The Daily Lieberman: No One Cares Edition

Despite the best efforts of cable TV and magazine journalists, pollster Rasmussen finds that most Americans don't give a fig about the Joe Lieberman-Ned Lamont Senate brawl.

Just 21 percent of American adults say they have been following news stories of the campaign Very Closely. An equal number have not been following the story at all.

Twenty-one percent is pretty high, actually, but not swinging-races-across-the-country high. Or so it seems. While Vinegar Joe's favorability rating is a meager 35 percent (to 24 percent negative), a healthy 30 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Lamont. Just 13 percent like the guy.

The big story is still how few Americans care about the fate of the Nicest Man in Washington Ever (copyright David Brooks, Joe Klein, &c). The B-story… how did a political newcomer like Lamont get himself loathed by 1/3 of the country? Why didn't he get embraced by the 3/5 who share his view of the Iraq war? This suggests that the light and heat on the issue are still on the pro-war right. Certainly, if you flipped on talk radio over the last week, the only talk you heard of Lamont was goo-goo praise on low-wattage Air America channels and demonization of Lamont as Al Qaeda's Number One Dude on the right wing channels.