Lamont, Lieberman renew rivalry over Iran

  
A notorious hawk promulgates a hard-line approach against a Middle East regime, while his dove counterpart errs on the side of caution.

Where have we heard that before, Connecticut?

It’s shades of 2006 all over again for Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont, who tangled in one of the most competitive Senate races in the nation that year over the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Lieberman’s staunch support for the war cost him the Democratic nomination, forcing him to run as an independent against Lamont in the general election that he won.

This time, the flashpoint is Iran.

Lamont is funding a digital advertising campaign supporting the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran that includes the header, “vote for diplomacy not war.” It’s directed at U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who is the last member of Connecticut’s all-Democratic congressional delegation yet to decide whether he will back the controversial accord. All six others support the measure. 

Lobbying against the agreement? You guessed it. Lieberman. The retired senator is on the advisory board of Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran, an offshoot of the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that is running its own ads. 

Neil Vigdor