On Fox 61's "Beyond the Headlines" (YouTube) this weekend, Sean Smith sounded exactly like his boss in the debate, shouting over Tom Swan, host Shelly Sindland, and AP reporter Susan Haigh alike in a desperate attempt to change the subject from Joe's decision to bolt the party (hat tip MikeCT).

The taped intro to the show was great, with Bill Curry stating that Joe is damaging his campaign by forming the Lieberman Party and Nancy DiNardo clearly stating she will support Lamont if he wins. And in between Smith's rants, Haigh actually got in a couple of really good questions, including asking Smith if campaign money Joe collected as a Democrat is going to be funding the petition process for "Connecticut for Lieberman."

Actually, how is this new party going to be funded? I don't think I've read anything about that yet.

Once again, Lieberman's charges are pure projection. He bolts the party, and accuses Ned of being a Republican. He is the leading recipient of defense-related campaign contributions, and accuses Ned of "profiting from the war." He has spent $5 million and will outspend his opponent by millions, and accuses Ned of trying to buy the campaign. And he is ethically challenged by his campaign contributions and personal finances, and goes after Ned for supposedly the same. Same old, same old.

Anyone who has ever met Ned knows the only reason he got into this race was out of a sense of personal civic duty. The idea that his finances would somehow reveal any ulterior motive is as laughable as any of these other ridiculous charges the Lieberman campaign has lobbed at him. But just like Joe can't understand why people would actually volunteer their time and effort to someone like Ned, he also can't understand why any candidate would not be in it for themselves... like himself. It's sad, really.

After the taping, Sindland discussed the show with Colin McEnroe on his radio show (mp3).