June 29 (Bloomberg) -- If only a kiss were just a kiss.

The peck on the cheek delivered by President George W. Bush to three-term Senator Joseph Lieberman at the 2005 State of the Union was seen around the world, especially in Connecticut where Democrats are hopping mad about Lieberman's general coziness with Bush and, in particular, his support for the war in Iraq.

Lieberman is locked in a fierce contest to hold on to his seat, challenged by Ned Lamont, a Greenwich businessman with a vast fortune and the wind at his back, going from single digits in the polls to 40 percent. He pulled off an upset in May by getting a third of the Democratic convention vote, forcing Lieberman into an August primary.

Lieberman tries to brush off the kiss as just a whisper in the ear. But it's a vivid symbol of what's ticking off party activists, and it has found its way onto a campaign button picturing the two hugging with the words: ``The Kiss: Too Close for Comfort.''

The incumbent not only supported Bush before the war when he thought there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he supports him still. As recently as last week when the Senate was debating two proposals by Democratic Senators John Kerry and Carl Levin to set a date for the withdrawal of the troops, Lieberman was one of the first to speak against doing any such thing, saying that ``retreat and defeat. . . would be terrible for the safety and security of the American people.''

Hating What's Loved

At another time, that might be seen as sticking by principle, even if it's not yours. Voters often come to hate the thing they love, like Lieberman's independent streak. An affable, easygoing, non-strident pol, Connecticut's junior senator has long been pro-defense, a stance welcomed in a state that houses United Technologies Corp., the maker of Sikorsky helicopters, and the New London submarine base at Groton.

While Lieberman annoyed Democrats by famously scolding former President Bill Clinton for his Monica episode and voting to confirm Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, he voted against confirming Justice Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. He also opposes Bush on numerous issues, especially global warming.

He fought Bush to get him to create the Homeland Security Department and has been one of his harshest critics on how it has been run ever since. According to the Congressional Quarterly, Lieberman voted with his party 90 percent of the time and he's reliably liberal on gay rights, abortion, gun control and the environment.

After beating Republican Lowell Weicker by a wafer-thin margin in 1988, Lieberman was easily re-elected and would be again if more than 60 percent of the state's voters weren't against the war and liberal bloggers weren't treating Lieberman's defeat as a test case of their clout. While the latest Quinnipiac poll shows Lieberman up by 15 points, Lamont has gained 21 points in the last month.

Weak Reviews

Lamont and his neophyte campaign don't get good reviews, even from anti-Lieberman folks. But he doesn't have to. He looks like an overmanaged rookie who sometimes reads his stage directions aloud.

When asked whether he was worth $90 million or $300 million at the May convention, he said that his campaign manager told him not to say. The staff adjutant of the Connecticut branch of the American Legion, for which flag desecration is almost the only issue that matters, says Lamont told him he was for the flag-burning amendment just voted down in the Senate. Lamont now says otherwise. On Iraq, he and his campaign couldn't decide which proposal for withdrawing troops he supported. The latest answer is Kerry's.

Take a Vacation

The primary is on Aug. 8, when most people are on vacation, or cranky because they aren't. The low turnout is expected to be composed mainly of those mad as hell at the incumbent, which is why Lieberman hasn't ruled out a run as an independent. To do that, he would have to collect 7,500 valid signatures by 4 p.m. the day after the primary. And he can't undertake the collection quietly --- he has to file a written application. So he must begin the process soon if he's to do it at all, alienating even more Democrats in the process.

The Lieberman camp has dug up some votes Lamont cast as a Greenwich selectman cutting traditional Democratic programs like education and point out that Lamont is Democrat Lite, with support from prominent Republicans like Weicker and the former chairman of the state Republican Party.

The bad news for Lieberman is that the race isn't about Lamont -- it's about Lieberman's support for the war. At eight stops last Friday at diners, a senior-citizens center and a hospital in Norwalk, Lieberman was greeted like the popular senator he's been for almost two decades. But the story the next day was about the Vietnam veteran at one event who insistently took issue with Lieberman's position on the war.

Local newspapers aren't filled with good news. Lieberman has built a reputation as a conciliator who makes the effort to transcend the bitter divides of ideology and party that scar Washington -- traits that would serve him well in the general election, which polls show him winning handily.

But Lieberman belongs to a party that sometimes eats its own and has no interest in having any contact with Bush, much less of the kissing sort. They're only interested in stopping him.

(Margaret Carlson, author of ``Anyone Can Grow Up: How George Bush and I Made It to the White House'' and former White House correspondent for Time magazine, is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Margaret Carlson in Washington at mcarlson3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 29, 2006 00:11 EDT