Death Of A Party?

The Connecticut primary is over and, unless you've been living in a cave or shut away in solitary confinement, you know that Joe Lieberman was defeated by Ned Lamont to be the Democrats nominee for the U.S. Senate. The Democrats voted out a long standing moderate Democrat in the Senate to replace him with an anti-war leftist “trust fund baby” who has no real message other than he's not a moderate like Joe Lieberman.

Many pundits on both sides have opined that this primary race is an indicator of the shift in the Democratic Party. Those with a leftist bent seem to think this means a revitalization of the party with an inevitable retaking of the White House. (I refuse to use the term liberal in this case because it has been twisted to mean something entirely different from its classical meaning. When I say liberal, I mean a classic liberal, not the extreme leftist/socialist version. Therefore leftist is the one I am using.) Those with a moderate or conservative point of view see it as the death knell for the party of Jefferson. I think the second viewpoint is more likely to be the true one.

One thing that leads me to this conclusion is the number of liberal, moderate, and conservative Democrats that have left or are planning to leave the party due to the outcome of this race. I polled a number of friends of mine in Connecticut – Democrats all - and with one exception, they all feel the Democratic Party has abandoned them or has been taken from them by fringe elements within the party. (Of course I take this with a grain of salt as most of those friends are moderate Democrats.)

Can this shift in the party be blamed upon Bush Derangement Syndrome, or has some other malady befallen this once great party?