripe carry the day the Democratic Party will lose the future, and deservedly.” David Brooks of The New York Times actually called the growing discontent for Lieberman “a liberal inquisition.” Sean Hannity said the Democrats were “eating their own.”

Thankfully, the voters of Connecticut did not buy into such nonsense, and instead actually voted for the person they felt best represented their views on important issues. This wasn’t an inquisition – it was Democracy!

The notion that the anti-war base has decided not to allow ideological diversity – a claim made by many including the Democratic Leadership Council – is equally laughable. In truth, anti-war voices represent ideological diversity that was simply not represented by Democrats in Congress – particularly the US Senate. (See votes on Iraq War, war funding, The Patriot Act etc…)

The voices of the anti-war movement were simply out of the narrow parameters of discourse among Washington insiders. So they voted for someone who shares their views.

How dare they?

Posted by Michael Corcoran at 12:45 PM

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