Internet, activists help topple prominent Democrat

INTERNET, ACTIVISTS HELP TOPPLE PROMINENT DEMOCRAT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Patricia Wilson]
Fueled by opposition to the Iraq war and anger at President Bush, liberal grass-roots and Internet activists on Wednesday claimed their most significant political victory -- the defeat of Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman. The three-term senator from Connecticut was repudiated on Tuesday by voters from his own party who chose Ned Lamont -- a relative unknown with a fierce anti-war message -- to represent Democrats in the November election. "The winner is people-powered politics," declared the Daily Kos Web site, a sentiment that echoed throughout the liberal blogosphere. Lamont, a millionaire businessman who has never held state or federal office, had almost zero name recognition and very little political experience when he entered the race. But his vociferous opposition to the Iraq war and Bush's pursuit of it drew the attention of activists, bloggers and groups like MoveOn.org, which unleashed an army of volunteers who went house-to-house in Connecticut for months and made 80,000 phone calls in the days before the primary vote. "What you're witnessing is the democratization of democracy and don't expect it to be pretty," said Carol Darr, director of George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-08-09T193948Z_01_N09300738_RTRUKOC_0_US-CONNECTICUT-ACTIVISTS.xml

* Lieberman defeat a win for 'Netroots' politics?
http://news.com.com/Lieberman+defeat+a+win+for+Netroots+politics/2100-1028_3-6103833.html?tag=nefd.lede