THE HOTLINE BLOG COMMENTS:

We’re not in the business of judging winners and losers; there are plenty of well-informed Nutmeg State voters who can make up their own minds. But putting aside the (curiously ironic) blogger charge that Sen. Joe Lieberman’s strong performance in last night’s debate was marred by his rudeness, many Connecticut and nat’l Dems likely got up this morning asking themselves if they really want to stake their hopes with Ned Lamont.

Beyond his obvious deficiencies in stagecraft and presentation (more than excusable for a first-time statewide candidate running against a three-term incumbent Senator who has run twice in nat’l elections), Lamont handed at least three issues to Lieberman on a silver platter.

Plus, Biden talks too much, again.

UPDATE: More on Lieberman / Lamont here:

The debate, in the minds of many political analysts, was pretty one-sided. And it should be — a veteran pol who’s debated as a VP candidate versus a neophyte businessman? But bloggers took the spanking poorly, and those supporting Lamont all note the incumbent’s perceived rudeness. In fact, one, in the course of pointing out his rudeness, used a seven-letter word that we felt compelled to edit. Can the blogosphere grow a thicker skin? Can they win a race against an incumbent? Or will they blow their ’06 momentum on a seat that, almost no matter the outcome, will remain a Dem seat, instead of spending their energy on seats they might actually pick up for Dems? Is Ned Lamont the throne that begins the hut’s collapse?

I just wish people would distinguish between the left blogosphere and the blogosphere as a whole, here.

UPDATE: Charles Austin emails:

Maybe the Netroots crowd has decided that it is too hard to beat Republicans. Instead, they’ve decided to go after what they perceive as a vulnerable Democrat, because, you know, they are all about winning. Not governing or building a caucus to advance their agenda, but winning.

Well, a win’s a win, I guess. But it seems to me that if you’re after winning a majority in the House and Senate, you wouldn’t be so quick to go after someone in your own party, even if they disagree with you on some major issues. The Republicans have people with similar sentiments, of course, though they’re not as powerful. And it’s not necessarily wrong to want to discipline members of your own party to stick with the party platform. But this targeting of Lieberman seems quite unwise to me. Then again, I don’t pretend to be a political consultant or strategist.