The Daily Kos "Celebrity"

Senator Joseph Lieberman published a very influential article in The Wall Street Journal in November 2005. Lieberman made the case for U.S. forces to remain in Iraq, indicating the positive progress he had seen in the country during a recent visit. The article was widely discussed in the MSM, with at least a few observers suggesting that the Connecticut senator ought to switch parties.

As it turns out, Lieberman's pro-war views convinced Connecticut businessman Ned Lamont to enter the Democratic primary race to reclaim Lieberman's Senate seat for the state's antiwar crowd. James Taranto writes about this in today's OpinionJounal.com. Taranto calls Lamont a "Kos Celeb," because he generated a lot of attention from those in the "netroots," especially Markos Moulitsas at The Daily Kos. Here's some flavor:

Party leaders in Washington frown on challenges to incumbents, and Minority Leader Harry Reid has reportedly asked Mr. Lamont to back off. But the challenger can count on strong support from the "netroots"--left-wing blogs like DailyKos.com and Web sites like MoveOn.org--which bring in money and moral support from around the country. Call him a Kos celeb, though the world of blogs is new to him. "I threw my hat into the ring in the old statehouse a couple of months ago. I had my family there, and my 19-year-old daughter introduces me--her name is Emily--and somebody sends my wife a blog entry that says, 'Ned is OK, but Emily is a hottie.' So I got introduced to blogs." Although he himself has yet to blog, he reciprocates the online community's enthusiasm. "I like the blogs for two reasons. . . . They were the first guys to ask me about why I am in this race and what I am serious about . . . and they get a lot of people to turn out at Naples Pizza in New Haven. You walk in there not knowing whether there's going to be 10 guys eating pepperoni or 100 guys hanging from the rafter, and thanks to MyLeftNutmeg.com, there's more likely to be 100 people there."

Read the whole thing. Taranto notes that the Lieberman primary race is another race in a series of elections serving as national bellwethers in an election year that looks to resemble if not repeat the electoral earthquake of 1994 (although political and institutional changes since 1994 make a Democrat congressional takeover in 2006 problematic).