Small-d Fever

by digby

Harold Meyerson writes:

Many of my fellow pundits read all kinds of sinister meanings into Lieberman’s pending defeat, including a purge of moderates from Democratic ranks. But, as Michael Tomasky demonstrated a couple of days ago, the moderate forces within the Democrats’ Senate delegation are still very much alive and well. Next Tuesday, in fact, Connecticut Democrats will be doing exactly what small-d democratic theorists would have them do: decide an election by opting for one clear policy alternative, as personified by one candidate, over another personified by the incumbent.

From a big-D Democratic perspective, Connecticut’s Democrats are doing what Democrats are hoping a clear majority of voters everywhere will do this November: reject incumbents who have supported the failed policies of this administration, the war most particularly. Far from being some kind of martyr to the fickleness of Democratic voters, Joe Lieberman has actually turned himself into one of the first victims of the popular groundswell against Bush and his war.

The question is, why would any influential Democrat choose to support Lieberman’s independent bid to maintain his seat, which the senator has said he’ll wage if loses the primary? By late Tuesday night, Lieberman will not only be the party’s foremost outlier on the question of the war. He will also likely be the rejected incumbent of an overwhelming majority of his state’s Democrats. For any prominent Democrat to continue to support Lieberman under those conditions is to tell the party rank-and-file that its votes don’t matter when they dethrone the longtime friends or associates of Democratic higher-ups.

That’s right. And conversely, if Lamont wins and the Party does the right thing and supports him, it will galvanize the base going into the fall. This is a catalyzing event in an election that could be a tsunami or just a little lapping wave over the feet of the body politic. I would hope the party pooh-bahs recognize this for the opportunity it is.

Update: The scuttlebut is that all this talk of Lieberman abandoning his ground game is bs. The Lamont people still need people on the ground for the canvas so if you are in the area and can make it, head up there this week-end.

For those outside the region, Move-on is sponsoring a phone bank. You can use those free week-end minutes for a good cause.

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