Democratic Unity Report

I've noted in the past the growing problem of division between the hard Democratic Left - usually the Netroots - and the institutional Washington Democrats. Each day brings more indications of trouble in paradise.

Today there's criticism of Lieberman's attacks on Lamont in Connecticut, unhappiness with Dick Durbin's commitment to back Lieberman if he seeks re-election, and praise for Russ Feingold's commitment to support the Democratic nominee in Connecticut - whether it's Lamont or Lieberman. Dick Morris predicts that Lieberman will lose the primary, and so should announce a run as an Independent before the primary. Also, Ned Lamont has debuted a new ad featuring Joe Lieberman's voice matched to George Bush's face.

In one development that has not been reported much, Joe Lieberman has figured out that while Lamont is using his record against him, he can use it to his benefit as well. To that end, he's running an ad about his work to save the Groton submarine base. This is a good move; he can't be more 'cut-and-run' on Iraq than Lamont, so he's trying to change the topic, and remind voters that the election is about more than just Iraq.

And of course, that's just Connecticut. If you go to the West Coast, there's increasing concern that Maria Cantwell will have a hard time winning re-election, and some on the Left are talking about backing a Green Party candidate (vulgarity warning on that link):

You Weren’t Elected For Your Bipartisan Preening
Published by jedmunds June 24th, 2006 in Election, Democrats Sure Are Useless

There are one and a half Democrats I really wouldn’t mind seeing lose their Senate races this November. Bob Casey Jr is the half-Democrat who I wish could figure out a way to lose yet still beat Santorum. The other one is Maria Cantwell in Washington. And I’m pleased to say, her numbers are looking positively Liebermanesque.

Dwindling voter support for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell’s re-election bid has put her in a statistical toss-up with her Republican opponent, according to a new poll announced Wednesday.

Rasmussen Reports, an independent national polling firm, said a survey of 500 likely Washington voters June 13 showed the Democratic incumbent leading challenger Mike McGavick 44 percent to 40 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. […]

Hovering 6 percentage points below 50 percent in a head-to-head matchup is a big danger sign for an incumbent. In a news release, Rasmussen attributed Cantwell’s eroding support largely to her past backing of the Iraq war and her vote against an attempt to block the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Both positions have angered voters on Cantwell’s left. She now has two anti-war opponents in the Democratic primary as well as an anti-war Green Party opponent. The Rasmussen announcement didn’t say whether the unaccounted-for 12 percent of those polled were undecided voters, backers of Cantwell’s non-Republican opponents or a combination of the two.

I’m really ******* curious what the **** she was thinking when she voted for cloture on Alito, coming from the state that she does, in an election year. Arrogance? Delusions of statesmenship? Stupidity? Probably all three. But for me, here’s hoping she joins the dustbin of former statesmen who forgot Tip O’Neill’s old maxim: “All Politics is Local.” That all goes for Lieberman too.

But anything I can do to help her Green Party competition, Aaron Dixon, I’ll gladly do. And you should too. Unlike the angry centrists you’ll read about on other blogs, Dixon is a real progressive. And for a progressive state like Washington, Maria Cantwell has proven to be unacceptable.

File this under 'news that gives Republicans cheer.'

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