(Front-paged at MyDD.)

First the right-wing blogosphere, then the Wall St. Journal editorial board, and now the uber-D.C. insider Stuart Rothenberg are all hysterical about the fact that Connecticut Democrats just don't seem to like their best friend Joe Lieberman that much anymore:

It doesn't seem to matter to those angry Democrats, or to Lamont, that Lieberman is widely respected for his thoughtfulness, integrity, civility and intellect. Or his overall voting record....

It isn't just that Lieberman is a centrist, however, that makes the primary challenge to him unseemly. Not all centrists deserve to be re-elected any more than all liberals or all conservatives do. Rather, it's the Connecticut Democrat's stature and character that, in another day, would make a primary challenge to him by a former Greenwich selectman laughable....

Krugman already ably debunked the "Joe as centrist" myth earlier today.

But when 33.4% of party insiders in a roll call vote are willing to put their names forward against a sitting senator, it's pretty tough to claim he is "widely respected" anymore.

Obviously, Rothenberg wasn't talking about the feeling among Joe Lieberman's constituents, or even among his party. He was talking about the prevalent feeling in the GOP-dominated D.C. punditocracy.

You know, Lieberman's real "base."

That all being said, Rothenberg's contempt for the democratic process throughout the entire article is absolutely disgusting. Not even the most popular incumbent should be immune from a primary challenge. We need more challenges, not fewer. No, Rothenberg isn't spilling pixels on this because someone had the gall to run against an incumbent senator. Rather, he's furious that someone like Ned Lamont is having so much success... and like his insider buddies, he sees what might be coming in August and he's scared to death of it.

If the argument for re-electing Joe turns into "vote for him because D.C. insiders and Republicans think he's swell," then winning in August will be much easier than I thought.