NEW YORK, July 29 (UPI) -- The New York Times has endorsed challenger Ned Lamont over incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., in the upcoming Aug. 8 primary.
Lieberman is locked in an intense battle with Lamont, a relative political unknown whose campaign is largely based on opposition to Lieberman's support of President George W. Bush's Iraq war policy. A recent Quinnipiac poll showed likely Democratic voters in Connecticut favor Lamont over Lieberman, 51-47.
The Times, while pointing out that Lieberman has supported abortion rights and has been "one of the Senate's most creative thinkers about the environment and energy conservation," said he "has become one of the Bush administration's most useful allies as the president tries to turn the war on terror into an excuse for radical changes in how this country operates."
The newspaper said Lieberman has helped the administration's effort to depict challenges to Bush policies as "giving aid and comfort to the terrorists," by denouncing Democrats who criticized Bush over Iraq.
Lieberman says he will run in November as an independent if he loses the primary. The Quinnipiac Poll gave him 51 percent of the vote in a three-way race against Lamont and Republican Alan Schlesinger.
