Lieberman Loss: Will Hillary Get The Message?

The biggest loser in last night's Connecticut US Senate primary was not Joe Lieberman, the "Democrat" who stands a good chance of keeping his seat by running as an Independent in November. The biggest loser was Hillary Clinton, whose hawkish stands on Iraq were matched only by Lierberman in terms of the extent to which such stands have provided crucial Democratic shield for the Bush Administration.

Hillary's public spanking of Don Rumsfeld last week hardly represented movement toward an anti-war position on her part. Rather, she's framing the problem with Iraq as largely a management problem. For the most part, that's the Lieberman position that was soundly rejected last night by Connecticut's Democrats.

Progressive alternatives to Hillary are available to New York voters. Jonathan Tasini is the real Democrat in the primary race, though unlike Connecticut's Ned Lamont he is not independently wealthy and probably won't be able to overcome Hillary's war chest. The Green Party's Howie Hawkins, a Vietnam Vet and a teamster, is running on a platform most in touch with the majority of New Yorkers, but he is not likely to overcome the barriers faced by all third party candidates.