The Blue State

What Phil Giordano and Ned Lamont have in common

By the stroke of luck or something more than just that, Connecticut Senate challenger Ned Lamont finished with exactly the same number of votes as Lieberman's Republican challenger in 2000.  Both 2006 Democratic Senate candidate Ned Lamont and 2000 Republican Senate candidate Phil Giordano had a total of 448,077 votes.  Except this time Lieberman finished with more than 250,000 votes less than the amount he received in 2000.

Turnout in Connecticut was lower in 2006 than in 2000.  This year, 1,131,692 people voted in the Senate race.  In 2000, 1,311,261 contributed to the results in the Senate race.  Turnout in 2006 was still very high, especially considering that it was a non-presidential year.

CT-Sen: For the last time, HE IS NOT A DEMOCRAT!

Lieberman adds the latest chapter to his status-quo mindset.

Every post that I waste writing about the 2008 presidential campaign or this year's Connecticut Senate race is one less ounce of energy that I could be spending on the most competitive House and Senate contests that will ultimately decide the fate of the United States Congress.  Under that reasoning, this will probably be the last post I make about the Connecticut Senate race between now and the November vote.

A few days ago, Joe Lieberman gave every registered Democrat in Connecticut all the more reason to vote for Ned Lamont -- especially those voters that are hoping for nationwide political change in November:

Lieberman also declined to comment Friday on whether he thinks thenation would be better off with the Democrats in control of the Houseof Representatives. "I haven't thought about that enough to give ananswer," Lieberman told The Courant.

Lieberman also declined to say whether he would vote Democrat in the Connecticut Governors race:

He was similarly elusive about the race for governor. Is he voting forJohn DeStefano Jr., a Democrat and mayor of the city where Liebermanhas lived since the 1960s?

"I'm, uh, I'm having," he stammered, then laughed and said his decision would remain private.

Again, any Connecticut voter that wants sweeping change in Washington has little reason to support a candidate that seems to be more in favor of the national status-quo of closed government.

 

CT-Sen: GOP funneling money to Lieberman

Democratic candidate Ned Lamont is gaining ground on Senator Joe Lieberman in the polls.  The latest Zogby Poll that was released on September 5th gave Lieberman a narrow 46% to 42% advantage.  The incumbent Senator might face more political trouble after a source recently revealed that the Republicans are funneling money to the Lieberman Campaign, which quietly accepted the donation:

TheWhite House funneled millions of dollars through major Republican Partycontributors to Sen. Joseph Lieberman's primary campaign in a failedeffort to ensure the support of the former Democrat for the Bushadministration.

Asenior GOP source said the money was part of Deputy White House Chiefof Staff Karl Rove's strategy to maintain a Republican majority in theSenate in November. The source said Mr. Rove, together with RepublicanNational Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, directed leading pro-Bushcontributors to donate millions of dollars to Mr. Lieberman's campaignfor re-election in Connecticut in an attempt that he would be a"Republican-leaning" senator.

"Joe[Lieberman] took the money but said he would not play ball," the sourcesaid. "That doesn't mean that this was a wasted investment."

The Lieberman Campaign has not responded to these reports.  Meanwhile, there is also other buzz regarding the Connecticut Senate race:

• Jimmy Carter went on Larry King last night and slammed Joe Lieberman for favoring policies that have put our troops in the line of fire without an exit strategy.  "He was one of the originators of public statements that misled theAmerican people into believing that the Iraqi war was justified," the 39th president said on Larry King Live.
• On the campaign trail Wednesday, challenger Ned Lamont said that the United States is now less safe from terrorism because Senators like Joe Lieberman gave the President blind support to go to war in Iraq.  "We have sacrificed our daughters and sons and our treasure in a war wedidn't have to fight," the Democrat said. "We have ignored the real threatsand security needs in the war we should be fighting, the one againstthe terrorists. ... Senator Lieberman believes that President Bush has it right in Iraq. I believe that he's dangerously wrong."

Lastly, from Lincoln Chafee's victory up in Rhode Island two days ago, we can gather that compared to the race in Connecticut the Democratic base is much more fired up than the conservative base is as we get closer to November.  Unlike progressives in Connecticut, grassroots conservatives in Rhode Island could not rally the support needed to get their guy out on top.  However, we need to be cautious.  This latest 9/11 fear-pandering scheme on the part of the GOP is showing signs of working, and might rally the conservative base just in time for the November 7th contest.

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Other sites blogging about the Connecticut Senate race: My Left Nutmeg, Crooks and Liars, Americablog, The Swamp, Edgewise, Raw Story, Emboldened, Media Matters, South Dakota Politics, Firedoglake, Huffington Post, MyDD.

CT-Sen: Lieberman adds a Republican, loses a Democrat

Now that Joe Lieberman has officially abandoned all of the Connecticut voters that showed up to cast their ballots in the dead of summer, he can venture outside the party for support.  Late yesterday, two-time Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp (1976,1996) announced that he will campaign with Mr. Lieberman.

The Senator from Connecticut accepted Kemp's offer, while launching a preemptive attack on anyone that questioned the decision:

"I think if anyone complains about Jack Kemp coming in on my behalf, itjust shows that they're still blinded by the old partisan politics," hesaid.

On the contrary, Ned Lamont supporters would do anything but complain.  In fact, this all positive.  Getting a pro-war gunslinger like Jack Kemp on his side, who in 1996 accused Bill Clinton of waging a campaign "to scare senior citizens," only affirms Lieberman's inability to stand up to President Bush and the big donor Republican establishment.  If anything, Lieberman's Republican friends are a net plus for Lamont, as many political strategists would agree.

Although Lieberman gained the support of Kemp, he lost the backing of Senator Dan Inouye (D-Hawaii).  Inouye's office issued a statement:

"After the primary, Senator Inouye was mostdisappointed and unhappy when Senator Lieberman remarked that theDemocratic Party no longer represented the mainstream of America, andthat the Democratic Party had lost its values," the eight-term Hawaiisenator said in the statement.

Not even Inouye, one of Lieberman's most steadfast supporters, could continue to support the Connecticut Senator's direction.

Here is your Wednesday morning roundup of the other campaign news regarding the Connecticut Senate race:

• The latest Zogby Poll puts Lieberman ten points ahead of Lamont, 49.4% to 39.4%.  However, an American Research Group Poll that came out a few days ago shows the race much tighter.  In that one, Lieberman only holds a 44% to 42% lead over Lamont.  We still have more than two months to go.
• The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has announced that they are endorsing Ned Lamont in the Connecticut Senate race.  They argued that Lieberman is hurting other Democrats.  This certainly falsifies the notion thrown around by many in the traditional media that Lieberman has the complete support of unions.
• According to the anti-Fox News blog News Hounds, as Jack Kemp was given uninterrupted time to campaign for Joe Lieberman on Neil Cavuto's show yesterday, Fox News introduced a graphic that said "Grand Old Party for Joe."  Now there's something that Fox got right!
• The Ned Lamont strategy of trusting the grassroots is paying off for Democratic Congressional candidate Donna Edwards, who is trying to unseat pro-war Democrat Al Wynn.  AlterNet's Don Hazen is calling her "Maryland's Ned Lamont."
• The Lieberman Campaign released their creepiest television ad of this entire election season (and yes, it tops their crazy bear cartoon ad from a few weeks back).  Hey, they can waste their money if they want to.  So no complaints as far as I'm concerned.

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Other sites blogging about the Connecticut Senate Race: Daily Kos, Media Matters, Connecticut Blog, My Left Nutmeg, Huffington Post, Democrats.com, SirotaBlog, Firedoglake,  Political Wire, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, The Washington Note,   News Hounds, Democratic Underground, The Daily, Voice of the People,   MyDD.

Progressive lawmakers slam Cheney-Lieberman pact

Ned Lamont, Russ Feingold and Howard Dean went out in full force on the Sunday talkshows and confronted Joe Lieberman head-on for using the latest terror threats as a pandering opportunity.

Joe Lieberman acting a lot like Dick Cheney.  Let's look at the similarity between the comment Dick Cheney made last week and what former Democrat Joe Lieberman also said. 

First, Dick Cheney:

"And as I look atwhat happened yesterday, it strikes me that it's a perhaps unfortunateand significant development from the standpoint of the Democratic Party ... I think there's a significant bodyof opinion that wants to go back -- I guess the way I would describe itis sort of the pre-9/11 mind set, in terms of how we deal with theworld we live in."

Now compare that with what Joe Lieberman said:

"If we just pick up (and leave Iraq) like Ned Lamont wants us to do, itwill be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted toblow up these planes in this plot hatched in England. It willstrengthen them and they will strike again."

Other than the simplicity in their statements, the two are feeding into Ken Mehlman's belief that Lamont's victory reflected a defeatist attitude on the part of the Democrats.  But just in case they didn't realize it, Connecticut voters, not Ned Lamont, decided the outcome.  Either Cheney and Lieberman reject democracy, or they are clearly out of touch with a majority of taxpaying Connecticut voters.

On ABC's Sunday show "This Week", Russ Feingold came out and defended Ned Lamont from Lieberman's attack:

This morning on ABC’s This Week, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) responded toLieberman’s remarks. “Joe is showing with that regrettable statementthat he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get it,” Feingold said.

Howard Dean called on Joe Lieberman to drop out of the race:

"I know how hard this is for Joe, and he is a good person, but thetruth is I lost one of these races and I got behind my party's nomineeand I think that is what you have to do if you want to help thiscountry," Dean, former governor of Vermont, said on NBC's "Meet thePress."

Ned Lamont also stood up and rebutted Lieberman's Cheney-like tactic of using national security to scare people:

"It surprised me," he said. "It seemed almost orchestrated. It's sortof demeaning to the people of Connecticut. … I thought the senator andthe vice president were both wrong to use that attack (strategy) on thevoters of Connecticut."

Yes, Connecticut voters -- you are exactly who Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman were attacking.  They were trying to insult your intelligence.  They think you don't understand anything about how to keep this country safe.  This November, you can send Lieberman and Cheney the right message by kicking the bums out of Congress.

The Republicans have pretty much backed Lieberman in this race.  When RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman was asked to set the record straight on Sunday's Meet the Press, he dodged the question and would not endorse Republican candidate Alan Schlesinger.  Gee, I wonder who Cheney, Mehlman and Rove are rooting for!
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Other sites blogging about this issue: The Huffington Post, The Left Coaster, Lamontblog, Political Warzone, Unclaimed Territory, Blue and White, Angry Bear, Nameless Cynic, Hotline, Free Democracy, Russ Feingold Force, The Truffle, Getting Elected Blogline, The Astute Bloggers, Vox Mia, Unearth Connecticut, The Future was Today, Nasty Little Man, RW Research.

Now Lieberman can be himself

Now that Joe Lieberman is no longer a Democrat and can act like his true Republican self, he is using the opportunity to mirror President Bush's tactic of using national security as an instrument of fear.  Yesterday, on the campaign stump as an independent candidate, Lieberman used the recent terrorist plot to blow up airliners as a way of attacking Ned Lamont's stance on Iraq:

"If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out by a datecertain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same peoplewho wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England. Itwill strengthen them and they will strike again."

Joe Lieberman could not have illustrated more effectively the talking points that the GOP plan to use during this campaign season to hold onto control of Congress.  They want to portray any policy that runs counter with the Republican Party's position on Iraq as either unpatriotic and emboldening the enemy.  Now that is obviously nothing new.  But at least all Connecticut voters now can know Joe Lieberman's true colors.
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Other sites blogging about this issue: Down with Tyranny, The Huffington Post, Sooner Thought, Later on, Ezra Klein, Firedoglake, Make me a Commentator, Connecticut Blog, The Enigmatic Paradox, The Key Monk, Hotline, The Carpetbagger Report, Battleborn Opinion News, Bring it On!, Courage makes a Majority, The Mahablog.

Ken Mehlman to attack grassroots democracy today

The Washington establishment is shocked that politics driven by real people actually overcame the influence of high-priced spin doctors.  Still, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman plans to use spin this morning to diagnose what happened in Connecticut.

According to the New York Times, Mehlman will address GOP donors in Ohio and portray Lamont's victory as proof that Democrats are weak on national defense:

Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Committee chairman, is planning to give a speech in Columbus, Ohio this morningin which he will use Mr. Lamont’s victory to portray Democrats as aparty weak on national defense, and his affiliation with blogs topresent the Democrats as captive to the extreme wing of the party,Republican aides said.

I never knew that exciting citizens about politics was an extreme thing to do -- I thought it was American.  Gee, I must have missed something then! 

In all actuality, Mehlman and all the Washington elites will do their very best to label bloggers as extreme and off-the-wall.  They have to though.  What happened last night in Connecticut put their very power structure in danger, and they know it.  They are elites who get paranoid about people like you and me having a say in policy because they think we don't know anything.  This condescending, aristocratic attitude has been used for quite some time, and they know it's being challenged.

Just because someone has a spine doesn't make that person extreme.  I respect a number of conservatives, such as Chuck Hagel as a recent example, for having the spine to stand up to the President on Iraq.  That doesn't make him a left-wing wacko -- it makes him a lawmaker who is in touch with a majority of Americans.

So Ken Mehlman can spin his talking points any way he wants.  But when he starts using national security to scare voters from thinking for themselves, that's when we hold him and his party accountable.

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Other sites blogging about this issue: Crimes and Corruption of the New World, The Waters Edge, The Enigmatic Paradox.

CT-Sen: Inspired grassroots politics beats self-centered elitism

Ned Lamont's primary victory would not have been possible had it not been for a newer approach to political campaigning.  Washington-based lobbyists and consultants can only throw money at a campaign, which goes towards reminding people to vote.  But the best kind of campaign is not one that reminds people to vote as a duty, but rather one that inspires people to vote for a cause.  Lamont's approach was people powered politics at the most grassroots level possible.

We saw that play out in the final leg of the campaign.  As nationwide supporters answered Lamont's call to join the thousands of Connecticut volunteers, Joe Lieberman poured money into a last-minute television ad blitz.  The contrast could not have been made more obvious.  Lieberman had the powerful money-men who are among the Washington establishment on his side, while Lamont had real, hard-working, taxpaying families who wanted transparency and accountability in Washington.  It was the old against the new. 

Maybe it's just me, but I think most people in this country are fed up with the old.  They are sick of high-priced lobbyists buying out a government that should be serving the people's interest.  They are sick of no one standing up to a President whose policies are bankrupting our economy, endangering world peace and compromising our own democracy.  And lastly, they are furious that they never had a vote on this war.  On Tuesday night, all those issues were addressed by Democrats as Ned Lamont showed what citizen involvement can do for a great democracy.  Our founding principles were made for nights like this.

Most of all, I am hopeful that Democratic lawmakers will get the message.  As Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos suggested, all of us need to continue our involvement and pressure Democrats to denounce Lieberman's inability to respect the voices of Connecticut Democrats.  There are a few things that each of us can do:

Here's what we all need to do the next few days:

1. Push Harry Reid to strip Lieberman of all committee assignments.

2. Let people know what a sore loser Lieberman is.

3. Get all Democrats -- including Bill Clinton -- to publicly back Ned Lamont.

4. Get the Democratic interest groups who backed Lieberman to switch allegiances in the general.

After Tuesday night's speech, where he officially declared his intention to stay in the race, Joe Lieberman officially forfeited his party affiliation.  He is no longer a Democrat, and he should not be treated like one either.  Lieberman could have ended on a high note and left the race with the respect of all progressives for his dedicated public service over the years.  But he chose the other alternative -- and that other alternative was to ignore the very election process that this very nation is founded on.  It's ironic that Lieberman echoes President Bush's belief about aggressively spreading democracy around the world when he rejects that very electoral system on his own soil.  I don't see any reason to take him seriously.

Please do what you can to help the Lamont Campaign, and pressure Democrats to denounce Joe Lieberman.  Show them that involved and concerned citizens will never let one powerful man compromise our election system.

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Other sites blogging about this issue: National Debunker, This and That, Synaptic Sync, But I am a Liberal, Be Conscious, Emboldened, True Blue Liberal, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Political Wire, Booman Tribune, The Rittenhouse Review, Mike the Bike, Brilliant at Breakfast, Not-A-Pundit.

Election Results: Lamont wins, Lieberman makes excuses

This thread will be used to update the election results coming out of Connecticut:

Ned Lamont (143,363) - 51.81%

Joe Lieberman (133,323) - 48.19%

97.99% Precincts Reporting

*Last Update: 11:19 PM ET

*While addressing supporters, Joe Lieberman, the loser tonight, said, "You can go to my web site, Joe2006.com, when it is unhacked."

Lieberman is addressing supporters as I write this.  He used a sports analogy to basically say that he is running as an independent.  So much for honoring the voters that showed up at the polls

Video: Hours ago, Matthews interviewed Lamont

During an interview a few hours ago with Democratic Senate challenger Ned Lamont, host Chris Matthews questioned the progressive about the likelihood that Lieberman would run as an independent, and whether Chris Dodd can pressure Lieberman to honor the will of Democratic voters.  Matthews also asked one question having to do with the crashing of Lieberman's web site:

Click to watch video clip