GOP analysts want Lieberman to lose the primary and force him to run as an independent. The strong belief is that Lieberman on an independent line will greatly help the down-ballot GOP congressional incumbents, including Nancy Johnson and others.
Lieberman as an independent will also force the DSCC to fund Lamont in some measure, thus further draining their resources elsewhere. Essentially, you'll have an open Democratic primary in the general election.
"GOP analysts want Lieberman to lose the primary and force him to run as an independent. The strong belief is that Lieberman on an independent line will greatly help the down-ballot GOP congressional incumbents, including Nancy Johnson and others."
That's an odd theory. If Lieberman loses and runs as an independent, turnout among liberal Democrats (who won't vote for someone with an R next to their name even if they're as liberal as Johnson, Shays or Simmons) in the general election will be huge, and the additional independent voters that Lieberman will bring to the polls may be just as likely to vote for the Democrat House candidate as for the RINO incumbent. On the other hand, if Lieberman manages to beat Lamont in the primary (which at this point appears to be unlikely), Lamont won't be on the ballot and thousands of liberal Democrats will simply stay home on Election Day, thereby costing the liberal Democrat opponents of Johnson, Shays and Simmons (and, for that matter, Governor Rell) much needed votes.
Since (i) the GOP has no chance of winning the Senate race even with Lieberman running as an independent (unless we get the loser GOP nominee to drop out and a better candidate replaces him on the ballot), (ii) Lamont would be an even more liberal Senator than Lieberman, plus is younger and would likely stay in office longer, and (iii) keeping Lamont off the general-election ballot would benefit our RINO House and gubernatorial incumbents (which are not quite as bad as their liberal Democrat opponents), I would rather have Lieberman beat Lamont in the primary.