Lamont wins, but Lieberman vows to keep fighting as an independent
Both pro- and anti-Lieberman Democrats last night said that the senator's primary defeat, which hinged on the perception that he was too close to the Bush administration, foretold an historic anti-Republican wave this November. "This ought to give Republicans nightmares," said a top Democratic strategist last night. "When the wave hits, the ground shifts, and the environment is radically transformed."
The Connecticut primary had attracted national attention and became a central battleground in the fight for the future of the Democratic Party. Moderates who argue that the party can't win elections if it's perceived as weak on national security backed Lieberman, while liberals who say the party should heed its antiwar base supported Lamont. "August 9 is going to be whole new day," Lamont said in a recent interview with U.S. News. "People are going to see that Democrats win when we're bold and clear. We're going to take away a lot of the ambiguity."
Lieberman, 64, criticized Democrats late last year for what he said was their failure to accept that President Bush would be the country's commanderinchief for three more years. "In matters of war," he said, "we undermine the president's credibility at our nation's peril."
Only in the waning days of the campaign did Lieberman forcefully make the case that he had in fact been critical of President Bush's conduct of the war. "I did not suggest that the president or anyone else, including me, should be immune from criticism," Lieberman said in a speech Sunday night.
"I was part of the antiwar movement in the late 1960s," he added. "I don't need to be lectured by Ned Lamont about the place of dissent in our democracy."
Lieberman drew criticism, even from allies, for appearing to dismiss the seriousness of Lamont's challenge until relatively late in the campaign. It wasn't until mid-July that polls indicated that Lamont had inched ahead in the race. A few days later, Lieberman staged a rally in Waterbury that featured Bill Clinton.
Lamont, 52, a graduate of Harvard and Yale School of Management, made millions by starting his own telecommunications company but has no experience in elected office besides having served as a Greenwich selectman. Two months after he entered the race in March, a Quinnipiac University poll showed that he was trailing Lieberman by 46 points. But with the help of his fortune and left-wing blogs, Lamont capitalized on dissatisfaction with Iraq. Polls showed that the war was the No. 1 reason that Connecticut Democrats supported Lamont.
In another sign of its national implications, Republicans were also watching yesterday's race closely. "It's sad for the country if Lieberman loses," said a top Republican strategist earlier in the day Tuesday. "But as the Democratic Party moves to the left, it gives us a chance to move to the center. To the extent this race defines the Democratic Party, it defines us, too."
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