How Will Lieberman's Influence Be Felt?

Speaking of Lieberman, a probably overly optimistic thought occurred to me today, but I thought I'd share it. Lieberman wasn't the only incumbent to lose a primary last night. Representatives Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and Joe Schwarz of Michigan also went down to challengers from their own parties. While Ned Lamont attacked Lieberman from the left, liberal McKinney was defeated by a moderate opponent, and moderate Schwarz failed to fend off a challenger from the far right. This isn't an ideological trend, then, but an anti-incumbent one. As we move closer to November, I expect the discontent with out sitting elected officials to strengthen.

So here's the optimistic part of my thinking: I wrote last night that Lieberman's staying in the Connecticut senate race had the potential to take the air out of other races against vulnerable sitting Republicans. While I still think Lieberman will take attention away from those races, what if it doesn't do that much damage? What if his situation influences the other way, possibly even helping Dem challengers? If the country is in a growing anti-incumbent mood, what might help feed it more than an incumbent who was defeated for reelection but refuses to go away? Could that fire up the feeling against incumbents even more? Maybe it's wishful thinking. Certainly it's heavily optimistic. But can we be sure it's not possible?