Where Do We Go From Here?

The people of Connecticut have spoken. The country is listening. Is the United States Senate?

Joe Lieberman lost the Democratic primary last night to challenger Ned Lamont (Oooh, hunky! See yesterday's post.) What happens now?

We've got 100 days until the general election, kids. Today, start by writing to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Democratic leader of Congress. His website is here and there is even a handy-dandy web form.

The issue today is this: Joe Lieberman has lost the Democratic nomination. So now, he's going to run for Senate as an Independent (Booo. Hisss. More on this in a minute.) So, if he's now an Independent and forsaking the Democratic party, which by the way is fine with me--we've been trying to trade him to the Republicans for years (even for a Player to be Named Later), shouldn't he then be required to give up his Democratic committee leadership roles and chair assignments?

Look, if I am a Democrat and I decide to become unaffiliated--because there are only two actual parties in this country; two that hold primaries, ergo only two that matter at the end of the day--well then, I give up my right to vote in any future Democratic primaries so long as I wear the title Independent. Shouldn't this sort of thing happen in Congress, too? If you walk away from your party, you shouldn't expect the privileges that go with being with one of the two major established parties.

The other thing that Reid--and your own Senators--needs to hear loud and clear is that the party establishment needs to both get behind Lamont with their full support, and also convince Lieberman not to run. By running, he could very likely split the Democratic vote (though I suspect a lot of his supporters are what used to be called "Reagan Democrats"--Republicans who blow with the wind but tend to be more conservative than not but somehow think they're still Dems....) Perhaps Lieberman in the race will do more harm to the Republicans? That's not a risk any of us should be willing to take.

What we Democrats need to focus on nationwide right now is returning the Senate (and the House if possible) to Democratic control. A victory for CT Republican Alan Schlesinger is not what we need. And this does matter to all of us if we are going to get out of Iraq and salvage this nation. There are a lot of big-picture issues at stake here.

We hear you, Connecticut.