illumined horizon

Now that Lamont has won the primary, and the net roots, the NYT editorial board and some notable African-American leaders are all in jubilation, it remains to be seen what the overall reach of this victory will be. Will this win have reverberations throughout the Democratic Party to make it stand up for progressive beliefs, or will this be an isolated occurrence, a one shot deal? I'm not in the business of making this type of prognostication, but keeping in mind this question will make the weeks and months ahead perhaps some of the most politically interesting since George W. Bush took (by theft) office.

For one thing it's unclear to me just how much of a lefty Lamont actually is, this could be beside the point, however, considering the real achievement here might be that Lamont defeated maybe the party's most conservative non-southern Democrat. And, by that standard anything is better than nothing. Regardless of Lamont's progressive credentials (or lack thereof) this victory has minimally shaken up the center to right of the Democratic Party (as Lamont was clearly the perceived progressive in this race), forcing these folks (hopefully) to search deeply into their consciences, and reassess if their positions, are actually those that will bring electoral victories to the party. I can already see that this theory might only be applicable to the blue states, but even if that is all Lamont and company have achieved, it's more than a pyrrhic victory.