Confirmed: Inouye Dropping Lieberman and Supporting Lamont

I promised I would update you on my post earlier today on Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) dropping his support for Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Senatorial race and I just heard from Mike Yuen, Inouye's Communications Director, who confirms that Inouye has indeed dropped his support for Lieberman.

"I can confirm for you that Senator Inouye was quoted accurately in Dave Shapiro’s blog entry of Aug. 28," said Yuen.

"Senator Inouye tried his best to help ensure a victory by Senator Lieberman in Connecticut’s Democratic primary. Unfortunately, that did not happen," said Yuen, in a formal statement. "After the primary, Senator Inouye was most disappointed and unhappy when Senator Lieberman remarked that the Democratic Party no longer represented the mainstream of America, and that the Democratic Party had lost its values."

“I am a proud Democrat,” Yuen quotes Inouye as saying.

Equally important, is Yuen's confirmation that Senator Inouye will support Ned Lamont as the Democratic voters' choice in the general election. Yuen verified Inouye's statement -- also quoted in Shapiro’s column -- that, while he hasn’t yet communicated directly with either candidate, "if people ask I'll tell them I back Lamont."

Look for more developments on Democratic support for Lieberman's independent candidacy when the Senate comes back from August recess on September 5.