A Judo Flip on the Republicans

I'm totally fascinated by the Connecticut Senate race. As with others, I see it not only as a foreshadowing of things to come, I see it as a chess game with money, influence, information and turnout as the pieces.

Here's the board so far. Ned Lamont won the Democratic Primary and wonderfully, the Party is falling in behind him, with the leaders coming out strong within 24 hours of his win. The strength of the support has a few intentions. First and foremost, it was to tell Ned and his supporters, "stop fighting us; we are with you." This wasn't a concession to the extreme left as some might think. (Hmm strawman argument there, should find sources.) Rather, this was a respectful nod to the better player and a joining of forces. So, thanks Lieberman, you united one front - the one you claimed to be a part of - the moderates.

The second intent of the strong support was a signal to Lieberman and his supporters - stop the independent run or we will have to do something drastic like take away your committees since you are no longer part of the party. Lieberman seems to be sticking his fingers in his ears and singing "lalalalalala" loudly.

The third intent is to nudge possible straying senators and congressmen back into the fold. Or weed them out, whichever metaphor you prefer. Either accomplishes the same thing. The Democratic Party is waking up to the remembrance that it is a party that sees public servanthood as an honor -

And so, my fellow americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

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As for Lieberman being an independent, who could he be courting as voters? First off, he'd be courting Democrats who'd be willing to betray their party, ones whom only he, with his years of seniority could help. Second, he'd be courting low information voters who'd only vote on name recognition. Third, he'd be courting independents who stand with Bush's policies but somehow understood why he had to vote those many other times with the Democrats. Fourth would be independents who stand most of the time with Democrats, but somehow understood why he had to go along with Bush when the votes really mattered. Fifth, he'd be going after Republicans which might not be as easy as Lieberman seems to think it is.

Even among a growing number of Republicans, Bush's policies are failed ones. As for endorsements, I seriously doubt that they are actually going endorse Lieberman. Rather, they're going to point at Schlesinger their candidate and roll their eyes as if to say, "Are you really going to vote for this schmuck or are you going to be a good Republican and force the Democrats to accept Lieberman as their senator?" Problem for this is, with the many disillusioned Republicans, can they themselves live with being good soldiers one more time or will they actually look at themselves and think, okay who's the schmuck here?

My prediction for November. Republicans in Connecticut stay out of the voting booth in droves out of disgust.