Plagued by liberals in his own party who reject his support of the Iraq war, former Democrat VP candidate Joe Lieberman has announced plans to make an independent bid for Senate if he loses his party's primary next month.

Under increasing pressure from Ned Lamont, a businessman and political newcomer who has criticized the senator for supporting President Bush on the war and other issues, Senator Lieberman said today, the eve of Independence Day, that he would begin gathering the 7,500 petitions necessary to run on his own should he lose to Mr. Lamont in the state Democratic primary, which is Aug. 8.

"While I believe that I will win the Aug. 8 primary," Mr. Lieberman said in a news conference today, "I know that there are no guarantees in elections. I'm very confident that if every Democrat or even a majority of them vote on Aug. 8, I will be nominated by a comfortable margin."

He added that the heat of August or a last-minute media barrage by his opponent could affect the results.

"My friends," the senator said, "after 18 years of working for, fighting for and delivering for all the people of Connecticut, I want the opportunity to put my case for all the people of Connecticut in November. They, after all, are the voters who have been good enough to elect me to the United States Senate in the November elections of 1988, 1994 and 2000.

Now this raises an interesting question -- what will national Democrats do in the event that Lieberman is defeated in the primary? Do they support him, or do they back his opponent, Ned Lamont? After all, Lieberman has indicated that he will continue to call himself a Democrat even if the primary voters reject him, and indicates he plans to caucus with the Democrats if reelected as an independent.

And what of Lamont? Would his victory signal a likely rejection of Lieberman in the general election? Probably not, despite his support by KOSsacks and DUmmies and other "Netroots" activists seeking to punish Lieberman for his failure to hew to the liberal line.

Lieberman is being challenged for a fourth Senate term by Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont, a multimillionaire owner of a cable television company with little political experience. Lamont has put more than $1.5 million of his own money into his campaign, calling Lieberman a Republican lapdog and accusing him of straying from his Democratic roots.

The strategy has been effective. A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows Lamont gaining ground among likely Democratic voters, although Lieberman maintains high ratings among Republicans and unaffiliated voters. Unaffiliated voters are the state's largest voting bloc, followed by Democrats and Republicans.

So while Lamont may be able to get the nomination by appealing to the Left, it seems unlikely that he could beat Lieberman with the general public.

Posted by: Greg at 08:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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