Kos Celeb (Meet the man who's gunning for Joe Lieberman)

Wall Street Journal ^ | May 13, 2006 | JAMES TARANTO

[RWR8189]

MERIDEN, Conn.--An article on this page prompted Ned Lamont to run for the U.S. Senate against his fellow Democrat, Joseph Lieberman.

"When Congressman [John] Murtha stood up and said 'stay the course' is not a winning strategy in Iraq, it was Sen. Lieberman who took the lead and took some of the Republican talking points . . . and wrote the piece in The Wall Street Journal [titled] 'Our Troops Must Stay,' " Mr. Lamont told me Tuesday, when I dropped in at his campaign headquarters here, about 20 miles south of Hartford. That article appeared in November, and it helped persuade Mr. Lamont that Mr. Lieberman had to go.

"I didn't think of Ned Lamont as a great candidate," he recalls. He approached prominent Nutmeg State Democrats "and said, 'You ought to do this. I'll support you every step of the way.' . . . They couldn't do it, for a whole variety of reasons. They said, 'If you feel so strongly about it, you do it, Ned.' " And so he did. Next Friday the party holds its nominating convention; if 15% of the delegates there support him, he will win a spot alongside Mr. Lieberman on the Aug. 8 primary ballot. Alternatively, he can collect 15,000 signatures by June 2.

"I think it's really doable," he says. "We're going to win." If he does, it will be the upset of the year, maybe the decade. Senators typically have a re-election rate of about 85%, and only three of them have been defeated in primaries in the past quarter-century. In a Quinnipiac College poll released last week, Mr. Lieberman, who is seeking a fourth term, led Mr. Lamont among registered Democrats, 65% to 19%.

Then again, Connecticut is far from a Bush stronghold, even though the president was born in New Haven. So it's

[digger48]

Kin we just lop off about 6 or 8 of those Nor-Eastern States and just be done with it?

They're a world away from my reality

[Cicero]

I can't whip up a lot of sympathy for Joe Lieberman. Once in a while he says the right thing, but when it gets down to the nitty gritty he always votes on the wrong side. Having said that, I doubt that we will be seeing Mr. Kos Celeb in the senate anytime soon.

[LdSentinal]

It's all about Anti-Semetism. The Kos crew hate Lieberman not because he's "hawkish," but that he is a Democrat that supports Israel's right to exist.

[Clintonfatigued]

I don't really expect Lamont to unseat Lieberman in the primary. What is more worthy of attention is that former Governor Lowell Weicker may run as an independent if Lamont doesn't win.

If that's the case, than the GOP nominee (probably former state Representative Alan Schlesinger) has a shot at winning.

Nutmeg, ping away!

[nutmeg]

Connecticut ping!

Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.

[wagglebee]

I don't know anythink about Schlesinger, but I would vastly prefer Lieberman to Weicker. Lieberman is way to the left on domestic issues, but he is one of the few Democrats who has put national security over his party with regard to the war on terror.

[MassachusettsGOP]

There is a Democrat Primary for Governor the same day, under normal circumstances which would bring out a more establishment-moderate Democratic base that would retain Lieberman. However, if middle class Democrats don't see the point in voting (because Rell is blowing out the Dems right now), it may leave the primary electorate to the political active liberals that may vote Lamont. I think this is the only chance Lamont has at winning, and Schlesinger has at winning in November.

Also I think its unlikely that Wiecker will run now that someone like Lamont is trying it out already.

[MassachusettsGOP]

Lieberman vs. Wiecker, one would definetly vote for Lieberman. However, given the choice between Schlesinger, who would hold the same foreign policy as Lieberman, and vastly more Conservative positions on Social and fiscal issues, and Lieberman, one would definetly vote for Schlesinger.

[samadams2000]

Lieberman is the media darlings "conservative demoncat". With one small problem...Hes NEVER voted with the republicans on anything.

[Koblenz]

The democratic primary for governor features New Haven mayor John de Stefano against Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy. de Stefano has some of the nuttiest proposals out there in left-wing land. One of them is "equal pay for equal work", which would feature government bureaucrats figuring out which jobs were "equal". He wants to raise the estate tax, which would just accelerate retirees moving to Florida.

Doesn't really matter, though, since Rell, the "Republican" governor, wins this in a walk...

[Vicomte13]

I don't know Schlesinger.

Westport is Diane Farrell/Christopher Shays country.

Where does Schlesinger stand on abortion?

As things stand, I'll probably vote for Lieberman. Lieberman and Shays are indistinguishable politically, other than that Shays is a Republican while Lieberman is a Democrat.

I'm definitely a caucus voter, or have been. I vote Republican so that Northeastern Republicans, whose politics don't represent my viewpoints, can be part of the Republican Caucus in Congress which does a better job at that. That means voting for Shays, but I'm inclined to vote for Lieberman because he's about the only Democrat who's right on the war. So, tell me more about Schlesinger.

[MassachusettsGOP]

Schlesinger is a former State Rep. from Derby (which I believe is the State's smallest city), and former Mayor. The city is 4:1 Democrat in Registration, so he has the ability to reach out to moderate voters, and thus is electable. He describes himself as a "Moderare-Conservative".

There is another Republican in the race as well. Paul Streiz is a Minuteman activist, but is only running on immigration. That may float your boat, but the guy doesn't seem to be going anywhere with his campaign.

On Positions, Schlesinger only lists his position on Social Security, Medicare, Immigration, the Deficit, and Tax Reform. He supports limited privitazation of SS. He wants another reform of medicare (finds the last reform was too expensive and wasteful). For immigration reform, he supports seasonal visas (meaning they would leave and come back on a season basis for 5 years) for Illegal immigrants that have not committed a crime, and who intend to learn English in 5 years or face felony charges. He wants to elimanate the deficit by 2010, and pass Tax Reform closing loopholes. I could not find an abortion position, but based on these positions, I'd agree with his self-described idealogy. A moderate-conservative. He is certainly more on the right for Fiscal issues, then the other 3 candidates. Lieberman, Lamont are typical "roll back tax cuts for the wealthy" Democrats, and Streitz main economic platform is revocation of NAFTA.

Though Lieberman provides an important dissenting voice in the Dim party, Schlesinger on all issues would be more Conservative, most likely including Iraq and the WOT as well. There is no reason in my mind to vote for Lieberman, when you could improve with Schlesinger.