Political experts say Lamont victory is bad news for the GOP come this November

A friend sends the following interesting snippets:

Ned Lamont’s victory in the Connecticut Primary is being described as “an ominous signal to other incumbents supportive of President Bush.” With the new CNN poll showing Democrats leading Republicans on the Congressional ballot by 13 percentage points and less than three months to go until Election Day, Republicans are finding themselves in increasing electoral jeopardy. Here’s what the political experts are saying:

Analyst Stuart Rothenberg: “[Democrats] are generally more energized than the Republicans about the war, but not just about the war… They'll want to send a message about the war, about George W. Bush. And it's not a friendly message.”

The Cook Report’s Jennifer Duffy: “I think if you are a candidate who has taken a fairly hard-line on Iraq - you know, that things are going fine and, you know, stay the course - I think that you probably are a little bit more vulnerable.” [NPR, “Talk of the Nation,” 8/8/06]

The Washington Times’ Donald Lambro: “Murphy's Law says that if things can get worse, they probably will and that seems to be the case for President Bush and the Republicans…There is no doubt that Republicans face heavy, maybe hurricane-force winds in the coming weeks. The political climate is hostile to them, there is more intensity among Democratic voters and more pessimism among all voters.”

Pew Research Center Director Andrew Kohut: “…there are an awful lot of independents out there who want something more than Republicans not just being in lockstep with the president.” [NPR, “Talk of the Nation,” 8/8/06]

Marist Institute Polling Director Lee Miringoff: “To the degree that [the Connecticut primary] is seen as a referendum on Iraq, and it does have an impact on turnout, that can make Republican congressional candidates worried.”

ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos: “The fact that a political unknown like Ned Lamont unseated an established Senator like Joe Lieberman shows there’s real anger out in the electorate…that’s bad news for Republicans.”