A horse race - where the prime horse deserves to win

Joe Lieberman, the Senator from Connecticut who looks like he will lose on Tuesday made an impassioned effort to save his fourth term.

The Senator is running against a Morgan inheritor named Ned Lamont, whose only visible qualifications seem to be that he is a) very rich and b) against Bush.   LIeberman brought in Max Cleland who was dumped by Georgians at the end of his first term and Christopher Dodd - the other US Senator from the state to drill some sense into the voters.  

Lieberman is an interesting political figure.  He is principled and smart.  That may make him a good target.  Lamont has tapped into an almost unreasoning opposition that some democrats have to Bush.  Lieberman supported the war in Iraq - indeed with reservations - but with the recognition that we are in the early stages of a much broader conflict.  He has had reservations about the way that the Bush administration has carried out the war but he has recognized that we either fight this war now or later.

A spokesman for Lieberman's opponent said "The senator has finally chosen to talk about issues, but we can't help but notice that, like [White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Karl Rove, he has chosen to appeal to people's fears,"  - what a crock.  In a rational world Lamont would be forced back to clipping coupons - but in this one, he actually has a shot at knocking the guy out.

Joe Lieberman's  philosophy is not close to my own - but his attention to principle is a rare voice in a Senate that increasingly falls into partisan bickering.  Were he in a less PC state he would be far ahead - he pointed out in one speech today that others who supported the President on Iraq are not facing the same kind of blind rage.  (Hillary seems way ahead in New York).  But lets hope that the voters think before they vote on Tuesday.  They and Senator Lieberman deserve at least that.