Posted on 08/17/2006 7:22:19 AM PDT by presidio9
Ned Lamont, whose anti-war campaign rattled the political landscape by toppling Sen. Joe Lieberman in Connecticut's Democratic primary, is gaining support among voters — but Lieberman still has an edge, according to a poll released Thursday.
The Quinnipiac University poll has Lieberman leading Lamont among registered voters 49 percent to 38 percent. Republican Alan Schlesinger gets support from 4 percent. Among likely voters, Lieberman was supported by 53 percent, compared to Lamont's 41 percent and Schlesinger's 4 percent.
Lieberman, a nationally known centrist who has been criticized by many Democrats for supporting the war in Iraq and a perceived closeness to President Bush, lost the Aug. 8 Democratic primary by 10,000 votes. Political pundits say the primary was evidence of voters' frustration with the war and predict it could have national political ramifications.
Lieberman's advantage in the general election comes from broad support among unaffiliated and Republican voters. Fifty-three percent of likely voters polled said he deserves to be re-elected, and nearly half doubted that Lamont, a political novice who founded a company that wires college campuses for cable television, has enough experience to be senator.
"Senator Lieberman's support among Republicans is nothing short of amazing. It more than offsets what he has lost among Democrats," poll director Douglas Schwartz said. "As long as Lieberman maintains this kind of support among Republicans, while holding a significant number of Democratic votes, the veteran senator will be hard to beat."
Lamont, however, is improving since a July 20 Quinnipiac poll. In that survey of registered voters, he trailed Lieberman 51 percent to 27 percent with Schlesinger getting 9 percent. The latest poll quizzed both registered voters and voters likely to cast ballots; the July 20 poll only questioned registered voters.
Top state and national Democrats, including Sens. John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton and Frank Lautenberg, abandoned Lieberman after the primary and are endorsing Lamont. Former Sen. John Edwards, the 2004 candidate for vice president, was to campaign for Lamont on Thursday.
Some Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are throwing their support behind Lieberman instead of Schlesinger, who has been dogged by revelations of that he was sued by two New Jersey casinos for gambling debts, and that he gambled at a Connecticut casino under a false name in the 1990s while a state legislator.
Messages seeking comment were left with the three campaigns early Thursday.
The telephone poll was conducted between Aug. 10 to 14. Quinnipiac surveyed 1,319 registered voters and the poll has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Among the 1,083 likely voters, the margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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PING
I cna't wait to see Democrats in the Senate react when Lieberman wins. Like Brutus two thousand years ago, they all stabbed Lieberman in the back. But this time Brutus lives.
Party of the rich? I don't think so?
The CT electorate has apparently lost its collective mind.
Caesar lives, ahem.
Which means only 12 percent are undecided, and Lamont would have to pick up all of them to win.
Lieberman will do this country a great service if he trounces Lamont. It will discredit the moonbats as the idiots they are and exile them back to the crevices they crawled out of.
In whose wet dream?
Lieberman may be better than some Democrats on some issues, but he's still a lefty.
I'd like to see him pull the election out, since his opposition is a nut-case, but we shouldn't lose sight of his true leanings. He's way way way left of center on most issues.
Wonder what Chris Dodd will have to say ? And will Loserman forgive him ?
Some improvement. Lamont now gets just about all the support from the Dems. But he will have an impossible time making inroads among the independent voters:
nearly half doubted that Lamont, a political novice who founded a company that wires college campuses for cable television, has enough experience to be senator.
So Lamont can try to re-position himself all he wants. But he cannot do jack to rectify his largest stumbling block here - his lack of experience.
I don't know if it's quite time to put a fork in Lamont, but we sure can have one handy for when the time comes.
3-4% isn't particularly inspiring for a major party candidate.
It's alright, it seemed right to me the first time, then I thought about it for a minute and I realized it was wrong. I figured a correction was on it's way. No harm, no foul.
This thread needs the "Ha ha" Simpson pic. LOL.
The Dims are squirming in their seats now. They have made an enemy and will regret it for a long time.
I have no illusions that Lieberman is liberal on most issues. However, there is liberal, and there is certifiably insane liberal. The hard left now represents, IMO, a toxic mold growing in this country. Someone needs to hit 'em with the Tilex, and it looks like circumstances have bestowed that task upon Lieberman - and since the GOP candidate is worthless, we might as well take this opportunity to inflict a mortal wound on the electability of the nutbars.
Thanks for the early morning laugh. It's observations like yours that make life worth living. :)
I agree
Lefty yes, but he leaves me with the impression as being a very "honest lefty", and how often do you find one of those in congress? He's likable lefty compared to the other Lefty Senators in the NE.
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