Lieberman defeat sends strong political message on Iraq war

Longtime Senator Joe Lieberman's outspoken support for the US administration's war in Iraq was rejected by many voters in the lawmaker's northeastern home state of Connecticut, showing that the war issue could loom large in scores of other tight Congressional races in the November polls.

Lieberman, however, vowed to fight for his job. After conceding Tuesday's Democratic primary vote, he announced that he would run as an independent in November's general election.

The New York Times said Wednesday that his defeat was "a vivid demonstration of how the Iraq war is buffeting American politics and of the deep hostility towards President (George W.) Bush among Democrats."

Lieberman -- Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential election won by Bush -- was challenged for his Senate seat by Ned Lamont, fellow Democrat and businessman.

With 99.6 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Lamont prevailed with 52 percent of the vote to Lieberman's 48 percent, according to the Hartford Courant newspaper.

"The old politics of partisan polarization won today," Lieberman said as he conceded the primary election, which chooses a party's nominee for the November general election.

"For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand," he added before announcing his decision to run outside the party.

On NBC television Wednesday morning, Lieberman reiterated that he would refuse any entreaties by the Democratic Party leadership to step aside in the November race.

The Connecticut race signals that Iraq could be the top issue in November, when Democrats are seeking to wrest back control of either or both houses of Congress currently held by the Republicans.

Lamont, 52, a wealthy businessman from the affluent town of Greenwich, Connecticut, who boasts a net worth of some 100 million dollars, vowed to hold the administration's feet to the fire on Iraq and US national security issues.

"I think the issues were on our side. People fundamentally want a change in Washington," he told MSNBC television Tuesday.

"The people in Connecticut think that staying the course is not a winning strategy in Iraq. They want to start bringing our troops home. They want to start investing that money back in the United States of America," Lamont said.

Democratic Party elders were bracing for a political earthquake after the incumbent Democrat's defeat, and some were backpedaling on their earlier support of the war lest they, too, run afoul of voters.

Although a stalwart member of his party, Lieberman, 64, has sided with the Republican administration as a strong supporter of the war, which has been deeply unpopular with Connecticut's liberal voters.

Lieberman, who lost his hometown of New Haven 52 percent to 48 percent, said he was "scapegoated" by fellow Democratic lawmakers and influential opinion makers.

"This primary would never have happened absent Iraq," the Times wrote last week as it endorsed Lamont in a scathing rebuke of Lieberman.

"He has become one of the Bush administrations most useful allies, as the president tries to turn the war on terror into an excuse for radical changes in how this country operates," the daily wrote.

On Wednesday, the Times attributed Lieberman's defeat to "an uprising by that rare phenomenon, irate moderates," and urged the senator to "consider the risk of splitting his party" in November by running as an independent candidate.