The Democratic primary in Connecticut for United States Senate between the incumbent Joe Lieberman and his challenger Ned Lamont on Aug. 8 and is much more important than any other primary election this year. Any race for the United States Senate is high stakes poker to begin with, but this Senate race has profound implications for the balance of power in the Democratic Party now and for the 2008 campaign for president.
Lamont’s challenge interestingly enough began with a hug and a kiss. After his State of the Union speech to Congress earlier this year, President Bush hugged and kissed Joe Lieberman.
This innocent peck on the cheek turned into the kiss of death that might end Senator’s romance with the Democratic voters of Connecticut.
Fueled by discontent with the Bush administration’s failure in Iraq and Sen. Lieberman’s staunch support of the president’s policies there, cable TV executive and millionaire Ned Lamont is a threat to score a big upset in the primary.
The senator and his challenger are in a tight race, and a Lamont victory would be a tremendous boost and strengthen the liberal ‘netroots’ as a force in the 2006 race and in choosing a 2008 Democratic presidential nominee.
A Lamont triumph would put immediate pressure on the Democratic congressional leadership to take a hard stand to set a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
A Lamont victory would also make life more difficult for Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is traveling the middle road on Iraq on her way to the White House.
The primary split within the Democratic Party is the battle between the progressive ‘blogoshere’ of Internet political activists and the Democratic establishment in Washington, D.C.
The progressive ‘netroots’ movement believes that the Democratic beltway establishment has been too timid dealing with the President, especially his Iraq War policies.
The internet activists proved to be a big financial and organizational boost to the presidential candidacy offormer Vermont governor, Howard Dean in 2002 and he was the first Democratic presidential candidate that year to sharply criticize the President’s performance.
The liberal ‘netroots’ had been sharply critical of Senator Lieberman’s support of the Administration’s Iraq policies for years and this year they found their champion in Mr. Lamont.
In fact, the most prominent progressive blogger, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, editor of the popular ‘Daily Kos’ has promoted the Lamont campaign and even appeared in one of Lamont’s campaign ads.
If Ned Lamont wins his primary, his victory will strengthen the hand of Mr. Zuniga and his fellow bloggers in their battle against the Washington Democratic establishment and give them much more influence on the selection of a Democratic presidential candidate in 2008.
A Lamont victory would also strengthen positions of the doves like Lamont, who want the Democratic Party to come out for setting a firm date for the withdrawal of American troops out of Iraq.
When John Murtha, a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania and Vietnam War veteran, called for a redeployment of American troops from Iraq, many Democrats criticized his proposal because they feared it would hurt Democratic prospects in the off-year congressional elections.
Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was also on the receiving end of attacks from fellow Democrats when he sponsored a resolution to set a firm deadline for American military withdrawal from Iraq.
Sen. Lieberman voted against the Feinstein resolution and a much milder proposal sponsored by Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island.
But if Lieberman loses his primary, Congressman Murtha and Senator Feingold will have many more Democratic supporters for their Iraq policies on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Feingold is also running for president in 2008 and a Lamont victory would make the presidential bid ofSen. Hillary Clinton more difficult.
To the horror of the liberal bloggers, Sen. Clinton has taken a moderate stance on Iraq.
The senator from New York has criticized the President’s conduct of the war but opposed proposals to withdraw American troops.
Unlike other Democratic presidential candidates like Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts or former Sen. John Edwards, she has refused to apologize for her vote in favor of a congressional resolution to authorize the war in the first place.
If Ned Lamont wins the Connecticut Democratic primary for the United States Senate on Tuesday, you can expect much more aggressive Democratic calls for American withdrawal on Wednesday.
Brad Bannon is a Democratic political consultant.
