Thursday, August 17, 2006
Just De Facto-s, Ma'am
The "Republican" candidate in Connecticut is, ahem, Joe Lieberman.
Tthe White House also declined to support the official Senate Republican candidate:
And that reflects the wishes of the GOP voters in the Nutmeg State, as per the latest poll:
It thus warrants the "obsessive" coverage that this blogger has given it over the last week or so! (Wink, wink, Ed!)
UPDATE: Sidney Blumenthal on the GOP's embracing of Lieberman:
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Tthe White House also declined to support the official Senate Republican candidate:
The White House on Tuesday made it official: Bush is not endorsing the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Connecticut. That, of course, is tacit encouragement to Republicans to vote for incumbent Joe Lieberman, who is continuing to run even though he lost to Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary."tacit encouragement" = "de facto endorsement" in political double-speak that some RT readers have difficulty understanding.
And that reflects the wishes of the GOP voters in the Nutmeg State, as per the latest poll:
A new Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters in Connecticut shows incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman (D/I) leading businessman Ned Lamont (D) and former state Rep. Alan Schlesinger. Lieberman won the support of 53 percent of those surveyed. Lamont had 41 percent, while Schlesinger took an amazingly low four percent.Chris Cilizza also calls this "the single most fascinating race in the country at the moment and shows no signs of getting less interesting in the coming 80 (or so) days before the election."
The poll seems to show that Lieberman, who lost the Aug. 8 Democratic primary to Lamont, has become the de facto Republican candidate in the race, scoring incredibly high with GOPers in the state. Lieberman recieved 75 percent among Republicans in the sample as compared to 13 percent for Lamont and 10 percent for Schlesinger. Democrats supported Lamont by a 63 percent to 35 percent margin (Schlesinger did not even receive one percent support). Lieberman also won Independents by a 58 percent to 36 percent margin over Lamont. Schlesinger clocked in at three percent.
Those head-to-head numbers tracked with other measurements of support for the three men in the poll. Overall, 53 percent of likely voters thought Lieberman deserved re-election while 40 percent did not. A whopping 80 percent of Republicans said the incumbent deserved another term compared with just 32 percent of Democrats. Independents favored another term for Lieberman by a 57 percent to 35 percent margin. [bolded emphasis added]
It thus warrants the "obsessive" coverage that this blogger has given it over the last week or so! (Wink, wink, Ed!)
UPDATE: Sidney Blumenthal on the GOP's embracing of Lieberman:
Technorati Tags: Joe Lieberman, Ned Lamont, Connecticut, RepublicansFor the Democratic Party the Lieberman problem is a serious one. After his primary loss he has become the de facto Republican candidate, virtually endorsed by Bush, Cheney and RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, who have withdrawn support from the actual Republican candidate in the race. Lieberman can only win by securing almost all the Republican votes. His campaign must pull Republican votes to the polls, courtesy of the national GOP on which his
ambition has become dependent. (Emphasis added)
