Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) campaigned with Ned Lamont and State Rep. Peter Tercyak this afternoon in front of an enthusiastic assembled crowd in the rain in New Britain, before going on to knock on doors with supporters in the neighborhood. In between numerous car and truck horns honking in approval, Rep. Kaptur talked briefly about her reasons for coming up and campaigning with Ned, including restoring a sensible foreign policy for America, promoting trade agreements that don't send our jobs overseas, and working towards universal healthcare, all issues that she asserted Sen. Lieberman has worked against.

Here, roughly transcribed, are some of her words on why she has taken the very courageous step of being the first Representative or Senator - along with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) - to come up to Connecticut to campaign for Ned in the primary (CTBlogger should have video up shortly):

"I think that each of us at this point in our country has to be an American first.... The challenges we are facing, the war in Iraq, the situation in the Middle East, demand that we have people in Washington who will have a policy of multilateral engagement... and people in our Congress, in our senate, who believe that jobs in America are a priority and that we have to take care of the industrial, agricultural, and service base of this nation. We need new energy. We need new ideas. We need people like Ned Lamont who has spent his life in business and understand that America's economic prowess is waning."