Connecticut

UPDATE!
I mourned Jim Webb's loss too soon! He's winning by 3,000 votes! Talk about drama. Do we smell a recount in the air? I wonder if Diebold machines are involved in that election. And what about absentee ballots?

WOW.

This is getting exciting.

It looks like Joe Lieberman has held on to his seat in a three-way race. Ned Lamont has not conceded but it's not looking good.

Jim Webb, at the time of this post, is losing by less than 7,000 votes. The race has not been called yet.

What do you think this means for the liberal blogosphere or netroots? They poured with direct and indirect contributions to these races millions of dollars yet still could not deliver these high profile seats.

Why do you think this happened?

The (presumably small) Republican Jewish Coalition is apparantly suggesting that Jews, particularly Orthodox Jews, join the Repub party in protest of Lieberman's defeat.

The National Jewish Democratic Council has this to say regarding orthodox Jews defecting to the Republican Party because of Lieberman's defeat:

"I'm absolutely astonished by the RJC ad campaign. American Jews need to know that the Republican Jewish Coalition is no friend of Joe Lieberman, and it certainly isn't an advocate for the issues of importance to the mainstream of the Jewish community.

"For years, the RJC has criticized Joe Lieberman. Now they want to use his good name for their own political purposes. These guys have no shame.

"The Connecticut Senate primary was not about Israel or the Jewish community. Joe Lieberman's record on Israel is impeccable. Ned Lamont's pro-Israel position is commendable. Connecticut will have a pro-Israel senator if either Democrat is elected. Any suggestion otherwise is a distortion of the truth."

First off, a hearty congratulations to Ned Lamont. I didn't think he would pull it off. But he did. Congratulations as well to the many people on and off line who made Lamont's win possible.

But I honestly think many people have been unfair to Joe Lieberman. He is not and never has been like Zell Miller. Zell Miller's entire voting record was right in line with the most rabidly right wing Republican. He was in every way a nut case.

Lieberman's political career may now be dead. Perhaps even more so if he runs as an Ind and the Democratic Party does the right thing and turns its back on him. Maybe his career will survive, but I don't think so. But I think we should be fair to Lieberman.

Lieberman, more than many Democrats, was a man of conviction and strong beliefs. This affected how he viewed politics. He viewed politics as a conservative, religious man, yet managed to maintain (in sharp contrast to Zell) a reasonable voting record on choice, the environment and labor, at least according to LCV, NARAL and AFL-CIO. He was on our side in many fights throughout his career. And when he wasn't on our side it wasn't because he was triangulating. It was because he believed that what he was doing was the correct thing to do. I admit that I admire that about Lieberman. He did what he thought was right.

When a blogger goes ballistic with racist and anti-semitic hijinks against their candidate's opponent, and is ennabled by others in the blogosphere but more importanly, major media, it will come back to not only haunt them but the candidate of their choice.

This is the lesson to learn from last weeks faux pas. A 13% lead has been cut to less than 4% at the voting polls. Lieberman is conceding defeat but has decided to run as an independent.

Memo to Jane Hamsher : Lamont won't be able to win without black or jewish voters or republicans for that matter. A republican may not win the election but he may end up wedging Lamont out and putting Lieberman back in the Senate. And, do we really need him to fulfill his dream of becoming the next Zel Miller?

Serious food for thought about such an amazingly important election for the liberal blogosphere.

As if I don't enjoy enough, making an ass of myself, I am going to pull a Jerome "Karnark" Armstrong and come up with my own predictions: Ned Lamont is going to win by a conservative margin or 6 +/- points.

Go take the poll y'all!