It's not the heat, it's the humidity

Lieberman can't take the former, so he's blaming it on the latter.

"While I believe that I will win the Aug. 8 primary, I know that there are no guarantees in elections," Mr. Lieberman said at a brief news conference at the State Capitol with his wife, Hadassah, beside him. The results, he said, could be skewed by a low turnout in a sultry August, or a last-minute media barrage by his opponent, who has already spent more than $1 million on his campaign.

"My friends," the senator said, "after 18 years of working for, fighting for and delivering for all the people of Connecticut, I want the opportunity to put my case before all the people of Connecticut in November."

For months, Senator Lieberman, 64, has refused to rule out an independent run as his support in the party waned. Mr. Lamont, who announced his candidacy in March, won a surprising one-third of the votes at the party's state convention in May; a June 8 Quinnipiac University poll found him drawing to within 15 percentage points of the senator among likely primary voters.

Senator Lieberman's decision to announce that he would gather signatures was determined in part by the tight election calendar this year: Petitions must be submitted by 4 p.m. on Aug. 9, just a day after the primary.

The open contempt for Democratic voters in the state is really chafing. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if Republicans and Independents in Connecticut support his bid. A lot of Republicans are still angry he ran for both Senate re-election and VP in 2000, and Independents in the state can hardly be characterized as Bush supporters.