David Fickling and agencies
Wednesday August 09 2006
The Guardian
Joe Lieberman, the former US vice-presidential candidate and Democrat senator, was knocked out of the race to stand as his party's candidate for re-election to the Senate last night in a coup for America's anti-war left.
Mr Lieberman, who was Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential campaign, gained 48% of the vote in the Connecticut primary election against 52% for millionaire Ned Lamont, an anti-war challenger who had received strong support from left-wing bloggers and the Democrat grassroots.But last night he refused to withdraw his candidacy, fulfilling threats to stand as an independent if he was knocked out.
"Of course I am disappointed by the results, but I am not discouraged," he told supporters. "For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand."
"As I see it, in this campaign, we've just finished the first half and the Lamont team is ahead. But in the second half, our team, Team Connecticut, is going to surge forward to victory in November."
Mr Lieberman has been a strong supporter of the Iraq war and is perceived as being close to the president, George Bush, which makes him unpopular with grassroots Democrat supporters.Despite his 18 years of Senate experience, he lost to a relatively untested politician whose campaign grew from nowhere earlier this year on the back of strong internet support.
The Connecticut fight has been seen as a litmus test for the mood and strength of anti-war activists within the Democrat party. Turnout at the election was 50%, double the usual figure.During the run-up to the 2004 presidential primaries, Vermont governor Howard Dean became a runaway success as his strong anti-war stance motivated legions of Democrat activists via the internet. He later fell by the wayside as Democrat voters switched to the more centrist figure of John Kerry.
Some party strategists believe a Democrat can only win the presidency by demonstrating their pro-war credentials to America's political centre. Mr Lieberman's stance reflects that of Hillary Clinton, who is widely expected to run for the 2008 presidency, although last night she came out in support of Mr Lamont's nomination.
Jubilant Lamont supporters predicted victory in November. "People are going to look back and say the Bush years started to end in Connecticut," said Avi Green, a volunteer from Boston. "The Republicans are going to look at tonight and realise there's blood in the water."
Film-maker Michael Moore, a leading figure in the anti-war movement, sent out a message to supporters soon after the vote warning that the result would "send a cold shiver down the spine of every Democrat who supported the invasion of Iraq".The two sides in the contest have traded bitter words, with the Lieberman camp accusing Mr Lamont's supporters of making personal attacks on him and even suggesting that they were responsible for the failure of his campaign website this week.
Mr Lieberman's insistence on standing as an independent makes life difficult for Democrat strategists. They are keen to present a united front ahead of Congressional elections in November where they expect to pick up seats from Republicans suffering from Mr Bush's low approval ratings.
The New York Times, which backed Mr Lamont, reported that Democrat leaders in Congress were planning to publicly support him - a move that would make it harder for Mr Lieberman to go on with his challenge.However, they were hoping he would drop his independent candidacy first to avoid a conflict within the party, the paper reported.
Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited
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