Disclosure: I worked for the Lamont campaign doing web design and production and some writing for the official blog (from 9/5/06 to 11/07/06).
Monday, September 11, 2006
Monday Morning Round-Up
"America's Next Top Lamont" Edition:
- While Sen. Lieberman was one of only a few senators to miss close and important Senate votes holding the Bush administration accountable on Iraq last week (he dismissed it as "procedural"), other candidates around the country are stepping up and demanding accountability from incumbents in primaries around the country, many taking place tomorrow:
- The AP rounds up how Ned Lamont has inspired primary challengers nationwide, including Jennifer Lawless (D) in Rhode Island and others:
Meanwhile, Democratic House challengers waging primary fights in Wisconsin and Massachusetts, like Lawless, have compared themselves with Lamont and made the war a core issue:
- Wisconsin anti-war Democrat Chip DeNure is making his fight against five-term Rep. Ron Kind a referendum on the war.
- In Massachusetts, anti-war Democrat Phil Dunkelbarger is invoking the Lieberman-Lamont fight against Rep. Stephen Lynch, who insists he is a loyal Democrat whose voting record is strongly anti-Bush. - Ben Smith of the NY Daily News writes about how Iraq is playing in Brooklyn's contentious Democratic primary for U.S. Representative, and how Lamont's record-turnout victory in August might specifically affect turnout there tomorrow.
- The Joe Lieberman Weekly asks if Rep. Al Wynn (D-MD) might be Maryland's "own Joe Lieberman" (surprisingly, they conclude he won't). Donna Edwards (D) is running against him in a primary this Tuesday, and accountability on Iraq is a major issue in her campaign.
- The AP also runs a piece profiling the general anti-incumbent swell across the country:
Nevertheless, four incumbents - including a governor and a senator - have lost primaries so far this year, providing some evidence that voters want fresh blood in positions of power. Neither political party may be immune.
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, a Republican, was the most recent casualty of what may end up being an anti-incumbent wave of the 2006 elections. He finished last in a three-way GOP primary in August, getting just 19 percent of the vote.
A fifth upset could occur Tuesday.
Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican in Rhode Island, is facing a fierce primary against Stephen Laffey, the mayor of Cranston. Polls show a tight race. - And Susan Page of USA Today compares RI-SEN to CT-SEN:
A New England senator often at odds with his party faces a down-to-the-wire showdown in his state's primary.
Last month, that description applied to Democrat Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who ended up losing to anti-war challenger Ned Lamont and is now running as an independent. On Tuesday, it depicts Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the Senate's most liberal Republican. He is imperiled by a challenge from anti-tax conservative Steve Laffey.
"It's a mirror image of what went on next door in Connecticut," says Bob Benenson, editor of the non-partisan CQpolitics.com.
What might be most interesting here is the success that Laffey has had tying Chafee to Bush. (And if you thought the DSCC's performance during primaries has been questionable, the NRSC has run vicious ads against Laffey and said they will all but concede the race to Whitehouse if Sen. Chafee is defeated.)
posted by tparty at 8:24 AM 
