AN 'INDEPENDENT' JOE
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Dems Rally Around Lieberman Opponent
Aug 09 12:52 PM US/Eastern
By STEPHANIE REITZ
Associated Press Writer
HARTFORD, Conn.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, undaunted by his loss to an anti-war challenger in the Democratic primary, filed petitions Wednesday to get on the November ballot as an independent, while national Democrats threw their support to the man who beat him.
In a written statement issued in Washington, two top Senate Democrats said they "fully support" the Democratic nominee, Ned Lamont.
"The perception was that (Lieberman) was too close to George Bush and this was, in many respects, a referendum on the president more than anything else," said Sens. Harry Reid of Nevada and Chuck Schumer of New York, the party's leader and the head of its campaign committee.
Connecticut Democrats gathered for a rally in Hartford to complete the unity portrait. Sen. Chris Dodd, who had been campaigning for Lieberman, said he regretted his close friend's decision and would now campaign for Lamont.
The final returns from Tuesday's primary showed Lamont defeating Lieberman 52 percent to 48 percent. But Lieberman declared, "I'm definitely going forward."
"For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand," Lieberman said.
Early Wednesday, his campaign delivered two boxes of petitions to the secretary of state's office, and aides said they contained more than enough signatures to qualify the three-term senator for the November ballot.
The move sets up a three-way race this fall among Lamont, Lieberman and Republican Alan Schlesinger, who has trailed far behind both Democrats in recent polls.
"This race is going to be all about who can get more done and who can be a better representative for Connecticut," Lieberman said.
Reid, Schumer and Dodd all stopped short of calling for Lieberman to reconsider, as did two potential presidential candidates for 2008, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Not so, Lamont.
"I hope that over the course of the coming days, Joe's friends, neighbors and constituents will prevail upon him to reconsider and unite with Democrats across Connecticut who voted for change tonight," his campaign said in an e-mail sent out late Tuesday night.
Asked Wednesday if there was anyone who could call and get him to change his mind, Lieberman replied:
"Respectfully no. I'm committed to this campaign," he said in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.
Republican Party chairman Ken Mehlman seized on the results in the Connecticut primary to assail the Democrats on national security and called Lieberman's defeat a "shame."
"Joe Lieberman believed in a strong national defense, and for that, he was purged from his party. It is a sobering moment," Mehlman said.
Though having both Lieberman and Lamont on the ballot could split the Democratic vote, Schlesinger is not considered a major threat. His campaign stumbled in July after revelations that he used a fake name to gamble at a Connecticut casino and had been sued over gambling debts at two New Jersey casinos. Republican Gov. M Jodi Rell urged him to drop out of the Senate race, but Schlesinger called the gambling a "non-issue."
Lieberman's loss made him only the fourth incumbent senator to lose a primary since 1980, and came just six years after he was the Democrats' choice for vice president.
Two other congressional incumbents also lost their re-election bids Tuesday.
In Georgia, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the fiery congresswoman known for her conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11 attacks and a scuffle this year with a U.S. Capitol police officer, lost a runoff for the Democratic nomination.
In Michigan, moderate Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz lost to a conservative in a GOP primary.
Elsewhere, voters in Colorado and Missouri also chose candidates for the fall elections.
But Connecticut's results posed questions that went far beyond state lines.
Critics targeted Lieberman for his strong support for the Iraq war and for his close ties to President Bush. They played and replayed video of the kiss President Bush planted on Lieberman's cheek after the 2005 State of the Union address.
Vote totals showed roughly 16,000 more ballots cast for the Democratic Senate primary than the party primary for governor.
Lieberman has had poll results on his side when it comes to a general election. A mid-July Quinnipiac University poll found that while Lieberman trailed Lamont among Democrats, he came out well ahead of both Lamont and Schlesinger among registered Connecticut voters of all affiliations.
The race has been watched closely by the liberal, Internet-savvy Democrats who lead the party's emerging "netroots" movement, groups such as Moveon.org that played a big role in pushing Lamont's candidacy.
In the run-up to the primary, 14,000 new Connecticut voters registered as Democrats, while another 14,000 state voters switched their registration from unaffiliated to Democrat to vote in the primary. The Lieberman petitions signatures must be validated over the next two weeks for his name to appear on the ballot.
New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg last week suggested that Lieberman drop plans to run as an independent if he loses by a wide margin.
"I think he really has to take a look at what reality is," Lautenberg said.
In Georgia, McKinney, her state's first black congresswoman, was forced into a runoff last month and lost on Tuesday to Hank Johnson, the black former commissioner of DeKalb County, 59 percent to 41 percent.
In the heavily Democratic district, the runoff winner is likely to win in the fall.
McKinney has long been controversial, once suggesting the Bush administration had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. In March, she struck a Capitol Police officer who did not recognize her and tried to stop her from entering a House office building.
In Michigan, Schwarz, a moderate who supports abortion rights, lost to conservative Tim Walberg, a former state lawmaker. The race drew more than $1 million from outside groups; Schwarz had received support from President Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain.
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Associated Press Writer Liz Sidoti in Washington, Beth Fouhy in New York and Connie Mabin in Cleveland contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 The Associated |
