Wednesday, August 09, 2006

True colors in primary hues

By now, pretty much everyone who has access to any form of media knows that Joe Lieberman, the incumbent Democratic senator from Connecticut, has lost his party primary to Ned Lamont. While he didn't lose by a ridiculously large margin, he still lost, and therefore will not find himself receiving the endorsement of his party as the campaigns work themselves towards November.

This normally isn't a huge deal, as, in most cases, losing the party primary will keep people from running anyway. They'll realize that, to better the chances of their party securing the elected position, it's not smart to split votes between two campaigns. Otherwise, they run the risk of Nader-izing the election.

Unfortunately for the people of Connecticut, Lieberman doesn't seem to understand that. Even worse, Lieberman is planning on forging ahead with his Independant campaign in spite of the fact that Democrats nationwide are throwing support to Lamont and begging Lieberman to accept his defeat with some measure of grace.

I mean, this situation is kind of like the New York Yankees deciding that they were the most likely team to win the 2005 World Series even after their defeat against the Angels. Or the Columbus Blue Jackets announcing that they were going to take home the 1998 Stanley Cup, two years before they started playing. Simply deciding that, even after losing, you'd be a more likely person to take home the big prize than the one that beat you is slapping reality in the face, and Lieberman, who has kissed up to the GOP while claiming to be a staunch Democrat, has slapped reality so many times recently that he's left a hand-print.

Is it possible that Joe Lieberman is the Rocky Balboa of politics? Is he a man who can suffer a stunning defeat only to come out victorious and heroic through perseverance?

Or is he a man on an ego trip, one that increases the likelihood that, in 2006, Connecticut will send a Republican to the Senate?

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