August 8, 2006
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.



I find it very interesting that the most damning thing you can say about Mr. Lieberman is that he is boring. Have we reached the point that we pick our statesmen based on their entertainment value? Oh wait, you also called him a Republican, even though his voting record clearly indicates otherwise. I guess being a Republican is certainly a more heinous crime than being boring.
Hey, I'm not trying to take sides - I don't live in Connecticut and I don't care all that much, although it seems as though the Democrats (to whom I tend to be partial) have a better shot in the general election if Lieberman loses today. I'm just providing the links that (hopefully) provide the real information and reporting, but I will say this: People are down on J.L. in Connecticut because he's supported the war in Iraq, and that's a pretty legitimate complaint. I'm no big fan of him for a number of reasons not especially germane to the current contest: He's for school vouchers, has spent way too much energy on government regulation of entertainment content, was in favor of legislating to keep the feeding tube in Terri Schiavo, and has been pretty much in favor of jailing (and torturing) people without charges in the name of homeland security. That said, his voting record has satisfied my liberal cravings on many other issues and I'd surely vote for him in the general election if he got the nod (and I were a CT resident). But you have to admit that he is whiny and boring.
The big liberal blogs are talking about Lieberman accusing Lamont of hacking into his website and most are saying that it was probably an overload of the system and not something sinister like the Lieberman team is suggesting. But....isn't it interesting that some are saying that this "hacking" could be exactly what Lieberman can use to run as an Independent. Yup, Lieberman has truly gone to the "other side" by using republican tactics to get his way.
If the people of Connecticut vote in this republican for the democratic ticket for November, then they deserve this republican. Americans are tired of these tactics (even if it is done by a democrat!) but if Connecticut is okay with it, then so be it.
I, for one, will not be voting for my republican Senator Olympia Snowe in November because she votes 7 out of 10 times for Bush's policies. We've had it up here too in Maine and let's hope our state unifies against her and vote for Jean Hay Bright!
Well, if Lieberman engineered some artificial catastrophe in order to justify his running as an independent, it would certainly make him less boring...