The National Democratic Party has to be worried about the outcome of the far left's efforts to defeat Senator Joseph Lieberman. If they succeed the Party faces the question "How do you keep them down on the farm after they've tasted success?"

We have already seen party leaders ready and willing to throw Lieberman from the train, most notably Hillary Clinton who has pledged to support whoever wins the primary. She says this in the name of party loyalty but I think it is safe to evaluate her words and actions through the prism of how they serve her political ambitions. In this case her stealth endorsement of Lamont serves her well. First if Lamont loses he loses without her endorsement and she can support Lieberman in the general election. If Lamont wins it takes Lieberman out of the picture and she doesn't have to pretend to move so far to be on the right side of the Democratic Party.

But flush with their first electoral victory what effect will the "Netroots" have on the Democratic Presidential Primaries? How far to the left will candidates have to go to curry favor with the Kos/MoveOn crowd? And once they have gotten there and secured the nomination, how will such a candidate fare in the general election?

Locally, if Ned Lamont breaks the Daily Kos 0 for 20-something electoral losing streak, what does that win mean in the state of Connecticut?

If Lamont wins and forces Lieberman to run as an independent - something he has already filed papers to do - will the Democratic vote be split enough that GOP challenger Alan Schlesinger actually has a snowball's chance at taking the seat?

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 04:08 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment