 HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Top Democrats on Capitol Hill abandoned Sen. Joe Lieberman one by one Wednesday and threw their support to Ned Lamont, the anti-war challenger who defeated him in the primary. Top Senate Democrats, including John Kerry and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Harry Reid of Nevada, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Chuck Schumer of New York, said they supported Lamont as the duly elected choice of Connecticut's Democratic voters.
Reid and Schumer - the party's Senate leader, and the head of the Democratic Senate campaign committee - said: ``The perception was that (Lieberman) was too close to George Bush and this was, in many respects, a referendum on the president more than anything else. The results bode well for Democratic victories in November and our efforts to take the country in a new direction.''
| Because you always look stronger tossing one of your own out of the boat and into the water. |
Kennedy called Lamont's victory ``a clarion call for change,'' and a spokeswoman said Kennedy planned to campaign for the nominee.
| Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please ... |
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated her pledge to back the winner of the primary. She stopped short of calling on Lieberman to quit the race but urged the senator to ``search his conscience and decide what is best for Connecticut and for the Democratic Party.''
| Think he's done that, Hilde, that's why he's staying in. |
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