Tonight, on the Colbert Report...
The guest is Ned Lamont. Who is that you ask? He's challenging Joe Lieberman to be the Democratic Nominee for the Senate in November 2006.
Okay, that answer may not have made any sense. But I"m sure you know who Joe Lieberman is. He was the vice presidential nominee for the Democrats in 2000 when Al Gore lost to George W. Bush. So he's pretty well known, and came very close to being Vice President of the United States.
The problem is Joe Lieberman has become very unpopular with some Democrats. Mr. Lieberman was one of the main proponents of the Iraq War, and still to this day claims things are getting better all the time. There are lots of other ways in which Joe has made Democrats angry (and not just in Connecticut). In fact more often than not, he sides with Republicans. Many conservative pundits call Joe Lieberman their favourite Democrat.
Anyway, Ned Lamont, a resident of Connecticut was trying for a while to get someone to challenge Joe Lieberman in the Democratic Primary. In the United States, incumbents sometimes have to go through primaries in their own party, where someone else (or several others) challenge them. Only people who register to vote as Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primaries, and only people who register to vote as Republicans can vote in the Republican Primaries. The winners of the primaries get to face each other in the general elections in November. But nobody wanted to challenge Lieberman. Since he is so well known, nobody really wanted to put his or her political career on the line to go against him. Ned Lamont then entered the race himself.
Usually in the United States incumbents get re-elected. Senators are re-elected 80% of the time, and most don't even face primaries. So a virtual unknown entering a race against someone who had been a Senator for 18 years, and almost became Vice President seemed laughable. But there's another dimension here. Lots of people all over the country have strong feelings on Mr. Lieberman, so this race instead of being a race of interest to only Connecticut residents, became a big story all over the United States. In fact, most of the money donated to both candidates comes from outside of Connecticut!
The primary itself is on August 8th (a week from tomorrow). So this is the home stretch, and both candidates are going all out. Last week, Joe Lieberman got Bill Clinton to campaign for him, and tonight Ned Lamont will make his case to the viewers of the Colbert Report. This should be a very interesting interview.
Okay, that answer may not have made any sense. But I"m sure you know who Joe Lieberman is. He was the vice presidential nominee for the Democrats in 2000 when Al Gore lost to George W. Bush. So he's pretty well known, and came very close to being Vice President of the United States.
The problem is Joe Lieberman has become very unpopular with some Democrats. Mr. Lieberman was one of the main proponents of the Iraq War, and still to this day claims things are getting better all the time. There are lots of other ways in which Joe has made Democrats angry (and not just in Connecticut). In fact more often than not, he sides with Republicans. Many conservative pundits call Joe Lieberman their favourite Democrat.
Anyway, Ned Lamont, a resident of Connecticut was trying for a while to get someone to challenge Joe Lieberman in the Democratic Primary. In the United States, incumbents sometimes have to go through primaries in their own party, where someone else (or several others) challenge them. Only people who register to vote as Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primaries, and only people who register to vote as Republicans can vote in the Republican Primaries. The winners of the primaries get to face each other in the general elections in November. But nobody wanted to challenge Lieberman. Since he is so well known, nobody really wanted to put his or her political career on the line to go against him. Ned Lamont then entered the race himself.
Usually in the United States incumbents get re-elected. Senators are re-elected 80% of the time, and most don't even face primaries. So a virtual unknown entering a race against someone who had been a Senator for 18 years, and almost became Vice President seemed laughable. But there's another dimension here. Lots of people all over the country have strong feelings on Mr. Lieberman, so this race instead of being a race of interest to only Connecticut residents, became a big story all over the United States. In fact, most of the money donated to both candidates comes from outside of Connecticut!
The primary itself is on August 8th (a week from tomorrow). So this is the home stretch, and both candidates are going all out. Last week, Joe Lieberman got Bill Clinton to campaign for him, and tonight Ned Lamont will make his case to the viewers of the Colbert Report. This should be a very interesting interview.
posted by Ryan Wilson at 2:52 PM
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