Lieberman to run as an independent

Will Joe Lieberman run as an independent if he loses the primary to Ned Lamont?

It seems like Lieberman's campaign won't answer this simple question.

U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, facing a challenge for the state Democratic Party's endorsement and the potential of a primary election in August, reportedly has ruled out running for re-election as an independent.

But a Connecticut political consultant working for Lieberman said today that the writer for the Internet newsmagazine that published that report may have read too much into the senator's response.

"We don't even talk about that because he has no intention of losing the primary," the consultant, Roy Occhiogrosso, said.

Lieberman's apparent decision was reported in a story posted Wednesday by Salon.com.

"I am a Democrat," the senator was quoted as saying. "I believe in the Democratic Party. I believe in the vision of JFK and, I must say, in the vision of Bill Clinton."

A transcript of the Salon interview provided by Occhiogrosso indicates that Lieberman was responding to a question about whether he ever has days "where you think if you can't be senator you've been, with the kind of style you've approached, you don't want to be a senator?"

"Some people have said to me, 'Why don't you run as an independent? You have broad support across all parties.' Lieberman responded, before adding his comments about belief in the Democratic Party.

Asked if Lieberman was indeed ruling out an independent run should he lose the primary, Occhiogrosso said, "He's been very clear that he is a committed, sensible Democrat."
"He's been a Democrat all his life and has every intention of winning the primary."

Questions about whether Lieberman might run as an independent arose two months ago, after he was asked if he would still seek re-election were he to lose a primary.
"I intend to be on the ballot in November," he responded, according to the Waterbury Republican-American.

It's simple, JOE LIEBERMAN IS GOING TO RUN AS AN INDEPENDENT. The only question that remains is when will he jump off the Democratic ship. My bet is that he'll take off after the convention when Ned Lamont receives the delegates he needs to challenge Lieberman. Why waste the campaign money trying to attract the people who come out to vote in a primary? Primaries are traditionally low turnout events and you can be sure that only the hard-core Democrats will show up to the polls. Primary Democrats=vote for Lamont. DLC DINOs (not traditionally primary voters)=vote for Lieberman. DLC Democrats will always lose in a primary to the hard-core liberal crowd. Lieberman knows this which is why he's keeping quiet about jumping over to the Independent side where he can gain the Republican votes (which is his only advantage at this point).