The Fringe As The Heart
Time magazine takes a look at the outcome of the primary in Connecticut. While noting that the netroots now have their very first scalp, reporter Perry Bacon also notes that that may not work out so well in the long run.
But while it may empower the bloggers, Republicans are predicting Lieberman's defeat will actually help them keep control of Congress this November — and many Democrats have the same worry. Lamont's victory will no doubt give Republicans ammunition to caricature the Democratic Party as too liberal.
Mary Matalin, an outside adviser to the White House, signaled the message when she said on Fox News Channel shortly after the polls closed: "MoveOn is not fringe. They're the heart of the party." One House Democratic official said party members had been "urgently trying to send the message to Connecticut voters that a Lieberman loss jeopardizes our ability to take back the House." Some Democratic officials said they can already imagine the ads in November races saying that Lieberman, once within a few hundred votes of being Vice President of the United States, is now "not liberal enough" for the Democratic Party.
On the other hand, Lamont's campaign strategy wasn't particularly different from the one Democrats are using all over the country against Republicans in every other race: he attacked Lieberman for his embrace of Bush’s Iraq policy and more generally of being too supportive of Bush. Lamont's victory also suggests there’s an anti-incumbent mood in Connecticut, which could spell trouble for the three House Republicans there.
Overlooking the fact that an anti-incumbent mood may also effect the majority of Democratic representatives as well is a bit disingenuous (*ahem*, McKinney), but let that pass. The fact is that if the party is pulled over to the hard left, they really do become unelectable. The fact that the demographics of Lamont's actually quite narrow victory also heavily shows the effect of very well off suburban voters over the traditional power base of the Democratic party may well spell a looming disaster for the national hopes of the party. The DLC types know that already. The netroots do not understand that.
It's going to be an interesting three months.
By Bill Franklin, Wednesday, 9 August , 2006 @ 8:33 pm
Was it an “anti-incumbent mood” that swept Repbulicans into control in 1994? Or a sense that the then ruling party (Dems) were having a porkfest and weren’t listening to what the American people wanted?
> It’s going to be an interesting three months.
Indeed. You and the Republicans can spin the Lieberman defeat any way you please, but if you were honest you’d admit it wasn’t what the Republicans wanted. Now they’re worried. Because now it’s undeniable that Iraq is a yoke around the neck of pro-war congressmen. Couple Iraq with Republicans acting very un-conservatively (spending like crazy, growing government, etc), and come November you’ll see a heavy turnout of fired up anti-Republican/Democratic voters, and a disenfranchised conservative base unmotivated to keep the current lot in office. If Republicans lose control, they’ll have nobody to blame but themselves.
But keep spinning that the Liberman loss “very well might help the Republicans.” Puh-leeze.
By Gaius, Wednesday, 9 August , 2006 @ 8:48 pm
Only one problem, Billy. I’m not a Republican.
By Bill Franklin, Thursday, 10 August , 2006 @ 2:12 am
O’Reily loves to say he’s not a Republican either, but you always hear him venting against “left-wing” atrocities, and rarely hear him utter a criticism against anything “right-wing.”
I see Blue Crab Boulevard has over 170 disparaging posts catagorized as “left-wing”; How many do you have catagorized as “right-wing”?
To paraphrase Gump: Republican is as Republican does.
By Bill Franklin, Thursday, 10 August , 2006 @ 2:19 am
Oh, and the Rightroots link exchange prominently displayed at the top of your site is a nice independent touch. *cough* From the site:
“Rightroots is a broad coalition of conservatives joining together in support of a solid slate of Republican candidates for the US House and Senate.”
See the Gump quote from the previous post.
Billy
By Santay, Thursday, 10 August , 2006 @ 4:39 am
Lamont came out of nowhere, a creation of the nutroots. Of course he now claims to know nothing about blogs. He’s got thee months in the spotlight with people probing into every facet of his life. Like you said, an interesting three months.