But the most interesting part of the night was when Lamont wrapped up his stump speech and took questions from the audience. This is where Lamont seemed to be at his best.

Since January, when it became apparent that Lieberman was likely to face a primary challenge over his support for the war in Iraq, the senator has mentioned Iraq in 11 press releases, op-ed articles or other public statements archived by his office. About half of them expressed support for or confidence in the war effort or the troops.

In the same period of 2005, his office put out 26 statements mentioning Iraq; again, about half supported the war or the troops....

...other political veterans see a familiar trend: the incumbent in trouble who suddenly snuggles up to his party in a very public way.

"This isn't unique to Joe Lieberman," said Amy Isaacs, national director of Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal advocacy group. "But voters are smart, and usually what ends up happening when you play this game is you energize your enemies and alienate your friends."

Asked repeatedly this week for information on the petition effort or for a contact who could provide details, Lieberman's campaign spokeswoman, Marion Steinfels, said there is nothing to report.

"Every single person on our campaign, from the candidate down to every last intern, is working on making sure Joe Lieberman gets elected in the primary," Steinfels said.

As of yesterday, it was unclear who was coordinating the petition drive. Earlier this month, Steinfels said it would be the Connecticut for Lieberman founders.

But some of them, including Bishop Theodore Brooks and John Courtmanche, both of New Haven, said they have not been involved. And one party founder referred questions about who is spearheading the effort back to the Lieberman campaign.