Sirota: If Lamont Wins Big

Tomorrow night we’ll find out just how close the barbarians have come to crashing the gates of the DC establishment.

Anyone following national politics at any level knows that Sen. Lieberman is in the political fight of his life against challenger Ned Lamont for the Democratic nomination for Connecticut’s Senate seat; and, all things remaining as they are, tomorrow night’s victor should go on to win Connecticut’s general election in November — because the state is considered a safe "blue" seat.

A lot of pixels have been devoted to chronicling the Lieberman/Lamont race and, of late, there are a lot more pixels being devoted, by both camps, to downplaying expectations given the stakes of tomorrow’s out come. That said, I think that David Sirota has it right:

Here’s the deal folks: No matter what the outcome tomorrow - and I sure am hoping Lamont wins - we should all remember that last point: the fact that Ned Lamont and the progressive movement have mounted such a serious challenge to an entrenched incumbent with such a massive corporate-backed warchest is a HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT. In the course of just a few months, a guy who has never run for office took on one of the most well-funded, insulated politicians in America, who used all of his clout and cashed in all of his favors to get other Big Time members of the Establishment to help him. If Ned gets within 15 points of Lieberman, it is a display of real strength, and it is a major step forward in our movement.

In his post Sirota describes four possible outcomes to tomorrow night’s Democratic primary. Here’s the outcome I’m crossing my fingers for:

Lamont wins big (by more than 5 points): Again, Xanax and Prosac fly off the shelves of DC pharmacies, though this time so does Immodium, because the Democratic Party elites get so scared, they collectively and uncontrollably begin soiling their pants. Incumbents begin worrying about whether their votes to sell out to Big Money or to preserve the Bush administration’s "stay-the-course" nonsense in Iraq will draw them a serious primary challenge. Suddenly, votes by the Democratic caucus in both the House and Senate become far more unified. Instead of huge numbers of Democrats undermining their party on core economic and national security issues, there is more party discipline than has been seen in a long time because suddenly, every Democratic lawmaker realizes that they, too, might have to actually answer to voters.

Go read Sirota’s post — and keep your fingers crossed, too, for a big Lamont win.