Here is an op ed on Joe from the Reality Based Community TM

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-commentarysirota0702.artjul02,0,3613978.story?coll=hc-headlines-commentary

David at July 3, 2006 03:05 PM said:

Here is an op ed on Joe from the Reality Based Community TM

Some reality. Joe doesn't represent the extreem left wing of his party. If that's what CT wants, they will get what they deserve in Lamont. I wonder if that's truly what the average citizen in CT actually thinks.

Being a CT resident I am sure that Joe is more in sync than Ned.

Joe is the quintessential self-aggrandizing politician, who is so sure that he is the best to represent his state that he will not accept their democratic voice. Only a career politician who knows nothing else but 18 years of DC insider life could think he is above the electoral process and above his party.

I think we'll learn a lot during the debate this week, and see if Lamont has Connecticut values or if he is out of step. Joe himself can't seem to decide if Lamont is too liberal or too conservative, so I'm sure he'll be able to flesh that out for himself as well.

From what I read, Dems don't disagree as much with Joe's ideology as they do with the way he seems to aid and abet the GOP. Its tough to be a bipartisan in an era of fierce partisanship, that much is for sure.

Figaro, you are pretty clueess aren't you.

I live in CT, 1st district (Larson - D), and there isn't any buzz about Lamont. It's a foregone conclusion that CT is a blue state; I doubt even registered Republicans can name potential Republican candidates for this race (who the heck is Paul Streitz? Herschal Collins?).

(Streitz's official website is www.citizensforimmigrationcontrol.com -- a very narrowly focused campaign platform, to say the least. Collins, who is considered the Republican front-runner, has no website.)

Most of Lamont's support comes from Fairfield County (a tutelary suburb of NYC) and university campuses.

Lamont's TV spots don't mention anything specific. He "has a plan" for Iraq, but so does everybody else.

Lieberman's TV spots have been focused on his part in saving jobs in CT (notably the New London submarine base). CT is home to megadefense contractor United Technologies, including its subsidiaries Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand, Carrier, and Otis. GE is also based in Fairfield.

Given that only a fraction of elligible voters take part in their parties' primaries, the opportunity for Lamont to pull it off is substantial. Really, the Democratic primary _is_ the election for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut.

It will be interesting to see how much the Kos Koo Koos will meddle in the primary.

Wow, if the Daily Kos has koo koos, what do you call the people at Powerline and Red State and Michelle Malkin who had a hissy fit this week because of a travel article approved by Rumsfeld about his residence in Maryland.

I mean, if you disagree with their politics that is one thing, but I rarely if ever see them lose their mind about a fake scandal or a trifle. And, for a place with little to no moderation of comments I see very little tinfoil hat stuff either. But you know, if you struggle with opposing viewpoints or other inroads against dogmatic thinking, then left wing blogs are very, very scary...

Also, how does someone "meddle" with a primary?

From MSNBC/Newsweek ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13531726/site/newsweek/ ):

Moulitsas will try to earn his stripes in the Aug. 8 Connecticut primary, where he and other bloggers have hammered Lieberman for his embrace of the Bush doctrine on Iraq. "If it were not for my position on the war in Iraq," Lieberman tells NEWSWEEK, "I don't believe there would be a primary against me." Moulitsas is doing everything he can to make that primary fatal for Lieberman--rallying other bloggers, ginning up money and making Lamont the poster child for the "people-powered movement."

Moulitsas's targeting of Lieberman angers some Democrats, who argue that at a time when the party faces tough odds of taking back the Senate, there are better targets than a popular incumbent. But in other races, Moulitsas has put pragmatism above his ideology. When Iraq veteran Paul Hackett was facing Sherrod Brown in Ohio's Democratic senatorial primary, Moulitsas initially backed Hackett. "Give me an Iraq vet over a career politician," he blogged. But as the contest wore on and Democratic leaders spread the word that Brown would be a stronger general-election candidate, Moulitsas changed allegiance. (Hackett eventually withdrew from the race). Brown's candidacy is now obsessively promoted on Daily Kos--along with other candidates who take a variety of different positions on the war.

Many residents of Connecticut (are you one?), both Democrat and Republican, deeply resent that an internet operation based in Berkely is attempting to influence politics here at home. Does redstate.org attempt to raise money for its favored candidates? Can you name a right-wing internet-based organization that holds an annual convention that attracts Republican politicians and media coverage?

If they don't, its just failure to organize. Kos might advocate for certain candidates, but they all fit a certain proud progressive model. Kos is not some leader who tells people what to do, he provides information, counter-information, and the enormous Kos community who supports similar ideals forms the backbone. He definitely promotes thinking for yourself, and no one has to donate to hang around.

If you think that any successful election, anywhere in the country, occurs in a bubble, you are wrong.Consultants from DC, PACs from all over the country, lobbyists from all over, politicians from other states. This guy is "meddling" by suggesting that if people like this candidate more than Joe Lieberman, they volunteer or donate to his campaign. That sounds more like freedom of speech and democracy than "meddling" to me.

I don't live in CT, for the record.