Judgement day for Joe Lieberman

`Be careful what you wish for.You might get it'.

(found inscribed on Alladin's Lamp.)

Tomorrow, August 8th the voters of Connecticut go to the polls to pick a Democratic party Senatorial candidate for the general election in November.

The two candidates are the incumbent, Joseph Lieberman and the challenger, Ned Lamont.

Lamont is essentially a product of inherited money and the cable industry, with embarrassing gaps in his knowledge of many basic issues, not least foreign policy. But he's been adopted by the Angry Left as a major cause for one reason and one reason only - to punish and make an example out of the otherwise reliably liberal Senator Lieberman for defying the Taliban- like ideology of the likes of Daily Kos and MoveOn and supporting President Bush on Iraq and the War against Jihad.

Not only that, but Lieberman has essentially been abandoned by his own party, recieving little or no support or funding from the Democratic National Committee or fellow party members. According to the polls, Lieberman is trailing Lamont by between 6 and 10 percentage points, depending on who's poll you like and may very well lose the primary...an amazing turnaround for someone who was only a few hundred votes shy of becoming vice president in 2000.

Lieberman has said he would run as an independent if he loses the primary, although that's probably doubtful if he loses big.

The Angry Left, of course, is presenting this as a referendum on the Iraq War and on the Bush Administration.

Believe it or not, if Lieberman is defeated it will damage the Democratic party's prospects severely and end up having the opposite effect the Angry Left is predicting.

Lieberman winning would tell others in his party that MoveOn and the Kossacks are not quite the kingmakers they say they are, that Leftist McCarthyism can be fought successfuly, and that there's still a middle ground up for grabs in the party.

If Lamont wins, it will only increase the lockhold the Angry Left has on the Democratic Party, forcing the party as a whole even further to the Left and reinforcing the party's squirrely image as being soft on security and defence. What's more, any Presidential nominee in `08, like a certain Senator Clinton, for instance, will have to move even fur-ther over to accomodate the hard Left in the party in order to get the nomination...which may not play so well in Peoria come election time.

Likewise,if Lamont wins but just by a couple of points and Lieberman then runs and wins as an independent, Lieberman will be returning to Washington in no mood to play nice with the party that essentially shafted him after a lifetime of allegiance.

If Lieberman goes down, expect the usual suspects to write punditry about what this signifies rgarding support for the Bush Administration and support for the War on Jihad. Anything can happen between now and November, but I'd bet they're headed for some unpleasant surprises come election time.