Thursday, August 03, 2006

Lamont extends lead on Lieberman

Just five days until the primary! Go Ned!

BOSTON (Reuters) - A novice anti-war candidate seeking the Connecticut Democratic Party's nomination to run for the U.S. Senate has extended his lead against three-term incumbent and 2000 vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman, a poll showed on Thursday.

Ned Lamont, a millionaire businessman and opponent of the U.S. military presence in Iraq, now leads rival Lieberman by 54 percent to 41 percent among those likely to vote in the August 8 primary, the Quinnipiac University poll found.

"The incumbent has just five days to turn this race around, but never count out a veteran with his experience," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz.

The poll found that 65 percent of Lamont supporters said their vote would primarily be against Lieberman, with his support for the war in Iraq their primary objection.

Lieberman has said that he will run as an independent if denied the Democratic nomination. Previous polls have shown him likely to win the November election if he runs as an independent.

The university surveyed 890 likely Connecticut Democratic primary voters from July 24-31. The survey has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

Posted by crimnos @ 10:21 AM