Now that Lamont has defeated Lieberman in the primary, and has therefore properly and solely claimed the mantle of Connecticut's senatorial Democrat in the upcoming general election, I'm mystified at some of the calls for Lieberman to define himself.
Reed Hunt fantasizes about a statement that Lamont could make. Armando and mcjoan over at daily kos also look ahead to Lieberman's future.
To me, all seem excessively focused on Lieberman, even to the point of visualizing him being in the Senate next year. It gives Lieberman too much power to allow for that possibility, or even to give Lieberman the opportunity to define himself.
It seems to be a no-brainer for Lieberman to define himself as a Democrat. That's what he's done all along, and the Republicans are happy with him for it. There's really no great political cost for him to define himself as a Democrat, even aggressively so. He's in campaign mode, and he has a long career behind him of capitulating to Republicans, so I seriously doubt that it will turn off the few Republicans he needs to win.
I'm not sure if it's best to continue to emphasize the contrast between Lamont and Lieberman, or to simply ignore Lieberman entirely and focus on Lamont's strengths, but this whole bit about how emphasizing how Lieberman is also a Democrat seems dreadfully counterproductive to those who want him to lose.
Posted by tunesmith at August 16, 2006 04:41 PM
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