Democratic Candidates Concerned About Fate If Lieberman Loses

By Susan Haigh Associated Press

WATERBURY — As US Senator Joe Lieberman tried to rally his supporters with a campaign visit from former President Bill Clinton Monday, some Democrats acknowledged they’re worried a Lieberman primary loss could hurt other Democratic candidates on the November ballot.

If Lieberman loses to Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont, he plans to run as an independent candidate. His volunteers are currently collecting the 7,500 signatures needed to petition Lieberman onto the November ballot, if necessary.

“It makes it more challenging,” said John Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO and former chairman of the state Democratic Party, when asked what a Lieberman primary loss would mean to Democrats running for everything from Congress to state representative.

The hot Senate race has already drawn complaints from the two Democratic gubernatorial candidates running in the August 8 primary. The campaigns for both Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano have complained that the Senate race is garnering the bulk of media attention, leaving their candidates fighting to win the voters’ attention.

Feelings are mixed as to whether a primary loss by Lieberman would hurt the chances for the three Democrats hoping to defeat the state’s three incumbent GOP US House members, Representatives Chris Shays, Rob Simmons, and Nancy Johnson.

Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said she believes the healthy fundraising numbers posted by Diane Farrell, Joe Courtney, and Chris Murphy show that Democrats are willing to financially back the candidates. All three races remain targeted by the DCCC.

“Regardless of the Senate primary, all three Connecticut House Republicans are in for the races of their lives in November,” Psaki said. “There’s no question Connecticut is one of the top battlegrounds in the country.”

Both Murphy and Farrell stood on stage at Monday’s event, urging Democrats to back the incumbent.

But Ed Patru, a spokesman for the Republican Congressional Committee, said if Lieberman’s name appears on the November ballot as an independent, Democratic voters will be drawn away from the party.

“It has a negative impact on the Democratic party’s base,” he said. “It makes their [publicity] confusing and it takes a lot of energy out of the party’s grass roots in a year when they need everything they can to challenge three independent, well-funded, Republican incumbents.”

Lieberman has tried to sway primary voters by telling them he, not Lamont, can help the rest of the Democratic ticket in November — a message echoed Monday by Clinton.

Lieberman has traditionally given money to his fellow Connecticut Democrats. State Representative Robert Godfrey, D-Danbury, a Lieberman supporter, said both Lieberman and US Senator Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., have contributed $800,000 to $1 million to the state party in election years. That money is then distributed to candidates running across the state.

Godfrey said he fears Lieberman will cut back on such contributions if he is forced to run as an independent in the general election.

Lieberman’s political action committee also cuts checks to Democratic candidates. This year, his PAC gave each of the three US House candidates $5,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Godfrey said he also believes that if Lieberman wins the primary, it will encourage Democrats in the November election who might vote for Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell — who continues to enjoy high approval ratings — to return to the Democratic line on the ballot and vote for Lieberman and the other Democrats who follow.

Some Democrats, however, said privately Monday that a Lamont primary win could help the other Democrat candidates. They speculated that Lamont could help drive turnout and enthusiasm on Election Day should he defeat Lieberman on August 8.