Lieberman never intended to win the Democratic primary.

[Pale Blue Dot]

That is the conclusion I draw from reading this "confessional" from an early supporter. I believe that Lieberman intended to divide Democrats from the moment Lamont got on the ballot.

After the convention, I went out and about in Hartford with a strange mix of DeStefano supporters and Malloy staffers. I really enjoyed Hartford, it reminded me of Harrisburg, and I was able to find a nice Irish pub that served Tullamore Dew, so I felt like I was home. I didn't feel guilty going out because the campaign was taking the day off on Saturday. It wasn't till I got back to my apartment Saturday afternoon and checked MLN that I found out I missed one hell of a floor show during the gubernatorial nomination and endorsement. I also learned that the Lamont crew was able to endear themselves to the CT Dems by hanging around Saturday and assisting delegates in the melee. I felt we made a mistake by not having any presence, and that we lost ground that we had gained by securing the endorsement.

That week my faith in Lieberman as a Democratic candidate began to shake. Resources that were promised to the field program were cut, and when, in protest, I asked questions I thought rhetorical like, "Are we in this to win it in August or what?" were met with puzzled faces and non-answers. The senate staff, on loan for the convention build-up, was taking a more active role in the campaign. I started to get worried that we had already lost the primary in our minds.

In staff meetings I became more and more agitated (which coincided with the amount of MLN I was reading) and as Joe began speaking more and more evasive about running as an independent. We were told Joe was committed to the August primary, and that we weren't spending time or resources on anything else. I didn't witness anything to the contrary, so I became even more frustrated with the campaign. Finally, I burst out in a meeting, "If we're not running as an independent, why don't we just say so?" One of the senates staffers, who became a regular at our meetings had this look of shock and incredulity over her, and I just dropped the issue there, knowing that despite what the campaign was doing, the senate staff (who controlled the purse strings) was planning on doing whatever they could to hold on to the seat. I know that my staff, as well as the majority of the field staff, were very concerned about winning the primary so the general election. We were all promised raises for the fall after a successful primary.

I didn't last much longer, and about a week after I was back in PA, Joe announced that he was going to allow petitions circulated to get him on the ballot as an independent. I got my last check from Joe '06 and sent a donation to the Lamont campaign. Seemed like the right thing to do.

http://www.myleftnutmeg.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7814

[MadMaddie]

1. And every day we suffer from the turncoat.

His lies about Iraq...his drum banging about attacking Iran.....

Folks...pay attention...in every state across this nation lets defeat any Republican from the Senate and the House....and have an overwhelming majority....and when it is all said and done...

Joe can suffer for two years neutered, without a voice...withought power.

I can't wait for the day! I will celebrate with all of you!

[bonito]

2. .

:toast:

[BlooInBloo]

3. When you have an electorate as uncaring and fucking stupid as Connecticut's....

... Who cares? Can't blame Lieberman for doing what the state's jackass electorate ALLOWS him to do.

[frazzled]

6. Bingo

I was really confused by the blogosphere's undue optimism about Connecticut being such a true-blue state, and staking a Lamont win on the (unexamined) fact that Connecticut always elected a Democratic senator.

Unfortunately, they neglected to look at the specific numbers from previous elections, which Lieberman certainly must have in assessing whether to run as an Independent after losing the Dem primary. First of all, we could have looked at the party affiliations of registered CT voters:

Dem 34.2% | Rep 22.9% | Other 43.0%

Then, we can see that in 2000, Liberman had beat his Republican opponent (Giordiano) by 63% to 34%. If Republicans comprise around 23% of the electorate, that means he was getting the lion's share of Independent votes. In the previous cycle, in 1994, he beat his Rep. opponent (Labriola) by 67% to 31%.

Only 1/3 of Connecticut's voters were registered Democrats. 2/3 were not. This was definitely going to be a case of where the Independent vote was going to split, and since in the past it had gone substantially to Lieberman (whom my 91-year-old dad calls a "schmuck"), it was likely he could carry this election with or without the Democratic nomination.

"Blue" states are not always so blue as we think. And, I suppose, by corollary, red states are not always as red as we think.

[SoCalDem]

4. as soon as the republicans ran a guy with NO chance, the fix was in

Joementum has been a bushie for years, and of course he knew that republicans would support him..he's a better republican senator than anybody they could have picked

[Cha]

5. Yeah, I'm sure "ol Syria is

the answer now" lieman had it all figured out.

Cool..danny got his last check from lieman and sent a donation to Ned!

Political School of Hard Knocks~