Lamont has already 'won' in Connecticut

I just want to get this on the record before the polls close.

Here's how the Connecticut primary is being reported today:

By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 8, 2006; 5:56 PM

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, his political future on the line in Connecticut's Democratic primary, stumped for votes today in last-minute campaigning to turn back the challenge of a political novice in a race that has become a referendum on the war in Iraq.

If this is a referendum on the war, Lamont does not have to beat Lieberman to send a message to other pro-war or wishy-washy candidates across the country. He's already done that. The message is: Support this war at your own political peril.

Gene McCarthy didn't beat Lyndon Johnson in New Hampshire in 1968. He didn't need to. Lamont doesn't need to win either. But it would be sweet if he did.

UPDATE: Lieberman conceded about 10 p.m. CDT. It was fun to hear the Fox News analysis that Lamont's supporters were the liberal elite and Lieberman's the traditional blue-collar Dems. Who would have thought there were more highly-educated, net-savvy liberal elitists than working stiffs in Connecticut?

RYAN HAS THE TALKING POINTS: Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Repub, has the same talking points as Fox News. He tells WisPolitics he "does not blame Lieberman's support for the Iraq conflict or his close association with President George W. Bush for the loss... My personal prediction is, given that he was so close, I think he will win because the blue-collar Democrats in Connecticut supported Joe Lieberman. It's the wealthy elites that didn't support Joe Lieberman." These folks are in serious denial.