Connecticut Primary Almost Exciting; Lieberman Still Boring

Today is primary day in our sister state of Connecticut, and the Democratic nation turns its lonely eyes to Joe Lieberman, the incumbent Senator. Lieberman, as you've likely heard or read, since the national media are in an absolute frenzy over this race, is trailing but getting closer in the polls to the smarmily named super-rich anti-war challenger, Ned Lamont, because voters are fed up with Lieberman's being such a, you know, Republican. Lieberman has said that if he loses the primary, he'll run as an independent, which seems to Bostonist like an utterly destructive move, and makes us think he might also challenge the results in court if any pretense can be found for doing that. (And we must also remember that if Lieberman goes the independent route, he risks drawing other independents into the race to challenge him.)

Of course, none of this has much of anything to do with Boston, aside from the fact that if the Democrats lose this seat, the national political discourse is likely to shift that much further away from what goes on here in the Commonwealth. But it's nice to be informed about what goes on in neighboring states, because sometimes people from Connecticut come to Massachusetts, and it is polite to chat with them on such topics. Also the primary in the Nutmeg State is a fun distraction from our upcoming Democratic gubernatorial primary (on September 19), and Joe Lieberman is so boring and whiny that it's become a strange sort of masochistic pleasure to listen to his voice. He makes Tom Reilly seem downright suave.

Photo: Lieberman has tried to shed his boring image by engaging random passers-by in spirited bouts of fisticuffs.