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.  The Hotline Blogometer is saying that weak GOP candidate Schlesinger may drop out of the race because of (*cough*) "gambling" problems.  Locals have been saying for a while that if Lieberman runs as an independent then the GOP might come in, launch a real candidate and try to take the seat.  A possibility that would not exist if Lieberman just accepted the will of the Democrats on August 8 and pledged, like Ned, to support the winner in November.  (There are also rumors that the GOP is clearing the field to join NARAL and endorse Joe themselves.)  Screw the party, once again it's All About Joe. (hat tip Matt Stoller)

.  In Lieberman's book In Praise of Public Life he indicates that when he's running for office he polls every day.  So the horrible decisions he's making can only be seen as driven by the even worse things he's learing from his pollsters. His brilliant political instincts have now got him bragging about all the earmarks he's bagged, as he did in the debate.  Does someone want to tell Joe that this might not play too well with the Republicans he's courting?  He's already earned the enmity of the liberal blogosphere, it should be interesting to see him walk into the sights of the Porkbusters set too. 

.  Ned's Messy Desk commercial has been viewed over 125,000 times.  It's great.  You can see it here. 

.  Colin McEnroe has a podcast of his interview of Ralph Nader up (I'm in there too somewhere).  As Colin says, "Nader is like kryptonite for Joe....He remembers icky stuff that Lieberman has done that even Lieberman doesn't remember."  Well worth a listen.

.  As seen in the debate, Joe has evidently got a bug up his ass about Annie and Ned Lamont's tax returns (watch millionaire Joe try to play the class card) and he's polling about that too.  So Joe Conason quite fairly asks this morning -- why won't Lieberman release the tax returns and financial information regarding his pharmaceutical lobbyist wife Hadassah?  It's especially relevant in light of Holy Joe's big bucks donations from Big Pharma and his enthusiastic support of regressive drug legislation that hurts consumers, especially old people.  I'd just like to remind everyone that Hadassah's firm, Hill and Knowlton, are the ones who completely fabricated the story about Iraqi soldiers snatching babies out of incubators and killing them during the first Gulf War. That's some high moral ground.

.  Arianna lays in to Bill Clinton, who made the comment that Democrats "ought to be whipped if we allow our differences over what to do now over Iraq divide us."  I have to say I agree with Bill. If all the hawks will just admit that they were wrong, pour themselves a nice tall glass of STFU and throw Lieberman under the bus we can get about the business listening to those who have been right about this matter all along. It really is the most sensible way to find a solution.

.  If you're an unaffiliated voter looking to switch parties in Connecticut in order to be able to vote in the primary, you have until August 7 to do it. The Secretary of State says interest in the primary is causing increased unaffiliated voter switching.

.  Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post:   "Lieberman's ultimate problem isn't fanatical bloggers, any more than Lyndon Johnson's was crazy, antiwar Democrats. His problem is that Bush, and the war that both he and Bush have championed, is speeding the ongoing realignment of the Northeast. His problem, dear colleagues, is Connecticut."

.  Paul Bass reports that one of the founders of the "What Can You Do For Joe Lieberman" Party, Vincent Mauro, is somewhat less than enthusiastic about the job he got his arm twisted volunteered for.

.  And Crooks & Liars has an oldie-but-goodie up of Holy Joe calilng out those of us who criticized the President and his war as traitors.  Lest we forget.