Embattled moderate Sen. Joseph Lieberman narrowly lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut on Aug. 8. With the vote tally all but complete, challenger Ned Lamont won with 52 percent of the votes to Lieberman's 48 percent. He is only the fourth Democratic incumbent Senator to lose a primary since 1980.
Lieberman's support for the war in Iraq became the flashpoint that led the liberal wing of the party and Internet bloggers to take him on, while the Democratic establishment rallied to his defense.
As Markos Moulitsas Zunica, better known by his blog Daily Kos, wrote soon after the outcome became clear, Lamont's victory was 'the triumph of a rag-tag band of rebels against everything the D.C. Democratic establishment could throw at us—President Clinton, Barbara Boxer, NARAL and so on.'
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, spun it differently, saying, 'This shows what blind loyalty to George Bush and being his love child means. This is not about the war, it's blind loyalty to Bush.'
Lieberman has vowed to run as an independent in November and has taken steps to do so. Party leaders will put strong pressure on him to get out of the race. Given the closeness of the primary vote, with an unusually high turnout of about 50 percent, and a weak Republican candidate, it is difficult to predict who will win that contest.
In Georgia, sharp-tongued Rep. Cynthia McKinney lost a runoff primary to Henry C. Johnson Jr., 41 to 58 percent. She had lost a primary in 2002 and regained her seat two years later when the incumbent ran for the Senate.
McKinney raised eyebrows with her temper and statements like the one about President Bush having prior knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. She allegedly struck a Capitol police officer with her cell phone for stopping her at a security checkpoint—when she was not wearing the lapel pin that identified her as a member of Congress and he did not recognize her.
The district is considered safely Democratic and Johnson seems assured of election in November of this year.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) had rated Lieberman and McKinney as strong but not perfect supporters of GLBT issues, and endorsed both earlier this year. Those endorsements proved controversial and resulted in some members withdrawing their support.
In Michigan, moderate Rep. John 'Joe' Schwarz lost his bid for the Republican senate nomination. Conservatives strongly backed former state senator Tim Walberg, who won with 53 percent of the vote. HRC had endorsed Schwarz in his 2004 bid for Congress.
In Ohio, Rep, Bob Ney announced on Aug. 7 that he was dropping out of his bid for re-election. The subcommittee chairman faces corruption charges stemming from his association with indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Ney joins Randy Cunningham ( California ) and Tom DeLay ( Texas ) as the third high-ranking House Republican to end his political career this year due to charges of financial improprieties.
There appears to be strong anti-Washington and anti-incumbent trends among voters this year. Republicans have the most to lose from this as they control both houses of Congress but, as the Lieberman and McKinney races demonstrate, Democrats are not immune from the sentiment.