Another "Almost Victory" for the Left

How many times in the past few elections have we been told that when the lefties come close (but still lose) it should actually be considered a victory? We call those "almost victories" around here, and the list has grown by another example. In this week's issue Time magazine makes a lame attempt to resuscitate Ned Lamont's one-issue campaign in Connecticut against Joe Lieberman by declaring him a winner in this week's debate just because he didn't burst into flames by the end of it. The Time subheadline reads:

In their debate, the Connecticut senator went on the attack, but his liberal challenger scored a win just by holding his own

Another almost victory.

If Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman was looking to completely destroy his opponent, millionaire cable executive Ned Lamont, in their debate Thursday night, it didn't happen. It was clear from the start of the debate, which was broadcast nationally on C-SPAN and MSNBC, that Lieberman was not taking the genial, low-voltage approach of his debate in 2000 against Dick Cheney, his opponent in the Vice Presidential race. Lieberman attacked Lamont nonstop, calling him a "one issue" candidate who was only focused on opposing the Iraq war, charging that Lamont had flip-flopped on whether the U.S. should withdraw troops from Iraq, and saying he has so little political experience that Connecticut voters had to ask "who is Ned Lamont?." He was dismissive of Lamont, shaking his head at some of his answers and frequently interrupting him to throw him off guard. At one point, after Leiberman said Lamont had taken "his fifth position" on Iraq withdrawal and Lamont responded by largely restating his view that the U.S should withdraw troops soon, Lieberman sighed and noted Lamont had taken his sixth position.

But while Lamont seemed nervous at the start of the debate, with a few awkward pauses between words, he largely held his own against the 18-year Senate veteran and former vice presidential nominee - rebutting Lieberman's attacks and trying to impress on Connecticut voters that Lieberman is too close to President Bush.

The primary is August 8th, and on August 9th Time can declare Lamont "almost elected".