CO, CT, MI, MO netphorians: Did you vote today?

[BlueStar]

Today is the primary election in CO, CT, MI, and MO. Be sure to vote!

So, uh, what do you think the odds are for Lieberman losing the Dem primary in CT?

[Speed0fPain]

ALL HAIL GEORGE!!!!!!!!! YOU DEMMY BASTARDS

[D.]

i have yet to but probably will make a late vote. the voting place is like, a block away.

[ravenguy2000]

Voted for Lamont at about 6:30

[Future Boy]

Thats running really close. I hope Lamont pulls it out.

[wally]

Declared for Lamont.

[wally]

That crazy McKinney bitch is losing too. Not bad.

[Future Boy]

Where'd you see that?

[BlueStar]

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- With the polls closed, cable executive Ned Lamont led Sen. Joseph Lieberman in early returns in the Democratic primary for the Connecticut Senate nomination.

With 14 percent of the precincts reporting, Lamont led Lieberman 57 percent to 42 percent, according to The Associated Press.

Lieberman, who was former Vice President Al Gore's running mate in 2000, is seeking the Democratic nod for a fourth Senate term. Lamont, a former Greenwich city councilman, is running his first statewide campaign.

Voter turnout was high in the high-profile primary fight, according to Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz. Bysiewicz predicted Tuesday that turnout for the primary could reach 45 to 50 percent.

Bysiewicz's office said turnout was high, compared to previous elections, in Greenwich -- Lamont's hometown -- as well as Hartford, Danbury and New Briton.

New Briton and Hartford are considered liberal areas, with votes in the 2004 presidential election for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry exceeding two-thirds in both cities.

Both Lieberman's and Lamont's campaigns claimed that high voter turnout would help their chances for victory.

Meanwhile, Rep. Cynthia McKinney -- a vehement critic of President Bush who recently avoided charges in a March scuffle with a Capitol Police officer -- is seeking to hold her seat in a runoff against Hank Johnson, a former county commissioner in her suburban Atlanta district.

With 12 percent of precincts reporting, Johnson led McKinney 74 percent to 26 percent, according to Georgia's Secretary of State.

Primaries are also taking place in Colorado, Michigan and Missouri, but the Democratic race in Connecticut is the most closely watched of Tuesday's races.

All eyes on Connecticut
Lieberman was an unsuccessful contender for the Democratic presidential nod in 2004. He has been blasted by many Democrats in Connecticut and nationwide not only for his outspoken support of the war in Iraq, but also for his criticism of fellow Democrats who disagree. (Watch Lieberman's fans and foes among the voters -- 1:36)

"I think too often, Sen. Lieberman goes out of his way to undermine the Democratic message," Lamont said Monday.

In a state President Bush lost by a 10-point spread in 2004, Lieberman's critics have crystallized their complaint in a single image: Bush's embrace of Lieberman before the 2005 State of the Union address. Lamont boosters have mocked the scene with a pickup-mounted replica of the scene, dubbed "The Kiss."

Lieberman calls accusations that he has been a "cheerleader" for Bush "ridiculous." Former President Bill Clinton, former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland and fellow Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd have campaigned for him in recent weeks.

"I have opposed most of what this president has asked us to do in Congress," he said. "And secondly, that somehow I am not a real Democrat? It is outrageous."

Lieberman trailed Lamont by 6 percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll out Monday -- about half the spread he faced the previous week.

However, despite the recent polling, Lieberman told campaign supporters that he expects to be the winner at the end of the evening.

"I gotta tell you, I have a very good feeling as we begin this primary day," Lieberman said. "This primary is not a referendum on George Bush. This is a choice they have between their senator, Joe Lieberman, and a guy coming up without any experience, running on one issue and running a negative campaign."

Despite Lieberman's expressed confidence, he has also threatened to run as an independent in November's election if he fails to claim the party's nomination, further enraging party activists and many Web commentators, who have boosted Lamont.

A source close to Lieberman told CNN that Lieberman has the 7,500 signatures necessary to get on the ballot as an independent candidate. A senior Democrat told CNN that he is asking Lieberman to wait until after tonight before deciding about running as an independent and to "not let the passions of the moment" dictate his decision.

On Tuesday afternoon, Lieberman campaign accused Lamont's of "dirty politics" on Tuesday after a denial-of-service attack knocked out the Lieberman campaign Web site. Lieberman spokesman Smith compared the hack to the kind of tactics used by Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser. (Full Story)

"There is no place for these Rovian tactics in Democratic politics, and we demand that our opponent calls off his supporters and their online attack dogs," Smith said.

The Lamont campaign has denied any involvement.

When asked by reporters at a campaign stop Tuesday if he or his campaign was responsible for the incident, Lamont said, "No, it's just another scurrilous charge."

Liz Dupont-Diehl, a Lamont spokeswoman, told CNN that the campaign "denounced and condemned" the action, and she denied any involvement by Lamont or members of his campaign. She added that the Lamont campaign did not know who was behind the incident.

McKinney trails challenger
Meanwhile, McKinney appeared to face an uphill battle in Georgia's 4th Congressional District, a largely African-American district she has represented for most of the past 14 years. Published polls showed her trailing Johnson, who has called her "an embarrassment" to the district.

McKinney, an outspoken liberal, calls herself Bush's "worst nightmare." She lost her bid for a sixth term in Congress in 2002, after she suggested that members of the Bush administration stood to profit from the war that followed the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington -- but won the seat back in 2004.

In March, she clashed with a Capitol Police officer who stopped her to check her credentials. She announced later that she was sorry for what happened, and a District of Columbia grand jury that looked into the matter brought no charges. But she's still defending herself.

"The fact of the matter is, I was never charged with anything," she said in one of her debates with Johnson.

She fell short of a win in a three-way race in July's Democratic congressional primary, leading Johnson 47 percent to 44 percent. Johnson said her scuffle with the police was "one more controversy that could have been avoided."

He says he's running on the "ABC" ticket -- "Anybody but Cynthia" -- and promises to be a less divisive figure if elected.

CNN's Candy Crowley, Rusty Dornin, Robert Yoon and Dana Bash contributed to this report

cnn.com

[Tchocky]

So far, Mike Bouchard is winning the Rep. primary in MI for the senate seat up in MI; but there are still over 1/2 of precincts left to report. I didn't vote, but I would have voted for Butler.

Like it matters, though. DeVos and Bouchard/Butler have no chance of unseating Granholm or Stabenow. The key in MI is control of Detroit, which hasn't voted Rep. in years. Win Detroit, and it doesn't matter how well you do anywhere else in MI; you're gonna win the election.

A pity, really, seeing as this state has gone down the shitter with Granholm as governor.

[BlueStar]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

I didn't vote, but I would have voted for Butler.

Why not? You have no right to bitch about your state going down the shitter now.

[Future Boy]

MSNBC.com:
Three-term Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) concedes defeat in primary

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by BlueStar

Why not? You have no right to bitch about your state going down the shitter now.

Eh, the guy I wanted to win didn't have much of a chance.

[Nimrod's Son]

If Lieberman runs as an independent, this could be very interesting and very bad news for the Democrats

[ravenguy2000]

WTF, "New Briton" ?????

It's "New Britain." Wow, how sloppy and weird, CNN.

[BlueStar]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

Eh, the guy I wanted to win didn't have much of a chance.

Well yeah, when his supporters have that kind of attitude and can't even be assed to vote, of course he doesn't have a good chance of winning. And there was more than one thing on the ballot to vote for!

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by BlueStar

Well yeah, when his supporters have that kind of attitude and can't even be assed to vote, of course he doesn't have a good chance of winning. And there was more than one thing on the ballot to vote for!

Milliages that were gonna pass, a tax break that was gonna pass...really worth my time.

I'll vote in November.

[BlueStar]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

Milliages that were gonna pass, a tax break that was gonna pass...really worth my time.

I'll vote in November.