Lamont in the lead

Rally to me boys, rally to me. We have
the heretic Joerus on the run


Lamont Leads Lieberman In Latest Poll

7:05 AM EDT, July 20, 2006
The Associated Press

HAMDEN, Conn. -- A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday has Democratic challenger Ned Lamont leading the U.S. Senate race over incumbent Joe Lieberman.

The poll shows Lamont ahead 51-47 percent among likely voters in the Aug. 8 Democratic primary. That compares to a 55-40 percent lead for Lieberman in a similar poll in June.

The telephone survey of 2,502 registered voters was conducted July 13-18. It has a sampling error margin of about 2 percentage points.

Lamont, a multimillionaire and founder of a cable television company that has wired college campuses, has contributed a total of $2.5 million to his own campaign.

He has gained national attention by challenging Lieberman, who has come under fire from some Democrats for his support of the war in Iraq and a perceived closeness with congressional Republicans and President Bush.

"More Democrats have a favorable opinion of Lamont, who was largely unknown last month, and see him as an acceptable alternative to Lieberman," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz. "But Lieberman's strength among Republicans and independents gives him the lead in a three-way matchup in November."

Lieberman has said he will run as a third-party candidate in November should he lose the Democratic primary.

The poll shows him leading a three way race with the support of 51 percent of likely voters, compared to 27 percent for Lamont and 9 percent for Republican Alan Schlesinger.

The issue with polling for the general is that it can't account for the instant climb in status when Lamont is the nominee, and Lieberman comes under withering fire for failing to serve Connecticut. Imagine the ads Lamont can run with all those local town officials he's blown off over the years.

Lamont would do well to raise the issue of constituent service as the core of a general election campaign. Joe forgot about Connecticut.

Joe's independent run hangs on how badly he loses the primary. If it's over five points, it's going to be hard to justify such a run.