Sometimes I forget that the contest between Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont is only the Democratic primary. The winner of the Democratic primary in August will go up against the Republican nominee, currently Alan Schlesinger, to determine who the voters of Connecticut will send back to Washington, D.C. as the junior Senator from the state.
It appears that Alan Schlesinger is now in the process of imploding over a Bill Bennet issue. From the Hartford Courant [Via TPM Cafe] we now get the story that not only has Schlesinger been a frequent gambler in the past, he was also sued - twice - by two New Jersey casinos for not paying his gambling debts.
Since there appears to be no Republican in Connecticut with sufficient political gravitas who at this time wants the Republican nomination for Senator, it really looks to me like the winner of the August 8th Democratic primary will be Connecticut's next junior Senator. If Lamont wins the Democratic primary over Lieberman, then for Lieberman to apply to run as an Independent (or even get drafted as the Republican candidate, as has already been talked about) would simply set the same race between Lamont and Lieberman up for the second time.
The voters in the November 8th election would include Connecticut Republicans, who are not voting in the Democratic primary, but the appearance of being a sore loser who will do anything to keep his Senate seat is not really the posture of a winner. Also, Connecticut is becoming a more Democratic state anyway.
So unless the Republicans can pull a real miracle out of the hat, the winner of the Democratic primary will very probably be the next junior Senator from Connecticut.
Josh Marshall has some interesting comments on the primary race.
No comments:
Post a Comment