This afternoon at the Rajun Cajun restaurant in Hartford, Joe Lieberman told reporters that he was pleased at a recent Quinnipiac poll that showed his opponent’s lead down from 14 points to only six. With the primary election mere hours away, Lieberman made many of the same points that he made in a major campaign speech last night. He said:

I soul-search everyday on Iraq, and maybe what I didn’t do enough in this campaign is convey that… of course I want to bring our troops home, but I want to bring our troops home in victory and honor. That’s what we need, and that’s what they deserve.

Lieberman said that this race is about whether the Democratic Party “will accept a diversity of opinion” on national security. He defined himself as a Democrat in the mold of John F. Kennedy, Harry S Truman and Bill Clinton – that is, one with “a real socially progressive record, and strong on national security.”

He said a victory for Lamont will send a message to the country: “In the Democratic Party, there’s no room for strong-on-security Dems.” He said that would be disastrous for the Democrats. “You can’t win in this country,” he said, “unless you assure people" that you aren’t going to compromise on national security. He said he has backed the war on terror because he never forgets about the “radical Islamic terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and want to do it again.”

(By contrast, Ned Lamont’s position is, “Our nation is stronger when we… negotiate with our enemies.”)

Finally, when asked if he still plans to run as an Independent if he loses Tuesday, Lieberman said that he plans to win, but that “Once I make a decision, I stick with it,” indicating that he will make it a three-way race if Lamont wins the primary.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention: No sightings of the "Lobbyist for Lieberman" at this event. Something tells me that, like Jane Hamsher, he's become something of a liability for his candidate and is keeping a low profile. (No posts from Hamsher at firedoglake or Huffington Post since Saturday.)