I won’t say I’m sad he hasn’t dominated every headline of some of the biggest blogs on the ‘net, but it really does appear Ned Lamont has failed to distinguish himself since the Democratic primary.
Maybe it’s the fault of poor media coverage; I suppose the zesty thrill of an early season upset was more appealing to the newshounds before the Democrats looked ready to take the House of Representatives and Tom Foley was exposed as a predator.
Could it be the fault of the bloggers? It certainly hasn’t been the firestorm it once was. Given that it will be harder for Lamont to win the general election than it was the primary, I admit I am surprised by the downturn in attention.
Perhaps it’s actually Lamont’s fault. He needed to do or say something daring to bring back the focus that would inevitably fade, but he seems to be going through the standard motions, almost like he’s the incumbent. Surely he and/or his people had to realize that they were going to need to find creative new solutions to reclaim the spotlight that would fade after the inevitable post-primary lull. Why didn’t they take any risks?
Lamont looks like anything but the favorite next month, which means Holy Joe should keep his Senate seat, only this time without the Democrat label next to his name. Like many of you, I am glad he won’t be able to act like he speaks for our party. I never want to see a Democrat willingly receive the spittle of this president again. But I will mourn the structural loss of a Senate seat, especially if we come up just short of taking both houses, which would’ve really shaken things up in DC.
It’ll be a bittersweet situation, unless Lamont can somehow pull off a shocker (no, not that kind of shocker). We can be relieved and a little disappointed all at once. Fortunately, even if Reid buckles and hands Joey most of his seniority perks back, this race should have a powerful effect on those who are considering breaking from the party while still dressing in its “D.”
If he loses, Lamont will have to look in the mirror and wonder if he pulled out all the stops he could’ve to regain his momentum. Fortunately for him, it’ll be a mirror in a great big mansion built on top of a pile of money. So he’s got that going for him.
It seems foolish now, but at the time of the primary some of us were actually concerned that a three-way general might even result in throwing the seat to the Republicans if everything split right. You know, the Republican with the actual R next to his name, the guy whose name starts with an S that no one remembers these days. And that might be the biggest story in these pre-election Lamont post-mortems that are going around — hardly anyone expected that no-name R to be under 5%. I mean, a major party candidate under 5%? Huh? There just isn’t any realistic scenerio for a Lamont win if that number holds — you know that some Democrats were always going to stay with Lieberman, and that he would pick up quite a few Independents, too, and that combined with most of the state’s Republicans is not beatable.
(I’ve read that Connecticut doesn’t have a one punch straight party ticket option, which might have given that no-name Republican guy a few more percent just by default.)
Republicans like to support a winning candidate too… why didn’t people see republicans supporting Leiberman? Why vote for someone who you know is going to lose, in effect making someone you don’t support at all (the democrat, or Lamont) win… or vote for Leiberman who is/was Democrat in name only.
I don’t think Lamont is to blame… it is Leiberman leaving the party that has supported him for all these years.