Lautenberg urges Lieberman to drop "independent run" idea

[ruggerson]

I think the chorus will just grow louder for him to forget about running in the fall.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060805/ap_on_el_se/connecticut_senate_16

WASHINGTON - In a fresh sign of trouble for embattled Sen. Joe Lieberman, a fellow lawmaker and campaign ally suggested Friday that the three-term Connecticut incumbent drop plans to run as an independent if he loses Tuesday's Democratic primary by a wide margin.

"I think he really has to take a look at what reality is," said New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg (news, bio, voting record), who campaigned by Lieberman's side earlier this week.

Lautenberg also said he would switch his allegiance if anti-war challenger Ned Lamont prevails in the primary. Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, trails his primary rival by double-digit margins in public and private polls heading into the campaign's final weekend.

Lieberman said Lautenberg's assessment "doesn't come from me."

(more)

[Terre]

1. Jane Hamsher speaks for me

Firedoglake

Kill this now. It’s an attempt to set the limits of Joe’s indy run. Most polls show the race much tighter than ten points, and it’s a way to inject the notion that if Lieberman loses by less than that he’s entitled to cut and run.

No. If Lieberman loses he should bow out gracefully and back the winner of the race, Ned Lamont. Anything less is nothing but a commitment to his own self-aggrandizement at the expense of the party. Staying in the race threatens three Connecticut House seats. His kiss-my-ring vanity party is an exercise in narcissism and self-indulgence that cannot and should not be tolerated, no matter how his new wingnut cheering section of Michelle Malkin, Anne Coulter and Tom DeLay want to see him proceed. If the beasts of the right wing are making alliances with Lieberman and attempting to influence the future of the Democratic party no good can come from it.

He loses, he’s out. The end.

Buh-bye Joe.

[Totally Committed]

2. "I think the chorus will just grow louder for him to forget....

about running in the fall."

I really hope you're right about this. I'm not sure the gene to guarantee the amount of dignity it would take to do this is present in Joe Lieberman.

TC