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, August 06, 2006
Sunday Morning Round-Up
48 hours until polls open... GOTV!
(Note: anonymous comments have been turned off, since traffic is booming and I am not going to be around much to moderate or respond to them.)
- Is the D.C. Democratic power base finally realizing that candidate Ned Lamont will be a much clearer route to 3 new Democrats in the House from CT? Sounds like it:
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Friday he is not worried about the fallout from the Senate primary on House races, arguing that the message from Connecticut is that anyone supporting Bush's war policies is in deep trouble. "What's playing out here is that being a rubber stamp for George Bush is politically dangerous to life-threatening," he said.
- So much for Sen. Lieberman attempting to burnish a "positive" image in the last 48 hours of this race. Greg Sargent, who has done as excellent a job as anyone covering the meaningful details of this race, catches Joe's new attack ad against Ned - once again questioning Lamont's position on race. The ad claims:
Born into wealth, Ned Lamont is trying to buy a seat in the United States Senate. Membership may have its privileges, but the Senate isn't one of them.
Take one look at the massive amounts of money Lieberman is raking in in the past 3 days alone. Just leaf through some of the recent 48-hour filings. $4,000 here. $6,000 there. $10,000 there. From D.C. lobbyists. From corporate PACs. From members of the Carlyle Group. (And previously, from neoconservative icon Bill Kristol, who defends Lieberman again in a Weekly Standard article this week.) And then think about the ridiculous claim that Ned is trying to "buy" the seat when Sen. Lieberman is outspending him 2-to-1. And think about the desperation that would cause Sen. Lieberman to charge that Ned Lamont has a race problem. Lamont's sorrowful response really says it all:"It's terribly disappointing. The idea that the senator at the end of an 18-year career would cast charges like that is very sad."
- "Lieberdem," the only real blog defending Lieberman for the past few weeks, and the site on which now-official Lieberman spokesman Dan Gerstein posted until last week, throws in the towel:
I don't much care anymore whether Lamont or Lieberman wins this Senate seat. The only outcome that gives me pause at this point is Lamont winning by a narrow enough margin that Lieberman decides stays in the race. The two ways to end this race on Tuesday are through a Lieberman victory or a Lamont rout. I could live with either option, but if you asked me now, I'd probably tell you that I would prefer the latter.
Lamont seems like a progressive and a good man. If he is a man of his word, and there is no indication that he is not, then he will be at least as progressive as Lieberman on most issues, and more progressive on the rest.
For whatever it's worth, I always thought the Lieberdem blog was genuine (aside from Dan Gerstein's posts), and I always respected the fact that someone had the fortitude to step up and defend Sen. Lieberman in the blogosphere. - Peter Urban on "The kiss that spread democracy":
You've really got to give it up for President George Bush. Although he has struggled with exporting democracy to the Middle East, he's had no trouble delivering it to sleepy Connecticut. All it took was a little kiss....
Most people in the United States do not get a real choice. About 90 percent of incumbents win re-election. The few that lose typically are done in by a scandal — not their stance on an issue. It is why the national media has descended on Connecticut to witness this oddity.
There is no excuse not to participate. If you are a registered Democrat, go to the polls on Tuesday and cast your ballot. (Unaffiliated voters have until noon Monday to register as Democrats). Then take a moment to reflect on how lucky you are to live in a democracy. - Both Ned and Sen. Lieberman will be featured on This Week with George Stephanopoulos this morning.
- What were those letters again? Oh yeah. GOTV. That's what I'll be doing today.
(Note: anonymous comments have been turned off, since traffic is booming and I am not going to be around much to moderate or respond to them.)