August 09, 2006

8/9: Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Savour this moment. Cable exec Ned Lamont's (D) CT Dem primary win over Sen. Joe Lieberman (D) may well be the last time for a long time that bloggers from the left and right are genuinely pleased with the exact same election result. For progressives though the victory will probably remain at least a little bittersweet unless Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) can talk Lieberman out of his indy run. We believe Dodd faces an uphill climb though. No one who's been at the business end of a blogswarm comes out thinking: "Wow, that was a well reasoned, civil discussion of ideas and values and I look forward to working with bloggers in the future." (Ask Dan Rather, Mary Mapes or John Kerry). It's just hard to picture Lieberman accepting defeat at the hands of a movement that calls him "rape gurney Joe." Thus at the very moment bloggers ought to be celebrating their biggest accomplishment to date, they're instead heading straight on into a train wreck.

Lamont HQ was filled with bloggers 8/8. TPM Cafe's Stirling Newberry reports: "Atrios, Matt Stoller, Jane Hamsher are here. The MyLeftNutmeg crew - early and avid backers of Lamont - are here." Also in Meriden:

• Chris Bowers at MyDD: "This is a very, very happy scene here. We need to make many Democrats, including the Clintons, make good on their promise now. Support the Democratic nominee. Just watching Lamont's victory speech reminded me of all the edreams I had about other elections that never came true. But this one did. We won. Be happy. Biggest. Upset. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Be happy. The deed is done. Admist record turnout, Ned Lamont won. And now it is time for Democrats to support him.
• Kirby at Connecticut Bob: "Before I left, though, I brought Maxine Waters from the ballroom to the blog room -- it was just terrific. The respect for us is amazing. We are the new precinct captains. ... The gal second in command for media tonight was in the middle of the ballroom when Ned came off the podium, and her phone rang. "Hello, this is Senator Kennedy, and I would like to personally congratulate Ned!" She scrambled to get her phone to Ned right away. No gloating, just deep felt satisfaction that we.won.one."
• Hullabaloo: "We won. I forgot what that feels like. It feels good."
• CT Bob of Connecticut Bob has video of the party here.

Across the country Huffington Post contributors expressed their pleasure as well:

• Trey Ellis: "It's a Great Day to Be a New Democrat. ... Today's Democratic grassroots win is the beginning of the end of Republican hegemony and Democratic centrists need to either snap out of their stupor or prepare for their own forcible retirement.
• Rick Jacobs: "This race is not just about Connecticut. It is about every Democrat this year standing up and demanding change, demanding leadership. This race is not just about the war, it is about believing again in an America that "can do."
• Cenk Uygur: "This is a watershed moment. The message has been sent loud and clear -- Democrats can no longer ignore their own constituents and constantly run to the right. They must be wary. This is a good thing. The best thing we can hope for the next time a vote like Sam Alito's filibuster or the Iraq War resolution comes up again is for the Democratic Senators to think, "Well, I don't want what happened to Joe to happen to me." Mission accomplished!"
• David Sirota: "It's time for Joe Lieberman and his friends in the Washington Establishment who distrust Ned Lamont and ordinary voters to acknowledge that Ned is now the Democratic Party's nominee for U.S. Senate, and that we as Democrats undermine our nominee's credibility at our party and our democracy's peril."

Not all were happy in blogoland. Pro-Lieberman LieberDem: "Remember that result I said I couldn't stomach? This was it. Lieberman lost, but by a close enough margin that he thinks he could and should have won. I certainly think Lieberman should drop out now, but I can't imagine that he will after such a close result. ... We'll know what the lay of the land is for November once we see the first post-primary poll. I think Lamont will get a 10 point bounce from the last Q-poll, making the first post-primary poll look something like: Lieberman 43%, Lamont 36%, Schlesinger 11%, and 10% undecided."

Before the party at Lamont HQ could get under way, bloggers had to sit through Lieberman's non-concession speech. They didn't like it. TRex at firedoglake: "Lieberman has taken the podium. UGH!! He just called it "a much closer race than the pundits were predicting"?! Oh, [screw] this guy. He's bloviating about how this is just the end of the "first half". He's announcing his independent run. And we're just going to have to kick his [butt] again. The arrogance! The delusional [member] weed!"

Also at firedoglakeChristy Hardin Smith writes: "Joe Lieberman is on C-Span right now thumbing his nose at the Democratic voters and the Democratic party, and announcing his run independent from the party. He's saying he wants to "unite not divide." This speech is right out of the Karl Rove playbook. Word on the street in Connecticut is that Lieberman will be running as an independent with Republican backing. Any doubts that his loyalty first and foremost is to Joe Lieberman, whatever it takes?"

From Paris, France, AMERICABlog's John in DC predicts the outcome "will be a disaster for the Democratic party, and it is all of Joe Lieberman's making. ... If Lieberman runs as an independent, HE will be "the" big story of the November elections, rather than the endangered incumbent Republicans. ... Rather than have this be a national election about the Republican incompetence, Joe Lieberman will make the entire country focus on his election in which he will portray himself as the last "strong on security Democrat."

Progressive bloggers quickly coalesced around a response to Lieberman's independent run: pressure Dem leadership to officially kick Lieberman out of the party.

• DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas: "Here's what we all need to do the next few days ... Push Harry Reid to strip Lieberman of all committee assignments. ... Joe Lieberman is not an independent Democrat. He needs to be stripped of his committee assignments and have those handed to real Democrats. And then we need to buckle down and finish the job we started."
• TRex at firedoglake: "Go here and write to Harry Reid. Now that Joe isn't a Democrat, he needs to be stripped of all his committee memberships. And remember that the Democratic party has to get behind the winner of the Democratic primary."
• John in DC at AMERICAblog: "Call every single Democratic office in the Senate on Wednesday and demand two things: 1. That the Senator immediately come out in support of the Democratic Senate candidate from Connecticut, Ned Lamont. 2. That Joe Lieberman be immediately kicked out of every single committee seat given to him by the Democratic party. Joe Lieberman is more interested in his own welfare than the welfare of the party.

Under the header "Ken Salazar: Worse than Lieberman" Stagarite at DailyKos writes: "Ned Lamont's victory in Connecticut should send chills up the spines of appeasement Democrats everywhere. In particular, Colorado's junior senator Ken Salazar should reconsider his July 5th statement that he would "support Joe Lieberman for the primary and beyond the primary." What happened in the Nutmeg State can happen in the Centennial State; what happened to Lieberman can happen to Salazar. But it's not clear that Salazar will change his accommodationist ways. Ever since the DLC and party insiders strong-armed Colorado Democrats into accepting Salazar as the 2004 US Senate nominee, almost every month we have had to swallow another Salazar betrayal."

Kos included a list of winners and losers from 8'8's results. Winners included: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) ("Damn that woman busted her butt for Lamont, and she did so with class and flair"), Sens Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Evan Bayh (D-IN), and John Edwards ("who moved most aggressively to embrace Lamont after the winner was called"). Losers included: Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) ("Lieberman's staunchest defender can still redeem himself if he brokers Lieberman's exit from the race"), the DLC, the New Republic, NARAL, Al From, Ex-Pres. Bill Clinton, Sen. Barbara Boxer, and "the DC Democratic establishment."

cos at MyDD tied CT SEN into CT GOV: "DLC got crunched!" ... That's how someone here just summed up Connecticut's Democratic primary results. He wasn't just talking about the Lamont-Lieberman race. Dan Malloy, four term mayor of Stamford, CT, and John DeStefano, sixth-term mayor of New Haven, were competing for the Democratic nomination for governor. ... Malloy's liability was being seen as part of the party establishment, the corporate/DLC wing of the party. With support from progressives, DeStefano won 51% to Malloy's 49%."

The conservative side of the 'sphere largely welcomed Lamont's victory as great news for GOP chances in Nov:

• John McIntyre at RCP Blog: "Lieberman's 48% makes him the clear favorite in the three-way. Republicans Chris Shays and Rob Simmons have received a boost in holding on in their vulnerable districts, two seats the Dems have to win if they hope to capture the House. And as much as mainstream Democrats may try to downplay this result as a Connecticut issue, the rejection of a three-term Senator who was the party's VP nominee only six years ago will have repercussions throughout the country and they don't help the Democratic Party."
• Robert Bluey at Right Angle Blog: "Liberals in Connecticut may have won the battle tonight by choosing Democrat Ned Lamont as their U.S. Senate nominee, but they did the GOP a huge favor, ensuring Connecticut will be a distraction in November. Although most Democrats will almost certainly rally behind Lamont, the dynamics of the general election will keep reporters busy from now until Election Day."
• Gary Andres at National Review Online: "And what about the possibility of Senator John McCain going to Connecticut to stump for his friend - and independent candidate - Joe Lieberman? McCain campaigning in that state for his Senate "independent" colleague, talking about how we need to "rise above the bitter partisanship that has engulfed Washington," is just the kind of message that will resonate with the type of voter Shays, Simmons and Johnson need to win. As Lieberman said Tuesday night in his concession speech "petty partisanship is blocking progress." He said he's "fed up" and he wants Washington to "stop playing political games."
• Captain's Quarters: "Had Lamont beaten Lieberman decisively tonight, Lieberman may have concluded that an independent run would waste time and money. ... The race finished much closer than anyone expected. ... As I posted earlier, this is the nightmare scenario for the Democrats. ... Yet that's exactly what Democrats face, and the media will be only too happy to follow this race and the split it will generate in the ranks of party leadership and big-money donors."
• PoliPundit: "The results aren't fully in yet. But, as I write this, if the trends hold, August 8 will have been a very good day for conservatives and the GOP. ... Lamont's victory today will be the subject of much water-cooler talk. Obnoxious lefties will preen in their obnoxious way, and normal people will see that the Democrat party has been taken over by a cabal of loony defeatists. I wish this race had been held a week before the general election; it would have put the GOP over the top all over the country."

Kausfiles emailer Thomas Riehle snarks: "Will history record that the first significant victory of moveon.org was the defeat of a ... Democratic incumbent?" It's on the books!" Pejman Yousefzadeh at RedState picks up on that theme and sees bad news for HRC ahead: "So the left-of-center netroots have won a victory . . . over a Democrat today. Well, a win is a win, in the eyes of many, and as such, the netroots will party like it's 1972. .. Apart from Joe Lieberman, the biggest loser tonight was Hillary Clinton. She has sought to capture the political center throughout her time as a Senator. ... Instead, Clinton, Lieberman and others of like mind have had the rug pulled out from underneath them tonight. They cannot be happy campers."

Other righties looked at Lamont's stage mates and liked what they saw. Extreme Mortman has photos of Lieberman with Maxine Waters and Al Sharpton from "Happier Days" and Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review Online comments: "Lamont's surrounded by Jesse Jackson, Kim Gandy, Al Sharpton.... Yep. Those are your peeps. This is the Democratic party.

Not all on the right thought Lieberman could pull it out in Nov. Dean Barnett at Townhall: "So it looks like Nedmentum carried this round. But it looks like Joementum came close enough to live and fight another day. Given the way the race has played the last week or so, the initial polls should show Lieberman with a big lead. I think Joe will soon be brought down by the Sore Loserman taint of demanding a rematch, but what do I know? I said Lamont would win by 5 and he actually won by only 4, so my word's not to be trusted in such matters."

Meanwhile Bill Cullo at RedState argues Lieberman's indy run will bring unwanted voters out to the polls: "Personally, I see certain aspects of this race spelling real potential trouble for Republicans in November. To me, what's most significant about this race isn't the potential of a hurting being put on Pro-War candidates. Rather, it's the 28,000 some non traditional Democrat primary voters that voted in this primary. Approximately 14,000 of these non traditional D primary voters are actually new voters. These new voters (the 14,000) account for about 5% of what will likely be the ultimate voter turnout which is also about the percentage Lamont is likely to win by."

Outside the Beltway put in a fine live-blogging effort including video of news coverage from 8/8. OTB also notes that lefties are picking up on the "Sore Loserman" theme and directs them to some favorite GOP merchandise: "I think there are some vintage t-shirts, caps, and buttons available cheap. Why not?"

Justin Rood at TPM Muckraker reports the "FBI has begun inquiring into allegations that a Web site and email services belonging to Sen. Joe Lieberman's (D) re-election campaign were maliciously tampered with on the eve of Tuesday's primary election, according to two senior employees at technology firms involved in handling the candidate's internet services."

Rood also notes the employees refuted earlier assertions by progressive bloggers concerning Lieberman's internet hosting bills: "The employees also confirmed that the Lieberman campaign had a contract for robust service allowing them several hundred gigabytes of data transfer per month, not a cheaper plan reported previously elsewhere."

Progressive PoliticsTV has tons of video from 8/8 including: Lamont's victory speech, Lieberman's Indy Announcement, Kos on Countdown, Lanny Davis on Hardball, and many more.

YouTube has a great video by Chris Bowers of MyDD interviewing Lamont staff members (noteworthy how many of them cut their teeth with DNC chair Howard Dean's presidential run).

Paul Preston at Colorado Confidential reports from ex-state Sen. Ed Perlmutter (D) HQ: "We need a change." "We need a change." ... That was the refrain tonight as almost 100 Perlmutter supporters gathered at the Alamos Verdes restaurant in Arvada, celebrating their victory in the Seventh Congressional District Democratic Primary. ... There were two reasons for their victory tonight ... First, his connections to the community ...Second, his message of change a theme Perlmutter will be taking to his upcoming battle with Republican Rick O'Donnell. An image of O'Donnell exiting Air Force One arm-in-arm with President Bush, taken at a recent fundraiser graced video monitors during the night's festivities.

Conservative Drumwaster's Rants live-blogged Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-07) runoff: "A little time to breathe and think. McKinney's local career is done...after her second loss to good alternative candidates (remember, she lost a primary in this district in 2002 as well), I can't see her being able to climb back into the saddle, especially after the year she has had. The police assault, then her reaction to it, and her complete disdain for the primary election as it occurred (her no-shows for the debates, to be specific) have united people against her. Maybe she has a future in another office, but I can't see it. Comment on that ... could she run for Senate?"

Progressives were happy with the results as well. Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly: "I suppose it may already be too late for this, but when the punditocracy starts chattering about how Ned Lamont's victory in Connecticut is a sign that the Democratic Party is diving headlong over some kind of wild-eyed lefty peacenik cliff, I hope they keep in mind that Hank Johnson also won a landslide victory over Cynthia McKinney down in Georgia. Seems to me the party acquitted itself pretty well tonight."

Conservative bloggers were uniformly pleased with ex-state Rep. Tim Walberg (R) over freshman moderate Rep. Joe Schwarz (R):

• Erick at RedState: "This is a tremendous victory for conservatives. Tim Walberg has beaten liberal Joe Schwarz in the Republican primary in Michigan. Well done! Well done to you all. Conservatives must make their voice heard and a Republican primary is the best way to do it."
• Robert Bluey at Right Angle Blog: "Former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey has made a remarkable comeback. No, he hasn't been elected to any office or appointed to any job in the Bush Administration. Toomey did something more impressive yesterday, guiding the Club for Growth's endorsed candidate, Tim Walberg, to a huge victory over liberal GOP Rep. Joe Schwarz in Michigan's 7th District."

The doctored Reuters photos have opened the floodgate to righty debunking of posed or doctored photos from Lebanon. Michelle Malkin takes down two of the more famous images. "Case study number one: The NYTimes and the Lebanese pieta. Take a close look at the above photo. (Pay close attention to his shorts, his dustless chest, muscular torso, the dust on his hands, and the hat tucked in the crook of his arm.) You've probably seen the image before. It was part of a NYTimes photo essay series published online here. It's an iconic image of Lebanese death at the hands of Israel--even described as the Lebanese pieta. ... Only guess what? The body depicted 'buried under the rubble' appears to have been up and walking in the photographer's photo series of the scene throughout the day as a rescuer, not a bombing victim."

Malkin's second case study is the picture of an AK-wielding fighter looking over what appears to be a burning city, taken by infamous Reuters photog Adnan Hajj. The picture was on the "cover of US News magazine. It's from the July 31 edition, titled "Lebanon's new ruins"--spotlighting the destruction of Lebanon at the hands of Israel. Thomas S. and Allah and Hot Air readers examined it carefully. The armed Lebanese man is identified on the cover as a "Hezbollah fighter near Beirut." Near what? Only guess what? The site is......as Allah points out, a garbage dump." Gateway Pundit also looks at the scandal.

Erick at RedState sat down with conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh for a lengthy interview, including: "The Republican Congress has a problem. It is working without the presence of an elected conservative leader. ... George W. Bush is conservative but he is not a conservative. He's Republican, but he's not a conservative. He is not leading the conservative movement."

Natural Born Killers producer and "rape gurney Joe" moniker-maker Jane Hamsher at firedoglake is willing to live and let live, but only if Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) agrees to accept defeat:

It's all a little unreal right now - we'll have plenty of time to digest the results and analyze the implications going forward - but today I'm actually going to cut Lieberman a bit of slack and say it's time for bygones to be bygones if he does the right thing and drops out of the race. Chris Dodd was tasked with the difficult job of telling Joe he had to go, which he was to commence either last night or this morning according to varying reports. I know Joe has vocal support from DLCers and so-called "centrists" who see themselves next in line if Lieberman falls. They want Joe to hold back the barbarian horde for all of them. It's a stupid, shortsighted and solipsistic construct. The self-righteous indignation of people like Lanny Davis and Martin Peretz are buoying Lieberman into a wholesale purchase of the myth that he is a great man and a great wrong has been done to him. Here on planet earth we call it a primary challenge, an integral part of the Democratic process. It's time for Joe to realize that in their own blindness they may be preparing him as the sacrificial lamb.

Colin McEnroe and Lowell Weicker both think that if Lieberman continues in the race it will only be in league with the GOP and I agree that it is his only chance. Is Joe willing to go that far to stay in the Senate? Or will enough pressure be brought to bear on him today that it will offer him a reality check and enlighten him to the fact that his brand of politics is obsolete? I hope Joe does the right thing and withdraws today. It must've been difficult to lose the race last night in such a high-profile way. Many forces are aligning behind Lamont right now that weren't there before, and if Joe goes the indy route he will only be beaten again. We've done it once. We can do it again.

Nihilist in Golf Pants hops in the way back machine to reach for this CT SEN comparison:

Do you remember the classic episode of Cheers where Sam is dating a city councilwoman named Janet Eldridge (Kate Mulgrew)? Although they don't ever call her a Republican, she is a pro-business and disagrees with everything Diane (an obvious liberal) believes. Diane, in a fit of jealousy decides to help campaign for her opponent named Jim Fleener, played by none other than Max Wright.

Max literally is Joe Lieberman. He is indecisive, uninspiring and weak. He even comes up with a slogan as lame as Joe-mentum. His campaign buttons say "Wim with Jim", leading to this exchange between Diane and Carla:

Carla: "Wim with Jim?"
Diane: I thought it up. It's very Joycian.
Carla: If that means stupid, I agree.

Posted by Conn Carroll at August 9, 2006 12:23 PM