Holy Joe thread

11 PM: It's all over for Dear Leader's smooching buddy; he conceded and he will run as an independent. Ass. Sore Loserman; he ran as a Dem, he lost. Now he needs to step aside.

The New York Times:

Latest Results 11:08 PM ET
Joseph I. Lieberman 133,323 48.2%
Ned Lamont 143,363 51.8%

98% of Precincts Reporting


Two questions:

1) How will the media spin the Lamont win/Lieberman loss? Is it only about the war, or the big picture - no more business as usual?
2) What will the real story be?

Raw Story called the election for Lamont around 10:45..

The Hotline on Joe's defeat:

Sen. Joe Lieberman's narrow defeat for renomination has started a vigorous round of second guessing among sympathetic state Democrats. The campaign's decision late last week to scale back its GOTV effort is seen as a crucial error in the surprisingly close-run contest. Lieberman's ground game today was not as extensive as challenger Lamont's. Proof of that came in the returns from the state's largest city, Bridgeport. The Democratic organization there had become frustrated with Lieberman's campaign and failed to make its usual exertions for Lieberman, instead concentrating on Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Dan Malloy. Lieberman lost Bridgeport by 4%. He had been expected to win convincingly.

Hotline is also hearing whispers from GOPers who are ready to support a Holy Joe indy run (that's really going to help with his image, huh?).

A senior Republican official in Washington confirms that the party might encourage Republicans and others to support Sen. Lieberman if he runs as an independent...Says the GOP official: "I just think there will be folks who want to support – regardless of what we think. And, we don’t think that’s a bad thing."

And how about this, also from Hotline:

We're hearing that some members of the Lieberman braintrust have been quietly canvassing Washington in search of a new campaign team (staff and consultants); Dem campaign history is a must as the Lieberman team doesn't want any GOP consultants helping due to his need to keep the Dems he has already. While it's possible Lieberman can be talked out of the indie run, the person closest to Lieberman who shares his last name (hint hint) is pushing her husband hard to keep running.

***

11:40 PM: What Kos said:

Now, Lieberman wants to stab his allies and his party in the back. It won't be the first time.

Here's what we all need to do the next few days:

1. Push Harry Reid to strip Lieberman of all committee assignments.

2. Let people know what a sore loser Lieberman is.

3. Get all Democrats -- including Bill Clinton -- to publicly back Ned Lamont.

4. Get the Democratic interest groups who backed Lieberman to switch allegiances in the general.

The DSCC and the DCCC will have to deal with the fact that this race will continue to suck oxygen from great pickup opportunities. And I won't apologize for that, because as a proud Democrat, I will help in whatever way I can the Democratic nominee from the Great State of Connecticut.

The Republicans rejoiced at Lieberman's decision to stay in. They couldn't be happier. And let's not talk about the lobbyists! They're besides themselves!

NOW, I'm off to bed...again.