Something is Rotten in the State of Connecticut

I know, I know, I wasn't going to write about this anymore, but the latest poll numbers coming out of the political sewer that Connecticut has become are disturbing, to say the least. Check out this latest poll from the American Research Group (ARG). This poll is not an "outlier"; it's numbers are roughly the same as the latest Rasmussen poll.

The most disturbing part? Well, aside from the fact that Lieberman hasn't really qualified for the ballot yet, has anyone bothered to take a look at the numbers for the Republican candidate? No, the other one -- the one that won the Republican primary: Alan Schlesinger. His total percentage among likely voters? 3%!! Three! Considering the margin of error on this poll is +/- 3.5%, we can safely say that no one is planning on voting for Schlesinger!

Does this not strike anyone as a bit odd? Say what you will about the de facto two-party system, the silliness of primaries, whatever, but in this case you have the candidate who won the Democratic primary with 42%, the canidiate that won the Republican primary with 3%, and the candidate that lost the Democratic primary with 44%! Based on those numbers, I think it is a safe enough assumption to say that virtually every Republican in Connecticut is planning on voting for Lieberman instead of the candidate they selected themselves. Wow -- that makes me feel so much better about Lieberman.

And, again, I'm talking about pure numbers and procedure here. I'm not talking about issues like the rumours that Lieberman will become Secretary of Defense, Lieberman will caucus with the Republicans in the event of a split Senate, or things like that (even though I just did). Am I the only person that feels like this election is running off the rails, and taking a piece of our republic with it? Seriously -- Bush v. Gore already made the case that your single vote probably doesn't count, and now this race is taking it one step further: the primary election doesn't count! Lieberman lost -- but not really! Schlesinger won -- but not really!

I would hope that the Democratic response to this would be to start pimping Schlesinger as a great conservative, but I don't think I actually want that to happen either. What a mess.

Lost in all of this is that Lieberman has now completely lost his "commanding early lead" in the general election, which he never actually had anyway.

I stand by my earlier prediction. For now, anyway.