Update 4:15 pm MT: Huffpo says the results will come at 8:35 pm ET. Daily Kos and Firedoglake have the real scoop on Lieberman's site going down. He paid for a cheap hosting service and it overloaded. Lamont offered him tech advisors to help. But Joe went with another cheap host, so don't be surprised if it happens again.

I'm out at the jail and won't be back until just about 6:30 (8:30 ET) when I'll begin live blogging the results, updating with news as it comes out and what other blogs are saying. So check back in if you can.

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Original Post:

It's going to be a long day. Firedoglake and their commenters are reporting live.

This thread is for all topics related to Lieberman and Lamont, but I'll start with addressing the fallacy that the media is spinning that if Lamont wins, it's due to bloggers.

Chris Bowers at MyDD, still live-blogging from Lamont headquarters at 2:30 a.m. last night, says whether Lamont wins or loses, Wednesday will be a bad press day for bloggers and the netroots:

As Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman make their final push to CT voters today, let's take a look at the numbers. Newsday reports:

• 2.1 million voters in CT
• 942,000 or 45% are unaffiliated
• 702,000 are Democrats
• 456,000 aree Republicans

A new Quinnipiac poll released today still has Lamont winning, but not by as much:

A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday showed Lamont with a slight lead over Lieberman, 51 percent to 45 percent, among likely Democratic voters. The telephone poll, conducted from July 31 to Sunday, was of 784 likely Democratic primary voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Reuters reports Lieberman has lost the trust of many voters, particularly because of his relationship with Bush and his stand on the war. His announcement he would run as an Independent if he lost the primary also alienated many voters.

Josh Nichols of the Nation who is on the ground in CT takes a look at Lieberman's Desperate Measures. Katrina Vanderheuval notes that Lamont's great-great uncle helped keep The Nation alive years ago.

Joe Lieberman says he 's fighting to the finish against Ned Lamont. Here's the text of the speech he delivered today in New Haven, where he was joined by Max Cleland and which he called his "closing argument" to Connecticut voters.

He had one funny line:

I am the only Democrat in America to run against George Bush in a national election twice. I even beat him and Dick Cheney once, if all the votes had been counted.

Lieberman then lists 8 areas in which he opposed Bush.

(Guest Post by Big Tent Democrat)

The Connecticut Senate race has sparked a healthy debate in the Democratic Party (there can be no debate in the Rubberstamp Republican Party) about the Iraq War. Strangely, for someone who has been positively loquacious about Iraq, Joe Lieberman chose to stand mute on Iraq. Hell of a dialogue with Connecticut Democrats there Joe.

But another very interesting debate has been forwarded, one of great importance to the Democrat Party - the issue of partisanship versus ideology. At TPM Cafe, Nathan Newman, a smart, committed Democrat and progressive, in his response to Ed Kilgore's interesting post on generational politics and ideological battles, so fundamentally misunderstands why many of the leading Democratic blogs (like Daily Kos, Eschaton, Mark Schmitt of TPM Cafe and others) have argued for the primacy of Democratic partisanship over ideology as the focus of their activism, and their primary reason for opposing Lieberman, that it leaves me a bit discouraged that the Democratic Party will understand it.

But I think there is hope. The leading blogs understand why, even though some intelligent bloggers like Billmon refuse to understand. I believe the Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid understands. More and more Democrats are understanding. Despite the stragglers (Obama, Schumer and some others), the Lamont campaign and its results and consequences may make their understanding less important. The "people power" kos and Jerome Armstrong speak of is being tested in Connecticut. Are Democrats taking back their Party? Connecticut will be an interesting test.

Update: Lieberman, fearing a loss, shifts his strategy:

Facing a likely defeat, Lieberman has scrapped plans for a massive and costly get-out-the-vote operation on primary day, according to several Democratic sources. Instead, he will shift some of his resources into more television commercials designed to highlight his accomplishments for the state, in hopes of boosting his battered image....a landslide loss to Lamont could complicate Lieberman's hopes of winning a fourth term in a three-way general election contest.

Lieberman's internal polls show him losing:

Another campaign adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss strategy, said the public poll tracked internal campaign surveys. "The race has been headed in that direction for a while," the adviser said. "It's a fairly accurate reflection of where the race is."

Liebermnan's strategy changed at the last minute, fearing a big loss:

The Lieberman campaign, fearing that low voter turnout in the primary would favor Lamont, had plans to build a get-out-the-vote operation bigger than any seen in a state race in Connecticut. But in the face of discouraging polls, campaign officials concluded this week that the money likely would be wasted.

Why are we so focused on the Lieberman-Lamont race?

Lieberman's struggle has drawn national attention because it illustrates the power of antiwar activism in the Democratic Party and because of its potential implications for other races in the November midterm elections.

Update: The Lieberkidz try a thug strategy against Lamont.

Joe Lieberman went on the attack today against Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher, the blogosphere's most well-known, vocal supporter of Ned Lamont. The issue is this one.

Jane is not part of the campaign, she's working on her own as an unpaid activist. After her mother died, she decided to go to Connecticut to follow the Lamont campaign rather than return home right away. Lamont is lucky to have her and the publicity and support she brings via FDL. I hope she stays right where she is through primary day.

This is a Lieberman distraction. I hope CT Democrats will focus instead on whether they want a senator who is backed by Tom DeLay.

Tom DeLay, on Lieberman: "Lieberman is a liberal. ... He is a liberal on everything but the war, and he's very good on the war. He understands how dangerous fighting the Islamic terrorists, and he's going to fight that. And it just shows you how weak the Democrats are to take on Lieberman when he supports 90 percent of what they believe in" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 8/2).

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Bump and Update: According to a new Quinnipiac poll, Ned Lamont leads Sen. Joe Lieberman 54% to 41% among likely Democratic primary voters. This compares to a 51% to 47% Lamont lead in the last poll two weeks ago. 85% of those polled said their minds are made up.

The Washington Post has more on the poll. There's also a nice profile of Lamont in the Hartford Advocate, explaining his opposition to the war.

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Original Post:
8/2/06

The Connecticut Primary is six days away. Political Wire reports tonight that Joe Lieberman is planning for a loss and will shake up his campaign staff if it happens.

Expect Lieberman to can anyone who was associated with 2004 Kerry campaign and replace them with a team of pungent veterans who will take the fight to Lamont. As Lieberman tours the broiling state, you can almost hear the gloves coming off in preparation for a fight to the finish in November.

Lieberman thinks he will get the spotlight with his petition run if he loses the primary. Even the Republicans look like they will line up behind Lieberman, since the Republican challenger is so weak:

Surely this should have been the final blow to Katherine Harris' senate campaign.

The state Republican Party bluntly told Rep. Katherine Harris that she couldn't win this fall's Senate election and that the party wouldn't support her campaign, a letter obtained Monday by The Associated Press shows.....The letter said: "Katherine, though it causes us much anguish, we have determined that your campaign faces irreparable damage. We feel that we have no other choice but to revoke our support.

"The polls tell us that no matter how you run this race, you will not be successful in beating Bill Nelson, who would otherwise be a vulnerable incumbent if forced to face a stronger candidate," it said.

But no, Harris could care less. The day after receiving the letter in May she placed her name on the September primary ballot. She says those that signed the letter were pressured into doing so.

(Guest Posted by Big Tent Democrat)

Honey you do me wrong but still I'm crazy about you
Stay away too long and I can't do without you
Every chance you get you seem to hurt me more and more
But each hurt makes my love stronger than before
I know flowers go through rain
But how can love go through pain

Ain't that peculiar
A peculiar ality
Ain't that peculiar baby
Peculiar as can be

On July 3, Newsweek columnist Jon Alter wrote:

These are the stakes: if Rove can successfully con Democrats into ignoring Iraq and reciting their laundry list of other priorities, Republicans win. It's shameful that the minimum wage hasn't been raised in nine years and that thousands of ailing Americans will ultimately die because of Bush's position on stem-cell research. But those issues won't get the Congress back for Democrats. Iraq can.

Last December, Joe Lieberman wrote that Our Troops Must Stay:

[Recreated from another computer]

The New York Times today endorsed Ned Lamont. The Hartford Courant endorsed Lieberman.

The papers agree on one thing: Lieberman's stance on Iraq has put him in this mess. While other Democrats also voted for the Iraq War, most have come around since by calling for withdrawal of our troops at the earliest opportunity, whether by a timetable or not. As the latest Gallup poll points out, this is the wish of most Americans...in fact, as many Americans now want us out of Iraq as wanted us out of Vietnam in 1969. Lieberman, though, has refused to acknowledge this. He stubbornly clings to the Bush agenda on the war.

Even the Courant has good things to say about Ned Lamont. The major negative is his "relative inexperience." I'll take a pol with bright ideas, high ideals, enthusiasm and vision any day over an entrenched pol who thinks by virtue of his longevity he owns the seat.

While Hillary was in Denver at the DLC convention, Bill Clinton was in CT stumping for Joe Lieberman. Firedoglake has the details.

New York Magazine has a long article on Lieberman's war to remain a Senator.

by TChris

You know your campaign isn't going well when ...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Albertini was arrested for public intoxication Thursday night in Knoxville, sheriff's officials said.

Albertini's top issues are "abortion, illegal immigration and the state pension system." Temperance must be farther down the list.