[usa] lieberman loses primary over iraq

Agence France reports that US Senator Joseph Lieberman has lost a Democratic Party showdown to a relative unknown, a casualty of voter anger over his support for the war in Iraq and President George W. Bush.Six years after he was chosen as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Senator Lieberman fell in a tight Senate primary battle to wealthy businessman Ned Lamont, who called him a cheerleader for Mr Bush and urged voters to send an anti-war message to the country.

Mr Lamont's outsider bid to unseat the three-term senator in Democratic-leaning Connecticut offered a gauge of anti-war sentiment among voters before the election in November, when control of Congress will be up for grabs."Stay the course is not a winning strategy in Iraq and it is not a winning strategy in America," said Mr Lamont, who sent an e-mail to supporters asking them to contact Senator Lieberman and urge him to reconsider his independent bid.

The Connecticut race attracted national attention as a referendum on the war and Democratic anger at Mr Bush, with Mr Lamont calling Senator Lieberman a Bush "lapdog".Senator Lieberman fought back, emphasizing his experience and Democratic credentials and calling himself a reliable opponent of the President's domestic agenda.

He argued a quick pullout of troops "would be a disaster for Iraqis and for us" but said the Bush administration had made mistakes in its conduct of the war.Senator Lieberman wrote a Wall Street Journal article last year headlined "Our Troops Must Stay" and warned Democrats about criticising Mr Bush on the war.

John Whitesides in Hartford, Connecticut

posted by james higham at Wednesday, August 09, 2006