That strategist, Howard Wolfson, said Mrs. Clinton wanted to throw her considerable political weight behind Mr. Lamont because the national Republican Party “is clearly invested in Ned Lamont’s defeat.”

“I think they are going to do what they can to see him defeated,” Mr. Wolfson said, adding that he was particularly concerned with “Bush-Cheney talking points.”

“They are going to attack him in the way Republicans do,” he said, “and he obviously needs to be and is going to be prepared.”

“I think on nearly every issue we are closely aligned,” Mrs. Clinton said of Mr. Lamont later in the day, after an event in Amityville, N.Y.

Dan Gerstein, a spokesman for Mr. Lieberman, said that he was skeptical of the level of support that Mrs. Clinton was offering, calling it typical of the “partisan playbook.”

“We will be curious to see if and when Senator Clinton shows up with Mr. Lamont, whether he will turn around and distort her record, too,” Mr. Gerstein said.

posted by tparty at 8:50 AM