The blog war that is the Connecticut Senate race
Steve Safran August 6th, 2006
I encourage anyone who wants a vision of the upcoming elections this November and in 2008 (and from now on for that matter) to take a look at what’s happening in Connecticut politics. Incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman is trailing in the polls behind Ned Lamont in the Democrat primary. It’s pretty much a single-issue race but that issue is the war. Lamont’s against it, Lieberman supports remaining involved. The point here is how the Lamont upstarts successfully used the web to come out of nowhere. They have blogs and a YouTube group, while Lieberman supporters don’t have much and what they do have are mostly in reaction to what Lamont’s people did first. Things have become very nasty, proving that negative politics isn’t just for professionals. TV news then picks up on the blog battles, effectively changing the game in how candidates advertise and promote themselves. Here’s a YouTube video of my own station’s coverage. That’s right. I’m supporting getting Tubed. The election is Tuesday.
10 Comments Add your own
1. invitedmedia | August 6th, 2006 at 7:11 am
seniors are traditional primary voters.
ask a “silver” haired little old lady what a blog is and the
answer might well include mention of a plunger!
the question for lamont is can he turn out THE vote.
considering diebold and all else i highly doubt it.
i’d be happy to be wrong though!
2. thewashingtonchannel | August 6th, 2006 at 7:15 am
if this site only had a spot where one could “pitch a story”…
did anyone else catch that the current admin is attempting to regulate “netcasting”?
they made a proposal to wipo last week.
me thinks this is relevant to the above story.
3. Safran | August 6th, 2006 at 8:54 am
Excellent point, invitedmedia. We’d do well to remember the Howard Dean “groundswell” that did not translate to an electoral win. Just because we live online does not mean the real voters do. Thanks for raising that.
4. thebeirutchannel | August 6th, 2006 at 11:42 am
i’m thinking there are radio and tv execs nationwide pulling for a lieberman landslide.
their bread and butter is at stake.
if lamont wins, you’ll be hard pressed to find a campaign who’ll not be moving a good portion of their budget to the net.
if lieberman wins, it’s more of the same; “we told you it’s just a fad”.
5. Jim Smith | August 6th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Pitching this race as a single-issue contest or one that is framed by bloggers versus traditional campaigning is failing to see a key point. People are tired of duplicitous politicians putting our nation at risk for their own gain.
To wit: in the LATimes.com article you cited it says, “In the most recent poll, released Thursday, 65% of Lamont’s supporters said their vote was mainly against Lieberman.”
6. Steve Safran | August 6th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Not to get into a political argument, which is certainly not my point, but it’s my opinion - just my opinion - that the poll proves the point. The vote against Lieberman is a vote against the war. If you look at the pro-Lamont blogs, the war is the #1 topic. Many see this as a referendum on the war. It would be nice to see this as a battle against the status quo, but that comes up during every election - and we still re-elect nearly everyone.
Still, interesting take. Thanks for piping in.
7. Jim Smith | August 6th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Steve: No need for an argument. And certainly, it cannot be denied that the war is a big driver of this particular race.
I’m not seeing how you can prove the 65% are against Lieberman because they’re against the war, but you might be right.
I think, however, it runs deeper. Lieberman has been awfully cosy to George Bush in the last few years. But now it seems that’s the wrong person to be kissing. (See http://tinyurl.com/dwlbe)
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