After watching the Lamont/Lieberman debate tonight, Heidi and I headed down to Tisane for a Lamont meet-and-greet. Got to shake his hand, mutter something incoherent because I was a bit star-struck, not so much that he was a star, but that I really didn’t have anything to say. Nice job, go get ‘em?

I have a lot of trouble with things like this because I’m not a fan type. I also feel pretty strongly that I don’t want to bother the guy, since I put myself in his place and think about always being “on” for hours at a time, making sure to be nice and chit chat with lots of people. So many supporters were there that I’m sure he was ready to get out of there by the time we finally caught up to him (he was actually out the door at that point).

Anyway, the debate I thought went pretty well for Lamont. Lieberman is definitely the more polished of the two, as he smoothly worked campaign clichés into each answer. In the end, however, I was reminded of the Bush campaigns of 2004 as Lieberman pulled out a script that looked too much like the Bush card. He called Lamont a flip-flopper, a liar, and in bed with the far left. Of course, Lieberman also accused Lamont of being too close to Republicans, so coherency wasn’t exactly at the top of Lieberman’s list of accomplishments.

The one salient point that Lieberman was able to drive home, and it was clear that this was an area where the candidates are truly different, was the fact that Lieberman brings home the bacon. For all the talk of having a lobbying-free Congress, the fact of the matter is that people love government contracts. Government spending creates jobs and people respond to that. The saving of the sub base in New London was a big deal around here, and the new contracts for Electric Boat were also well covered in the news. Lieberman has some seniority after 18 years and it clearly will be a loss for the state if he loses.

Lamont took the principled position on this issue (earmarks should be eliminated), and ultimately that’s what this race is going to be about. Having an 18 year incumbent guarantees a lot of pork and a place at the front of the line for funding. On the other hand, Lamont brings a fresh energy and very different and popular positions on issues from Iraq to healthcare reform.

So, it comes down to how many voters identify will value the pork over the legitimate issues with Lieberman’s recent behavior. It will be a tough race, but I think Ned Lamont can pull this off.

Update: CT Local Politics has an excellent summary of the debate up. I couldn’t agree more about the “angry Joe” comment, by the way. He behaved like an arrogant jerk during the first 15 minutes, wagging his finger and trying to talk over Lamont. It’s funny, because that’s a theme in this race. A lot of people, myself included, are impressed with how “normal” Lamont seems while Joe seems to personify the arrogance of this administration talking down to experts and the public alike.