Editorial: A lesson from Connecticut

Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.

No one can say with certainty that congressional candidates who support President Bush's "stay the course" Iraq policy should be alarmed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman's loss in the Connecticut Democratic primary.

Nevertheless, the three-term senator did lose by 4 percentage points to a political newcomer in a race dominated by controversy over his faith in George W. Bush as a competent war president.

That result cannot just be shrugged off as an anomaly in a heavily Democratic state. With his 18 years in office, which included a vice presidential candidacy six years ago in one of the nation's closest-ever races, Lieberman should have been a shoo-in.

Yet he lost to businessman Ned Lamont, who had little name recognition when he entered the race. Lamont caught fire quickly, however, with a single issue - that all real Democrats should strongly oppose President Bush and his ongoing policies that have brought Iraq to the brink of civil war.

With this message, which included unequivocal support for the troops, Lamont quickly built a following. Included among his supporters were influential bloggers, such as Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos. They showed their potential as a powerful new medium for rallying voters.

Lamont's victory, which is not certain in the general election because Lieberman has now filed as an independent candidate, does not mean that anti-Iraq war bona fides of other congressional candidates will surely sweep them into office. Yet it does show that voters are becoming aroused over the status quo in Iraq.

Republican leaders were quick to interpret Lamont's victory as a sign that the Democratic Party is divided and that their candidates are weak on national defense. In our view, however, Lamont's victory showed Democrats beginning to come together over the war in Iraq amid a resolve to offer voters a solid contrast to candidates who support Bush's failing policies.

As for national security, a majority of voters, as one poll after another shows, disapprove of Bush's management of the war. And a poll released Tuesday by ABC and The Washington Post showed a majority of respondents saying they trust Democrats more than Republicans when it comes to waging war on terror.

For the rest of the midterm election season, congressional supporters of Bush may not need to run scared. But Lamont's victory shows they need to run concerned, very concerned.