Extremist elements of the party railed and rioted against the alleged moderation of their candidate. The result was an overthrow of the local party establishment and an exciting three-way election in which the extremists were ultimately defeated.

This is not about events in 2009 when liberal upstate New York Republican Dede Scozzafava was handed her party’s nomination and faced a conservative opponent in what has become an infamous congressional special election. It refers, rather, to the 2006 race in which the angry Left tried to end Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman’s career.