THE OTHER PRIMARIES. Given our obsession, here in the blogosphere, with the Lieberman-Lamont contest, one would be forgiven for thinking that this was the only primary of consequence that took place yesterday. As noted here by Steve Benen, another striking defeat of a Democratic incumbent, however, took place yesterday in a Georgia Democratic run-off, with the loss of the entertaining Rep. Cynthia McKinney to the rather serious-looking DeKalb County commissioner and attorney Hank Johnson for the state's 4th District House seat. Although two contests may amount to weak evidence for any kind of trend, I do suspect that, taken together, the losses suffered by Lieberman and McKinney show that Lieberman's loss is not simply a matter of ideology; it's about integrity. McKinney is surely a left-wing type, but her antics with the Capitol Police soured her electorate on her candidacy. Not that she accepts that verdict; McKinney is blaming her loss to a fellow African-American Democrat on "voting irregularities," according to the Washington Post. Nonetheless, what the voters seem to be saying is that they're tired of politicians who think it's all about themselves. (And Lieberman's declaration of an independent candidacy would seem to speak to the idea that he thinks it's all about him.) Meanwhile, over on the other side of the aisle, a rather interesting development took place last night in Michigan, where moderate Rep. John J.H. "Joe" Schwarz was defeated by the very right-wing Tim Walberg, a former pastor who ran against abortion and gay marriage. Facing Walberg in November for Michigan's 7th District House seat will be Democrat Sharon Renier, an organic farmer. The culture warriors soldier on.
--Adele M. Stan
