No Joe-Mentum?

Can the bloggers knock off Joe Lieberman?

That's an exaggeration, of course -- one of my specialties, just to force you to read what follows -- but the Connecticut Democrat is in a bit of trouble.

Even if blogging had never been invented, Lieberman's staunch support for the war would have him in hot water with the antiwar wing of his party, which is backing the previously obscure Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary in early August. But the hostility of lefty bloggers to just about everything Lieberman stands for -- he is almost as reviled as George W. Bush in some quarters -- makes for an interesting case study.

Can an online mobilization make a difference in a low-turnout primary?

No matter what happens, the senator's travails tell you something about how much the political ground has shifted. Here he was, one Supreme Court justice away from becoming vice president after the 2000 election, and then considered to be a strong candidate for the White House in 2004. (His campaign actually went nowhere, in perhaps an early indication of the difficulties facing a moderate-to-conservative Democrat in a liberal party.)

But in Connecticut, where he's so well known, Lieberman should win in a walk.

Enter the bloggers. Markos Moulitsas, better known as Kos, actually appears in a TV ad for Lamont. So this really is shaping up as a test of sorts.

Slate's John Dickerson kicks it off with a rather colorful quote:

"Centrist Democrats are fretting about the hostile takeover from the left. 'You have a senator being punished by left-wing bloggers and activists who seek to kill him and bring his head to Washington on a pike to show all those centrists and moderates throughout the country who would wander from the liberal dogmatic line,' says former Connecticut state Democratic Party Chairman John Droney. . . .

"While bloggers have had meager success backing candidates so far, what frightens Lieberman's allies--and makes the race worth watching--is their success as giant-killers, taking down Dan Rather and Trent Lott. The August primary date will favor committed activists willing to interrupt their summer vacations, just the kind of die-hard liberals who have always had issues with the moderate Lieberman. Beneath the placid surface of the Sunday fund-raiser, that passion was easy to find. 'Can you write 'weasel' in your magazine?' responded voter Charlotte Lazor when I asked for her views about Lieberman. Others offered 'sycophant,' 'sanctimonious,' and 'Benedict Arnold' to describe their junior senator.

"Lieberman's sins . . . [include] appearing (and smiling) on the Fox News Channel after Kerry lost the presidential election in 2004. But there is no bigger liability than his support of the Iraq war."

The latest Kos post: