*Shakes Head*

[Xantar]

First of all, the latest poll numbers I've been able to find show that in a three way race, Lamont and Lieberman are neck and neck. Lieberman is certainly not the runaway favorite. That poll was taken on July 20, and I'm not aware of anybody else taking any new polls of the general population since then.

Secondly, there are a lot of things that can happen in between now and November. I don't necessarily think Lamont will win the general election. What I do know is that we don't have a clue who will win at this point. This primary changes a lot of things.

For one thing, as a result of this primary, Ned Lamont has received the support of Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh, Barbara Boxer and John Edwards. Yeah yeah, I know, I don't like Hillary either. But that kind of support will count for a lot in Connecticut. Lamont has also already received the support of institutional lobbying groups like Connecticut unions. Lieberman's campaign funding will take a huge hit from this primary. Americans don't like losers.

Also, the turnout for the primary was something like 50% which is literally record-breaking. With that many Democrats supporting Lamont, Lieberman would have to win a sizable majority of unaffiliated voters in Connecticut which is not a sure thing at all since "independent" in Connecticut usually means "too liberal for the Democrats."

And then there's the question of Schlessinger. The smartest thing Republicans could do is get him to drop out because his support base would largely break for Lieberman over Lamont. But there's no indication yet that he will do that.

Anyway, the Democratic Party establishment did in fact see this coming, and they gave a lot of support to Lieberman. For whatever reason, Lamont won anyway. And I would also point out that as recently as late June, Lamont was trailing Lieberman in polls. We've got twice as much time from now until November, and there's simply no telling which way the polls will go in that amount of time.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Xantar

And then there's the question of Schlessinger. The smartest thing Republicans could do is get him to drop out because his support base would largely break for Lieberman over Lamont. But there's no indication yet that he will do that.

I actually agree that th Rep should do that. It makes sense and Lamont is a borderline loon from what I've heard from him.

Anyway, the Democratic Party establishment did in fact see this coming, and they gave a lot of support to Lieberman. For whatever reason, Lamont won anyway. And I would also point out that as recently as late June, Lamont was trailing Lieberman in polls. We've got twice as much time from now until November, and there's simply no telling which way the polls will go in that amount of time.

What do you consider support? I've never seen so LITTLE support for an entrenched high profile candidate like Lieberman from his own party. Hillary at best abstained from supporting either candidate until the writing was on the wall. And I'm not referring to lip service, I'm referring to real support, like the kind Lamont got from the far left during the run-off.

As for poll, as I said, I wasn't sure how recent that data was. Thanks for correcting it. As for the Independents in that state, I believe Lieberman has dominated their vote historically, although having such a liberal win a run-off has never entered the picture before and that could be a factor if Xantar's belief is accurate. Also, I think Lieberman will get a lot of Republican votes for the sheer terror that lamont instills in them. They'll recognize that either Lieberman or Lamont will win and vote for the "lesser of two evils" for lack of a better term.

Still, Lieberman has a better than average chance of winning, and that would make the democrats look quite silly. This is what the Dems didn't see coming, Xanny. I really think they thought Lieberman would just stop running for office if he lost the pre-lim. I just don't understand how the Dems could create such an opportunity for success to become a potential media nightmare and embarrassment.

How the dems could abandon one of their most powerful and visible members over one issue (the Iraq war, and that is the ONE issue) I have no idea. By the time all of this Middle East nonsense is over, American will have two parties: Facists and Communists and I'll be in Australia tossing another shrimp on the God Damn barby.

[Jonbo298]

Alot of people are going Lamont over Lieberman just for the fact Lieb supports the War in Iraq whereas Lamont is against it. and the majority of democrats are against the Iraq war.

[KillerGremlin]

Violent video games are bad, guys.

If you are under the age of 18 you shouldn't be allowed to play M17 games, and anyone under the age of 17 shouldn't be allowed to be exposed to such horrible things as violence!

on a side note...Matt Stone and Trey Parker are pretty funny.