On Aug. 8, something happened for the first time since March 31, 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to seek his party's nomination for re-election. A prominent politician was brought to justice, held accountable for a disastrous, bloody war fueled by deceit and waged by incompetents more persuaded by fantasy and ideology than reality. The only difference being that this time the war is in Iraq, and the politician is Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.
Unmoved by endorsements from the Beltway establishment, a heavy fundraising imbalance and Rovian fear-mongering, political neophyte Ned Lamont rode a groundswell of grassroots passion to do the unthinkable: unseat a sitting senator in a primary election. But Lieberman, never a model of selfless public service (remember when he hedged his bet in 2000 by running for his Senate seat in the midst of his vice presidential campaign?), scoffed at the will of his constituents and vowed to run again in his party of one, Connecticut for Lieberman.
But the election and its immediate aftermath served a larger purpose than simply reminding us that Lieberman is an egocentric buffoon. It was a telling insight into the state of American politics as the calendar closes in on the midterm elections.
The first lesson is a reminder that Republicans are feeling desperate for the first time in a while. Being in the same room as a conservative these days can make one feel woozy from dizziness; the panicky spin has outdone itself in comic bombast and pathetic defamation. Pundit Cal Thomas branded Lamont voters "Taliban Democrats," Bill O'Reilly deduced Democrats have "no will to restrain Iran's jihad," Tom DeLay envisioned liberals greeting terrorists as "wonderful people," and Dick Cheney laughably labeled Lamont supporters broken by "al-Qaida types." (It's telling that two of Lieberman's staunchest defenders are Tom Delay and Dick Cheney, perhaps a hint as to why he lost the primary in the first place.)
Equally preposterous is the theme promoted by the wishy-washy Democratic Leadership Council that Lamont's victory represents a rejection of moderation, a disapproval of pragmatic compromise. In his anti-concession speech, Lieberman repeatedly blasted the forces of "nasty partisanship" (the first time, to my knowledge, a primary election has been derided as "partisan"). But ironically Lieberman's conservative and "centrist" backers have little enthusiasm for Sen. Lincoln Chaffee, R-R.I., a moderate Republican similarly caught in a tight primary campaign against a member of the party's right-wing base.
And if Lamont's backers, notably the storied "netroots," are such knee-jerk liberals, how to explain their support for moderate senate candidates such as Jim Webb in Virginia, Bob Casey in Pennsylvania and Harold Ford in Tennessee? In fact, it has been noted that the Democratic caucus will have a much more moderate flavor if the Lamont supporters are victorious in other races across the nation.
This leads to the second lesson to be gleaned from the Connecticut decision. Not only are the forces on the right caught in a free fall of public rejection, but the progressive tide is finally on the cusp of capitalizing on a winning strategy. This year marks the third consecutive election the Democrats are predicted to win legislative control. Corporate scandals, a sluggish economy and historical midterm patterns failed to unseat Republicans in 2002 the same way a souring war failed in 2004.
Finally the behemoth that is public unrest has been stirred from its complacent slumber. Not again will our eyes be blinded, our ears plugged, our voices made mute by the cynical ploys of fear and prejudice. Ironically, Joe Lieberman may have a bigger influence on the 2008 presidential election than those of 2000 and 2004 that he was involved in directly. His primary defeat will serve as a warning shot for any future hopefuls that, in language Lieberman will surely recognize, in these critical years and in matters of war, incumbents undermine grassroots passion at their own peril.
Jacob Shelly is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs
and a liberal columnist for The Eagle.
