Losing Joementum

In a Quinnipiac University poll released today, Ned Lamont surged ahead of Lieberman by four points among likely voters. Lamont has 51 to Lieberman's 47.

Anti-war Connecticut U.S. Senate candidate Ned Lamont has surged to a razor-thin 51 - 47 percent lead over incumbent Sen. Joseph Lieberman among likely Democratic primary voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 55 - 40 percent lead for Sen. Lieberman among likely Democratic primary voters in a June 8 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

But the poll also confirms what we've known all along, that in a three-way race, with Lieberman as an independent, things start to look better for the schmuck. Here are the likely election matchups.

• Lieberman defeats Republican challenger Alan Schlesinger 68 - 15 percent;
• Lamont beats Schlesinger 45 - 22 percent, with 24 percent undecided;
• Running as an independent, Lieberman gets 51 percent, to 27 percent for Lamont and 9 percent for Schlesinger.

And Bill Clinton, who can apparently forgive all things, will be stumping for Lieberman next week. But who knows, he might also miss his train.