No Joe-Mentum?

"Man, is there a day that Lieberman doesn't give me an excuse to blog about his b.s.? Remember how all of last week Ned Lamont was too much of a Republican? Voted with Republicans 80 percent of the time as a Greenwich town selectman? (Those pitched partisan battles over school crossing sign placements were legendary . . . )

"Well, that was last week's attack. A new week begets a new rationale for justifying six more years of Joementum.

" ' I've been really fed up by the rigid partisanship in Washington, not just about the war,' Lieberman told reporters later. Of Lamont, he said, 'Part of his attacks on me are that I haven't been partisan enough, haven't been a polarizer enough .'

"Lamont's response is a grand slam:

" ' Lamont said Lieberman's comments were surprising, considering that Lieberman previously has attacked him as being too cozy with Republicans while Lamont was a local official in Greenwich. 'He's got to be making up his mind .' . . .

"Don't you get the sense that Lieberman is grasping at straws, simply flinging mud against the wall to see what sticks?

"He's an 18-year Senator. Why doesn't he simply justify his existence by pointing to his record? That's what I'd do if I were an 18-year incumbent."

The Iraq war: Now new and improved as a campaign issue:

"Just a few weeks ago, some Republicans were openly fretting about the war in Iraq and its effect on their re-election prospects, with particularly vulnerable lawmakers worried that its growing unpopularity was becoming a drag on their campaigns," says the New York Times .

Now why would they think that?

"But there was little sign of such nervousness on Wednesday as Republican after Republican took to the Senate floor to offer an unambiguous embrace of the Iraq war and to portray Democrats as advocates of an overly hasty withdrawal that would have grave consequences for the security of the United States. Like their counterparts in the House last week, they accused Democrats of espousing 'retreat and defeatism.' "

Hey, it rhymes, just like cut and run!