There's a new article on the CT primary, link here, it's worth a read:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
While it repeats the usual MSM bullshit talking points, 'angry bloggers', 'Joe haters', battle for the soul of the party, it also points out that these items are far from the whole story and there's some very interesting stuff here that may be unknown to those not exposed to the CT media market.
I knew Lamont had hired a non-traditional media firm to craft his ads, but these examples from the Wapo story are far more effective than I had imagined.
Quote:
"His ads are funny, too. One on TV parodies the attacks Lieberman has mounted against him: "Meet Ned Lamont," a narrator sneers, over grainy footage of Lamont at breakfast with his family. "He can't make a decent cup of coffee." Cut to Lamont singing "Everybody Wang Chung tonight." "He can't sing karaoke," snickers the narrator. One radio spot described Lieberman as a medication with lots of negative side effects: "Joe Lieberman is safe for lobbyists, big oil, and friendly dinner conversations with Republicans. He may be combined with Fox News."
Once you can get the public laughing at a pol, that's often a sign of the end times. WE know why Lieberman needs to go, the CT Dems most likely to vote in a primary know also, stuff like this makes it easier for the apathetic voter to dismiss inertia and vote for the new guy.
The article mentions, more than once, that the Iraq War is the single most powerful issue driving this challenge, but unlike other MSM reports I've read, the author takes pains to deflate that.
Quote:
"This has been mischaracterized as a one-issue campaign," says George Jepsen, who was majority leader in the Connecticut state senate for six years. Jepsen lays out the case against Lieberman: He embraced the whole "culture of life" concept during the Terry Schiavo controversy, he didn't fight hard enough against the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, he favors school vouchers.
More than anything, Jepsen says, he's just too cozy with Republicans, particularly the president, who infamously gave Lieberman a comradely buss on the cheek at the State of the Union speech last year. A DVD distributed by the Lamont campaign is a highlight reel of news reports about the White House calling Lieberman its favorite Democrat.
"I like Joe, I respect him, I know these are issues of conscience. But his values are totally out of step with those of mainstream Democrats," Jepsen says. "No one is asking him to vote the party line all the time. But why should Democrats vote for someone who on a whole range of issues doesn't share their values? Why have a party if we're expected to fall into line behind someone who falls into line behind someone from South Carolina or Georgia?"
I'll conclude with the quote that makes me more sure than ever that Lieberman is in a bubble, removed from reality and headed for a trouncing.
Quote:
"Sen. Joe Biden showed up a few minutes later. The Delaware Democrat had been scheduled to appear at a Connecticut event a few weeks back but didn't make it -- he said he missed a train -- leading to speculation that Lieberman had gone so toxic that his colleagues wouldn't stump for him. Then last week, Bill Clinton turned up at a Lieberman rally, telling the audience, "He is a good Democrat, he is a good man and he'll do you proud."
"That visit was a turning point," Lieberman said in a quick interview on Sunday. He'd made his way to an outdoor bar, where he was handed a Guinness. "We're going to be all right. I can feel it here. Regular, working, middle-class Democrats, they appreciate my service. They're not going to vote on one issue."
Has the vitriol of the campaign surprised him?
"There's too much hatred, mostly on the other side, toward me," he said. "You can disagree, obviously, but I think hatred is not healthy for our political system or the country."
Lieberman knows he's at war but he is masterly at projecting an aura of inevitability, the unruffled ease that says of course I'm going to win. And one way or another, he very well might."
Two points here. Lieberman's whiny sense of entitlement.
"There's too much hatred, mostly on the other side, toward me,"
Secondly, how does this,.. "Lieberman knows he's at war but he is masterly at projecting an aura of inevitability, the unruffled ease that says of course I'm going to win." ...get reconciled with his threat to play spoiler and run as an Indie? How does one project inevitability while stocking the life raft with provisions and preparing to bail on the sacred Party?
There is still a tendency to recite the script in the MSM, but rays of reality are starting to shine through. Look for more of this.