NEW HAVEN, Conn. — When Sen. Joe Lieberman stopped to campaign at a busy brew pub here Friday, Linda Rogozinski was perched at the bar. As far as Lieberman was concerned, however, she was sitting on the fence.
Rogozinski, a scientist at the Yale University School of Medicine, voted for Lieberman in his three previous Senate races. But he can no longer count on her support -- a sign of the troubles Lieberman confronts as he struggles to avoid defeat in a Democratic primary Aug. 8 that has focused squarely on the war in Iraq.
Rogozinski said she has long admired Lieberman as a man of principle. But his unwavering support of the war increasingly seems to her a stubborn refusal to face facts three years after U.S. forces overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein.
"Lieberman is a good guy ... [but] I just wish he could modify his position on Iraq," Rogozinski said. "I need to know why it's so important for him to maintain a position he developed three years ago."
Such comments explain why Lieberman, 64, faces the risk of repudiation from his fellow Connecticut Democrats six years after Al Gore selected him as his running mate in the 2000 presidential campaign.
Overwhelming discontent in the state about the Iraq war created the opening for a strong challenge by political newcomer Ned Lamont, 52, a wealthy cable television entrepreneur.
But Lieberman is also being battered by a widespread belief among critics that his long-standing commitment to working with Republicans has become counterproductive at a time when President Bush and the GOP congressional majority pursue an aggressive conservative agenda.
"I want a senator who's out there challenging them ... instead of working with them on their crazy policies," said Cheryl Curtiss, a West Hartford School District employee, as she waited for Lamont at a rally Saturday night.
With such sentiments in play, the race has spotlighted broader choices that Democrats face nationwide -- not only in this fall's election, but in the 2008 presidential campaign. Beyond measuring the depth of anger about the Iraq war, the Connecticut primary has offered competing visions of how Democrats can revive their fortunes in a deeply polarized political era.
Lieberman presents himself as an inheritor of President Clinton's strategy during the 1990s, arguing that his party must ground itself in the political center while seeking opportunities for bipartisan agreement with Republicans.
"I understand why [Democrats] are angry because there has been very tough partisan politics played by the Republicans," Lieberman said. "But the answer to extremism is not more extremism. The answer
Lamont, whose great-grandfather was a partner of Wall Street tycoon J.P. Morgan, is hardly a liberal firebrand. But he echoes the liberal online activists and bloggers in arguing that Democrats can regain power only by offering more resistance, and a sharper alternative, to Bush's agenda -- starting with the war in Iraq.
"Look, I'm a businessperson and I like getting things done ... but it does seem to me that Sen. Lieberman is too willing to compromise on principle and he sometimes goes out of his way to poke a stick in the eye of the Democratic Party when the Democrats are supposed to be standing up and presenting a constructive alternative to the Bush agenda," Lamont said.
The most recent public poll, released by Connecticut's Quinnipiac University late last month, showed Lamont surging to a 51%-47% lead over Lieberman among likely primary voters.
The poll showed Democrats dividing in a pattern that has shaped many of the party's recent presidential contests: Lieberman led narrowly among lower-income voters and those without college degrees. Lamont held a commanding advantage among college-educated and more affluent voters, who typically prefer more emphasis on diplomacy than force in foreign policy.
Both camps say the result will likely turn on which side can best motivate its supporters to turn out for a contest in the dog days of summer. The contest is open only to Democrats, but independents have until Monday to register with the party to vote in the primary.
Even if Lamont wins, it will represent only the first round in their duel: Lieberman has said he will run as an independent in the general election if he loses the Democratic nomination.
Lieberman is counting on powerful institutional advantages to pull out a primary win -- he has received endorsements from the state AFL-CIO, several national liberal groups and most local Democratic officials.
Clinton traveled to Connecticut last week to appear with the senator and endorse him. By Friday, Lieberman's campaign had produced a button showing Clinton with his arm around the senator at the rally -- an intended antidote for the button Lamont supporters have distributed for months showing Bush embracing Lieberman after the president's 2005 State of the Union Address.
The Lamont button reads "The Kiss"; Lieberman's camp calls its button "The Hug."
