[Peace-discuss] Lamont crushes Lieberman in MoveOn primary: 85% to 14%

[Robert Naiman]

There's blood in the water. Betcha money starts pouring in for Lamont.
My check is in the mail.

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Strong Signs of Rift Among Democrats
Support for a challenger to longtime Sen. Joe Lieberman indicates
tensions over Iraq war.
Ronald Brownstein
LA Times
May 27, 2006


WASHINGTON — The liberal challenge to Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.)
escalated Friday when the political arm of MoveOn.org, an influential
online advocacy group, endorsed the political newcomer opposing his
bid for renomination.

Gaining the support of MoveOn's political action committee was Ned
Lamont, a businessman who wants to unseat Lieberman largely because of
the veteran lawmaker's staunch support for the war in Iraq.

 The group announced its backing after polling MoveOn's members in Connecticut.

MoveOn has emerged as a leading voice for left-leaning activists, and
the endorsement marks the first time that its PAC has sought to unseat
an incumbent Democratic senator.

"Lamont's message resonated with members who want a senator who will
stand up to President Bush on key issues and represent the views of
most people in Connecticut," said Eli Pariser, executive director of
the MoveOn PAC.

With the endorsement, the group will seek to raise money and generate
volunteers for Lamont among MoveOn's 3.2 million members nationwide.

Lamont earlier this week gained an endorsement from Democracy for
America, a liberal grass-roots group that Howard Dean established as
his campaign for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination
foundered. Dean gave up his leadership role when he became chairman of
the Democratic National Committee last year, but the group is headed
by his brother, Jim Dean.

Lamont's candidacy also has become a priority for many liberal
websites, such as Daily Kos — whose founder, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga,
recently appeared in one of Lamont's television advertisements.

With the involvement of these groups, the face-off between Lieberman
and Lamont in Connecticut's Aug. 8 primary has emerged as the focal
point of tensions between Democratic liberals and centrists over the
party's direction.

"This is a fight for the soul of the Democratic Party," said Marshall
Wittmann, a senior fellow at the centrist Democratic Leadership
Council. "It will have repercussions for the 2008 presidential
campaign and whether centrists will feel comfortable within the
Democratic Party."

Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate, long had
been considered politically invulnerable in his home state. First
elected to his Senate seat in 1988, he remains the favorite to win the
primary. But the same polls that show Lieberman leading the race also
reveal widespread discontent among Connecticut Democrats over Iraq —
the sentiment Lamont hopes will propel him to victory.

Earlier this month, Lamont won support from 33% of the delegates to
the state Democratic convention, enough to win him a spot on the
primary ballot.

The poll of MoveOn's Connecticut members was conducted during a
24-hour period that concluded Friday morning. Both Lieberman and
Lamont were invited to make their case through e-mails, but Lieberman
chose not to send one.

Pariser said that of the 5,500 people participating in the poll, 85%
of them voted to endorse Lamont.

Lieberman campaign aides dismissed the results as insignificant. "Just
as we expected, Joe Lieberman won neither the endorsement of
MoveOn.Org nor was chosen the next 'American Idol,' " said Marion
Steinfels, a campaign spokesperson.

Some analysts, however, believe the endorsement could strengthen Lamont.

MoveOn's PAC has proved capable of raising substantial sums from its
members — it collected about $800,000 last year for Sen. Robert C.
Byrd (D-W.Va.), a strong critic of the Iraq war, in just a few days.

Lamont's credibility as a candidate also should benefit from MoveOn's
stamp of approval, said Scott McLean, chairman of the political
science department at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.

"Getting 33% at the convention is really impressive, but [Friday's
endorsement] is even bigger because it shows the grass-roots and money
[donors] … that there is something behind Ned Lamont," McLean said.
"It's big. It's huge."

Wittmann said that if Lamont and his allies succeed in ousting
Lieberman, "it would be devastating to the Democratic Party" by
suggesting that centrists are no longer welcome.

"This shows that [MoveOn] is trying to precipitate a civil war within
the party," he said.

Pariser dismissed that suggestion. "We think primaries are a healthy
part of the democratic process for a reason — so voters can choose who
represents them rather than the chattering class of Beltway insiders,"
he said. "And if supporters of the Iraq war — Republicans and some
Democrats — are in electoral trouble, it's probably because a majority
of the people in this country think it was a disastrous mistake."

Lieberman has responded to Lamont's challenge by stressing his support
for traditional Democratic positions on issues such as the environment
and abortion rights.

But McLean said Lieberman has been hurt by having "a tin ear" for the
opinions of liberal Connecticut Democrats deeply disaffected with Bush
and the Iraq war.

Thursday night may have been a case in point.

While the online poll was being conducted, Lieberman was at a
Washington dinner receiving an award from the Committee on the Present
Danger, a hawkish foreign policy group whose membership includes
prominent conservatives and leading supporters in both parties of the
Iraq war.

-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org