Landrieu With Lieberman All The Way

This may not be news to some in Louisiana, but to those of us outside the state, waiting for definitive, post-primary updates, I guess it doesn’t come as much of a shock that centrist Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is firmly behind Joe Lieberman in Connecticut's Senate contest, despite Joe losing the August 8 primary to Democrat Ned Lamont.

The Times-Picayune reported on August 6 that Landrieu would stick with Lieberman to the bitter end, even if Lamont captured the Democratic nomination.

"Win or lose in Tuesday's primary, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., will have Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., on his side," wrote Bruce Alpert and Bill Walsh, of the Times-Picayune. "According to aides, Landrieu assured Lieberman that she'll support him as a Democrat or independent candidate for the Senate. Lieberman is considered vulnerable mainly because of his support for the Iraq war, which is unpopular in Connecticut."

But those things can sometimes change once the ballots are counted and the voters have chosen a new standard bearer for the general election.

Not in this case.

Adam Sharp, Senator Landrieu's Communications Director, confirmed with me this morning that Landrieu will indeed support Lieberman over Democratic nominee Ned Lamont.

"Senator Landrieu is supporting Senator Lieberman," wrote Sharp in an e-mail. "We have not issued any press release or anything on it, but have confirmed it to anyone who has called. She did state her support publicly before the primary, as reported by the Times Picayune and called Senator Lieberman the day after the primary to reiterate her position."

Our current tally has 25 Democratic Senators on the record as supporting Lamont and, with Landrieu's turn against the party, there are now five Senate Democrats -- including Carper (DE), Pryor (AR), Salazar (CO) and Nelson (NE) -- who will support Lieberman over Lamont through November 7.

If you would care to contact Senator Landrieu's office on this, they can be reached at 202-224-5824 or via her web form at http://landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm. If you want to save some money, the toll-free number for the U.S. Capitol is 888-355-3588. They can then connect you to Landrieu's office.

You can reach Bob Geiger at geiger.bob@gmail.com