Lamont Beats Lieberman

And the MSM still doesn't get it.

I was watching the Daily Show last night, flipping to CNN during the commercials to get updates on the Lamont/Lieberman race. During the commercial before the Brian Roberts was on (I think. I was tired) the banner at the bottom of CNN's screen read 'Lieberman Concedes' or something to that effect.

I was pretty happy. The talking heads were blathering but I wasn't really paying attention to them but something Anderson Cooper (in full body armor) said stuck out to me. I don't have a transcript, but here's what I remember:

Cooper: "What does this mean for a Democratic party trying to attract more voters that moderate candidates can't get through the primaries?"

Who's asking the Republicans that question? Seriously. Rick Santorum is an incumbent Senator in Pennsylvania. He'd be in much better shape if he'd been a little more centrist. But nobody's asking him why he's not more friendly to moderate voters?

It's always 'Democrats just need to be a little more like Republicans' to win. But Republicans can go as far off the Right Wing deep-end as they want. Nobody's calling for more moderate Republicans. And nobody's noticing that Joe Lieberman's Republican Counterpart, Lincoln Chafee, is in a very similar situation.

And enough of this 'crazy, angry Left' bullshit. I'm a progressive blogger and I challenge anybody to find anything as crazy on my sight as what I can find within five minutes on Redstate or LGF. You'll have a dickens of a time...

The Washington Post reports that the race was won by Ned Lamont, 52% to 48%.

And of course, 'I'm Entitled' Joe is going to run as an independent. Here's Joe's 'concession' speech, in part:

"I am, of course, disappointed by the results, but I am not discouraged," Lieberman said. "I'm disappointed not just because I lost but because the old politics of partisan polarization won today. For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand."

This is a logical statement, if and only if the opposition, in this case Republicans, were above the 'partisan polarization' that Lieberman finds so abhorrent. They're not. They play politics with the body armor provided for the troops fighting the war Lieberman supported so unquestioningly.

* * * * *
The big problem is that Lieberman's independent bid could have some success. The Connecticut GOP hasn't fielded anything resembling a strong candidate so in a general election, Republicans (among whom Lieberman has a higher approval rating) could tip the election in Joe's favor. This is assuming that everybody who supported Sen. Lieberman in the Primary would continue to support him in the general election.

As celebration flows around the Liberal Blogosphere, it's important for us to remember that we can't stop working now.

We've sent a message. We're a real force in politics. Maybe not a big force, but one that can have real effects on real races. We've announced that anyone with even a whiff of George W. Bush Republicanism is going to have a tough time getting elected. And we've proven that the DLC, beltway insider's cash isn't enough to guarantee victories.

It's a new day.

Ned Lamont Joe Lieberman Democrats Republicans 2006 Elections Moderates Media