It's obvious at this point that Iraq was a huge winner for the Dems tonight. It should be a key issue. Not only is it a literal life and death issue, but it says so much about the incompetence, dishonesty, and arrogance that is the hallmark of this WH on most every issue.
Lamont is the one who made Iraq a central issue from day 1. He helped put the issue on the map. He conclusively showed that a candidate could run effectively on an anti-war platform.
Lamont deserved the support of his party. He should've had Boxer, Obama, Feingold, and Reid campaigning for him. He definitely should've had Dodd joined to him at the hip. Instead, amongst incumbent senators, there were Kerry, Kennedy, and nothing else.
The party took from Lamont. It took his core issue and succeeded w/ it. It gave back nothing in return. Because it failed to do so, the party will now have to deal w/ a man who continually takes and gives nothing back in return for another 6 years.
Sometimes, you can do well by doing good. In CT-Sen, the party did poorly by doing bad.
One additional thought--I like Ned Lamont. He's the kind of guy I'd want to have as a public face for the Dems. I can't stand JoeMentum--he was a disaster as a public face in 2000. What is it that I see that the Senate Dems couldn't see?