One of the hottest topics in Washington for months has been: Will Joe Lieberman survive? The Connecticut senator and former V-P candidate is in the fight of his life in a Democratic primary tomorrow, and it is apparently not looking good. Challenger Ned Lamont has received tremendous support for the blogosphere and anti-Iraq war Democrats from across the country. If he does knock off Lieberman, he'll have the DailyKos people to thank.
I'm torn on this one. On one hand, I like Lieberman for his principled stand on foreign affairs and his sometimes support of smart ideas like school vouchers (Lieberman has backed off that one and others in recent years.) So I'd kind of like him to win because he's a (mainly) conviction politician who takes principles stands.
But on the other hand, Lieberman being picked off would signal the official death of the non-insane foreign policy wing (aka the "Scoop Jackson" wing) of the Democratic Party, which has been in a death spiral since, realistically speaking, the Dem's nomination of Hubert Humphrey for President in 1968 (and exacerbated greatly by the subsequent nomination of George McGovern in '72 and Ronald Reagan's presidency.) That strain of thought is today represented by people like Howard Dean, and it is still very much in control of the grassroots. Joe Lieberman doesn't fit in, so they probably don't want or deserve him.
A Lieberman loss would also be a huge victory for the Web and in particular the blogosphere, as it would signal the first time (I think) that a website has been directly responsible for defeating a candidate. And if he does lose, there's talk he'll run as an independent, which would be a fascinating thing to see.
Keep your eye on Connecticut tomorrow.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 7:33 AM
