Disclosure: I worked for the Lamont campaign doing web design and production and some writing for the official blog (from 9/5/06 to 11/07/06).

Sunday, July 30, 2006

 

The Money Pit

"My opponent is spending a lot of money to spread a lot of lies about me." - Joe Lieberman, New York Times, July 31st, 2006

"I felt all along I would have a challenge... But I was hoping God would send me a poor one." - Joe Lieberman, Washington Post, July 29th, 2006

Projection time again. While continuing to question his opponent's personal finances, Lieberman's campaign has in fact been raking in corporate cash at an obscene six-figure a day clip, spending twice as much on this campaign as his opponent, despite having little or nothing to show for it so far:

Every day a fax machine in a Senate office spits out lists of the latest big donors to the Democratic primary campaigns of Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont.

The Lieberman list is long, running to several handwritten pages containing a roster of familiar names: members of Congress, Fortune 500 executives and well-connected Washington big shots, all ponying up at least $1,000 to back the incumbent.


Among the names on the list is a PAC called "Alerted Democratic Majority," which gave Joe $5,000 on July 20th:



The treasurer for this PAC (which hasn't given to any other candidates this cycle) is William Batoff, a big-time fundraiser for President Bush in 2000 and 2004 who still brags about bolting the Democratic party on his own firm's website:

Batoff, a longtime player in local and national races, said this week that he was defecting to George W. Bush's camp, pledging to raise money and offer other support for the Republican presidential nominee and predicting that the economy will tank if Gore gets elected....

"I walk in and sit down, and lo and behold, I was met with honesty and warmth," Batoff, 65, said in an interview. "I'm talking to him about issues I've read, and he said to me at the end, 'Bill, I'm asking for your support.' And I said, 'You've got it.'"


Birds of a feather, I guess.

But to pitch in $5,000 to Joe at this point is just throwing bad money after bad. You have to wonder what these hordes of "members of Congress, Fortune 500 executives and well-connected Washington big shots" think they're getting out of picking up the tab for one of the worst campaigns in recent memory.
Comments:
The only solid Lieberman supporter I reached while phone banking today (well, that is, except for the guy who must have seen "Ned Lamont" on the caller ID who answered the phone by screaming I'M VOTING FOR LIEBERMAN!!!! and hanging up) was a man who supported Lieberman because he supports the war and President Bush. "We've got to kill them all over there so they won't come over here and kill us."

Interestingly, he also told me that once women become President, there won't be any more wars because we have too much compassion. He said Jodi Rell would make a good President because she's very sweet and kind.

I thanked him for taking the time to speak with me.
 
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