A spokesman for US Senator Joseph Lieberman (Democrat, Connecticut) added a twist to the state's Democratic primary election by claiming that their website was hacked, presumably by plumbers associated with challenger Ned Lamont.

"Voters cannot go to our website. They cannot access information," Lieberman campaign manager Sean Smith explained. "It is a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise voters.

The Lamont camp denied any knowledge of the alleged attack, and denounced anyone who might have mounted it. They also offered to lend the Lieberman people one of their admins, in hopes of helping them get their system working again.

The hacking accusation didn't win any sympathy votes for Lieberman, who lost the primary by a margin of 52 per cent to 48 per cent of the vote. The 2000 vice-presidential hopeful is now threatening to run as an independent candidate for the Senate in the 2006 election.

Pundits have speculated that Lieberman was marked for defeat when President Bush kissed his cheek, Judas-wise, after last year's state of the union address, in recognition of the Senator's support for the Iraq war. Lamont, an inexperienced candidate, ran on an anti-war platform.

Connecticut Republicans are delighted to be facing an anti-war opponent who can be smeared as soft on terrorism. They're also pleased that Lieberman has decided to split the Democratic vote as his revenge for losing, which will go a long way toward securing a Republican victory. ®

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