Why are bloggers targeting Lieberman?

Ideology vs. Pragmatism
So if the liberal bloggers are comfortable standing behind those candidates, why are they going after Lieberman? One reason, political observers say, is because of his steadfast support for the Iraq war. Another is that critics believe Lieberman -- from condemning Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky affair, to equivocating on Bush's plan to partially privatize Social Security -- has undermined his party. "Every time the Democrats speak together and stand boldly, there's Joe Lieberman undermining them and playing the other side," says Eli Pariser, executive director of the liberal group MoveOn.

But a third reason why Lieberman -- and not Casey or Webb or Nelson -- might be facing the ire of liberals is perhaps the most pragmatic reason of all: because Republicans have little chance of winning this Connecticut Senate seat, regardless of what happens in the primary. The Hotline's Todd suggests that liberals look at this deep-blue state and wonder why they can't have a senator who better reflects their views than the moderate Lieberman.

Not everyone, however, views the bloggers on the left as political pragmatists. Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council who supports Lieberman in the primary, says that the Casey, Webb, and Nelson examples are exceptions -- and that the liberals are far more concerned with ideology than electability. Wittmann believes that these bloggers want to cleanse the party of any trace of centrism and move the party leftward. "The ramifications of this race extend far beyond the borders of Connecticut," he says.

2008 and beyond
But Moulitsas of the Daily Kos disagrees. "Our crashing of Washington's gates wasn't about ideology, it was about pragmatism," he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed in May. He noted, in fact, that he and other liberal bloggers supported Howard Dean in the last presidential election "despite his moderate, pro-gun, pro-balanced budget record."

That was 2004. How will they react to the Democratic candidates who are eyeing the White House in 2008? Political analysts interviewed for this article speculate that they will likely support the most electable liberal candidate they can find. That could mean someone like former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner or former vice presidential nominee John Edwards.

Interactive Analyzing the 2008 presidential field

What about Hillary Clinton? Many liberal bloggers have made it clear she's not their first choice. In his Washington Post piece Moulitsas said Clinton "epitomizes the 'insider' label of the early crowd of 2008 Democratic contenders. She's part of the Clinton machine that decimated the national Democratic Party. And she remains surrounded by many of the old consultants who counsel meekness and caution." And their assault on Lieberman -- who, like Clinton, voted for the Iraq war -- hasn't gone unnoticed by Clinton's supporters, who believe she could be the next target.

But Todd says that Clinton's recent hiring of Peter Daou, who managed blog outreach for John Kerry's presidential campaign, could signal that she is interested in reaching out to the blogosphere. Clinton, he said, might not be their first choice, but she "doesn't want to become their last choice. If she became a bane, that would be a problem [for her]."

Which is something the embattled Lieberman knows plenty about.

NBC political reporter Mark Murray contributed to this story.

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