When Charlemagne had finished building his Empire in 799, the Pope crowned him at a coronation ceremony proclaiming him the New Roman Emperor. This seemingly innocous act led to a fight that would last for centuries: who was the real king maker the Church or the State?
Tonight as I write this a similar coronation is going on in Ct. The sitting three term incumbent Joe Lieberman has been defeated by a political unknown Ned Lamont. (This is unusual because Joe is only the fourth Senator to lose a primary since 1980.)
Lamont is defined politically almost solely by his opposition to the war in Iraq. But the interesting part is the people who back him. Dubbed the "Netroots" it's an interesting patchwork of far left wing blog sites like DailyKos and MoveOn.Org. These people sent all kinds of money to Lamont who is a millionaire turning what is traditionally viewed as a local battle into a full scale national war.
Although they have found a narrow victory (Lamont catching 144,005 to Lieberman's 134,026, with 98 percent of precincts reporting) these people will be hailing a "major truimph".
This is going to leave moderate Democrats in pickle because the fringe's message isn't going to resonate with most people, and having most of the votes is what they need to win. If the attempt to appeal to the moderate base, they're going to lose the fringe and there aren't enough moderate Democrats to win anything either. Unfortunately, the fringe knows this and like the Pope's of old will excommunicate Democrat that refuses to tow their views.
Thus while anti war activists celebrate their victory, the real disaster and fight for the Democratic soul is looming ahead.
Hmm...
What you were saying............LOL.