Crucible

Watching events unfold in Connecticut these days is quite fascinating. In a move that frankly surprises me, several serving Senators have announced that they will be going to campaign for Joe Lieberman. Senators Joe Biden (Delaware), Barbara Boxer (California) and Ken Salazar (Colorado) are risking the instant screaming, wailing and gnashing of teeth from the far left and will actively support Lieberman. After the much-publicized curb kick by Hillary Clinton, this is actually pretty courageous on their part. There are climbing right into the crucible with Joe.

"It will be a reminder to voters of the work he's done on progressive issues," Lieberman spokeswoman Marion Steinfels said Wednesday. "Some of his colleagues wanted to come here and campaign for him on issues that matter to him and them."

The rush of support from his Senate colleagues comes two days after Lieberman, the party's 2000 vice presidential nominee, surprised Democrats by announcing that he would start collecting signatures for an independent campaign if he loses the primary.

Lieberman's staunch support for the Iraq war has helped fuel a challenge from Ned Lamont, a wealthy Greenwich, Conn., businessman and political newcomer.

Lamont backers scoffed at the notion that senators campaigning in Connecticut for Lieberman would have an impact.

"I'm not sure, in a year where people are fed up with Washington, having a bunch of Washington politicians travel the state for Joe Lieberman will help at all," said Lamont campaign manager Tom Swan. "It would only reinforce the idea that Joe is more about Washington than Connecticut."

The amount of scorn heaped by the Lamont campaign shows how badly this actually shakes them, I think. There are already howls of outrage coming from the usual suspects. It is also a sure sign of how worried the Democratic party is at the prospect of being driven to the left and into political irrelevancy. Because despite what the netroots think, a far left position is simply not tenable for a national party.