Boot!

Boot!

Perhaps no one could claim credit for Senator Joseph I. Lieberman’s decision not to seek a fifth term more than Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the liberal blog Daily Kos. In 2006, Mr. Moulitsas mobilized like-minded Democrats to try to unseat Mr. Lieberman as punishment for supporting the Iraq war and for being too accommodating to President George W. Bush. Mr. Moulitsas even appeared in television commercials with Ned Lamont, the antiwar liberal who defeated Mr. Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary that year (only to lose to Mr. Lieberman, running as an independent, in the general election). On Wednesday, as Mr. Lieberman gave an upbeat valedictory speech, surrounded by 200 supporters at a hotel in his hometown, Stamford, Conn., Mr. Moulitsas took a few self-congratulatory bows of his own. “Remember when kicking Lieberman out of the Democratic Party was going to cost Democrats the support of moderates, Jewish voters and Eeyores everywhere?” Mr. Moulitsas wrote on his blog, less than two hours after Mr. Lieberman left the stage in the hotel ballroom. “And then the Democrats won everything for two cycles in a row.”

The best media hit in Daily Kos history, courtesy of the NY Times on January 19, 2011, as Lieberman announced he would not run for reelection:The article was wrong because it was Ned Lamont who ran against Lieberman and booted him from the Democratic Party. He deserves the bulk of the credit. It takes a lot to put yourself out there as a candidate and take the lumps of a harsh campaign. Not to mention he spent a fair amount of his own cash doing so.

Furthermore, local Connecticut activists worked tirelessly on the ground. Anyone doing organizing and GOTV is doing far more work than I ever will behind a keyboard. I mean, remember ctkeith's "The Kiss" float?



Finally, Chris Murphy's early Senate announcement told Lieberman the gig was up. We had a hard time finding a primary challenger in 2006. This time around, Lieberman knew he would face top-tier competition powered by a fierce and unified grassroots-netroots campaign.

That said, getting rid of Joe Lieberman was my pet project, the one thing I wanted to accomplish before I died. I was conflicted when he decided to retire early last year—on the one hand, I wanted the voters of Connecticut to forcefully retire him at the ballot box. I wanted him out as a loser. On the other hand, it was gratifying to see him give a concession speech two years before his term had expired. And with his retirement announcement delivered, all his relevance was gone. We heard very little about Lieberman for the last two years. And that was delicious.

Lieberman's seat will now officially pass to Chris Murphy—an upgrade rivaled only by the Scott Brown-Elizabeth Warren hand-off in Massachusetts.

It's easy to forget what we accomplished given how much Lieberman has been ignored the last two years. But he was still around. Now he's not.

And on a night full of win, this was one of the sweetest.