<div><A href="http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-senrace-poll-0803,0,7774778.story?coll=hc-big-headlines-breaking">http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-senrace-poll-0803,0,7774778.story?coll=hc-big-headlines-breaking</A></div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div><STRONG>New Poll Shows Lieberman Losing More Ground To Lamont</STRONG> <BR><BR><BR><BR>BY SUSAN HAIGH<BR>The Associated Press<BR><BR>August 3 2006, 8:38 AM EDT<BR><BR>Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont, a political novice fueled by deep pockets and voters' outrage over the Iraq war, has extended his lead over veteran Sen. Joe Lieberman less than a week before Connecticut's Democratic primary, according to a new poll released Thursday.<BR><BR>Lamont has support from 54 percent of likely Democrat voters in the new Quinnipiac University poll, while Lieberman has support from 41 percent of voters. A similar poll July 20 showed Lamont with a slight advantage for the first time in the campaign.<BR><BR>"Senator Lieberman's campaign bus seems to be stuck in reverse," poll director Douglas Schwartz said. "Despite visits from former President Bill Clinton and other big-name Democrats, Lieberman has not been able to stem the tide to Lamont."<BR><BR>Only 5 percent of Democratic primary voters remain undecided and 85 percent of those who've chosen a candidate said their minds are made up, the poll found. Among Lamont's supporters, 65 percent said their vote is mainly against Lieberman.<BR><BR>Lieberman, 64, one of the Senate's most well-known Democrats and his party's nominee for vice president in 2000, has been harshly criticized in Connecticut for his support of the Iraq war and his perceived closeness with President Bush and Republicans.<BR><BR>Lamont, 52, who owns a successful cable television firm, has been able to tap into rank-and-file Democratic voters' frustration with Lieberman as well as his personal wealth, contributing $3 million to his campaign.<BR><BR>Liz Dupont-Diehl, a spokeswoman for the Lamont campaign, says the poll shows the message is catching on.<BR><BR>"It shows that people are hearing the messsage and like the message of change and hope," Dupont-Diehl said. "Although we realize the only vote that counts is Aug. 8, we hope this energizes our base."<BR><BR>The Lieberman campaign said the latest poll shows that much work must be done by to win the primary on Tuesday.<BR><BR>"We are working night and day to make sure Senator Lieberman wins the primary. We are going to fight for every last vote," Marion Steinfels, a spokeswoman for the campaign said Thursday morning.<BR><BR>The race has attracted both national and international attention.<BR><BR>"Three months ago, Lamont was virtually unheard of, except perhaps on the blogs," Schwartz said, referring to the online logs. "As Democrats get to know Lamont better, they like what they see. Lamont has established himself as a credible alternative to Lieberman."<BR><BR>Among likely primary voters, 37 percent said they have favorable opinion of Lieberman; 34 percent said unfavorable; and 26 percent said mixed. For Lamont, 46 percent view him favorably; 14 percent unfavorably; 20 percent are mixed; 19 percent haven't heard enough; and one percent refused to answer.<BR><BR>Clinton's endorsement of Lieberman, which the campaign is using in its TV ads, has little effect on voters, according to the poll. Only 2 percent said it was their main reason for supporting Lieberman; 19 percent said it was only one of several reasons; and 78 percent said it was not a reason for their support.<BR><BR>Hedging his bets against a primary loss, Lieberman is also collecting signatures to petition his way onto the ballot as an independent should he lose Tuesday's primary. Unaffiliated voters outnumber Democrats and Republicans in the state, and Lieberman has typically drawn strong support from both unaffiliated and Republican voters.<BR><BR>The Quinnipiac poll also showed that Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy cut New Haven Mayor John DeStefano's lead in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in half. DeStefano leads Malloy 48 percent to 38 percent among likely primary voters. That's compared to the July 20 poll when DeStefano lead 52 percent to 32 percent. According to the poll, 13 percent of voters remain undecided and 36 percent said they might still change their minds.<BR><BR>Both men are hoping to unseat Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who has earned high marks in popularity polls since replacing disgraced Gov. John Rowland in 2004. Rowland served a federal prison term on a corruption charge.<BR><BR>The telephone survey of 890 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted from July 25-31. It has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.<BR><BR>---<BR><BR>Editors note: Susan Haigh has covered the Connecticut statehouse and political scene since 1994. </div><p>  <hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br> Get on board. <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=40791/*http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/handraisers">You're invited</a> to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta.