I agree with you that it's good primary elections have meaning--there were two Republican examples (Hefley's open seat in CO-5 and the MI-7 seat) and a second Democratic example (the Dems in GA-4 got rid of the anti-Semite McKinney).
But, unlike you, I'm not glad Lieberman lost. I think the Democratic Party is now playing a dangerous game, where the litmus test for acceptability is hatred off George Bush and "Bush's War". Lieberman's one of the few Senate Democrats I respect (the few senators, for that matter).
I'm sure there'll be comparisons between Lieberman's loss and Joe Schwarz' loss in MI-7. My problem is this: on most issues, Lieberman is a mainstream Dem: pro-choice, anti-gun, pro-enviro, anti-tax cut, etc. He has a few more centrist impulses, one of which is toward compromise where possible. In this sense I find him not unlike a Specter or a McCain or a Hagel. Joe Schwarz is not anywhere near the mainstream of the Republican Party--in this sense, he is more a Chafee or a Zell Miller.
Oh, and for what it's worth, hacking his site is cheap. Very, very cheap.
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But, unlike you, I'm not glad Lieberman lost. I think the Democratic Party is now playing a dangerous game, where the litmus test for acceptability is hatred off George Bush and "Bush's War". Lieberman's one of the few Senate Democrats I respect (the few senators, for that matter).
I'm sure there'll be comparisons between Lieberman's loss and Joe Schwarz' loss in MI-7. My problem is this: on most issues, Lieberman is a mainstream Dem: pro-choice, anti-gun, pro-enviro, anti-tax cut, etc. He has a few more centrist impulses, one of which is toward compromise where possible. In this sense I find him not unlike a Specter or a McCain or a Hagel. Joe Schwarz is not anywhere near the mainstream of the Republican Party--in this sense, he is more a Chafee or a Zell Miller.
Oh, and for what it's worth, hacking his site is cheap. Very, very cheap.
Alan Schlessinger for US Senate!