You’re 100% correct that many among CN democrats grew to dislike Lieberman for his hawkish views on Iraq, in marked contrast to his prior lionization when he was the VP candidate just a few years before that. You’re also 100% right that many Republicans don’t like him either.

But very many moderates and independents admired Lieberman for his willingness to remain consistent with his long-standing foreign policy views even though they had grown to be quite at odds with what had become fashionable among democrats.

“Constituents” refers to all of the people of the state as a whole. This group re-elected Lieberman, Thus they prefer him. It’s a truism. IMO, this preference is due in large part to how seriously Lieberman treats his job of looking out for the whole state and acting in accord with his conscience.

If Lieberman had changed his longheld views to better match democratic fashion, THAT would have been opportunism.

Please stop with the revisionism; as a former CN resident, Liberman was not “preferred by his constituents”, he was and is as much an opportunist as Specter.

The reason he won (and probaly the sole reason) he won, was because of the faux Republican in the race. Liberman was and is disliked by many within the CN Democratic party, his views are at odds with many within the party, however he was seen as the best to be to had at the time. The war and his views and votes was the final straw which drove him out of the party.

He is also not “perferred” by CN Republicans, however they also see him as the best to be had at the time and their vote for him at the time had the added benefit of putting a thumb in the eye of democrats.

~ L

Lieberman won in CN because he was really preferred by his constituents. He had a lot of good will in the local bank. Lamont managed to make the dem primary a referendum on the Iraq war at the height of anti-war sentiment. But he lacked broad appeal.

I do not get the sense that Arlen Specter has anywhere near the same measure of local support and good will across the spectrum that Lieberman did. But 3-horse races are tricky.