On Iraq, Lieberman now tries to steer the debate away from the wisdom of the original decision to invade, a vote that Gerstein said Lieberman does not regret and would cast again. Instead, Lieberman keeps the focus on more comfortable terrain: Is it feasible to withdraw while the insurgency rages in Iraq?

And Lieberman, who repeatedly called for staying the course in 2004 and 2005, said recently, "I am not for stay the course."

"He is trying to rewrite the past. He was in favor of `staying the course,' repeatedly," said George Jepsen, co-chairman of the Lamont campaign. "He wants to blur the issue in voters' minds."

I served as treasurer for Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz's election committees from 2004 to this past January. These committees raised about $2.6 million, every dollar of which I had the legal responsibility of reporting.

Poring over contributions, disclosure forms and receipts required attention to all details, compliance-minded finance staff and an accountant with expertise in campaign finance. We had a rule that each and every check and receipt had to be reviewed by three sets of eyes before any action was taken....

How was this compliance system possible in the dog-eat-dog world of politics where the pressure to fund-raise is so intense?

Simple - our campaign had a leader who insisted on best practices for compliance with campaign finance laws.

I recently reviewed Sen. Joe Lieberman's filings with the Federal Elections Committee, in which he reported $387,000 in petty cash that was distributed over the 12 days leading up to the primary.

The problem with a petty cash fund in political campaigns is that it may lead to an appearance of impropriety because these are cash payments to people and for purposes that are not disclosed to the public.

For that reason alone, as treasurer, I never allowed a petty cash fund. ...

Joe Lieberman needs to explain immediately and in detail to whom and for what purposes his campaign spent on average $32,000 a day in unaccounted-for cash in just 12 days.

As Connecticut's former attorney general, Joe Lieberman knows that campaign finance information for public campaigns is neither privileged nor confidential. To the contrary, it belongs to the public. The citizens of Connecticut, as they prepare themselves for an informed vote on Nov. 7, are entitled to an answer.

Lieberman's presence in the campaign isn't helping the three Democratic challengers in the hotly contested House races either. His role in “consolidating those Republican voters is actually helping all three Connecticut Republicans,” Nathan Gonzales, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, a highly regarded political newsletter, told the Bloomberg news service. Gonzales said “the trio is in better shape than what a lot of people thought earlier” and he predicted only the Rob Simmons seat is up for grabs with the others held by Nancy Johnson and Christopher Shays leaning Republican.

Though he lives less than 14 miles from Lamont in Chappaqua, N.Y., the former president has stayed out of Connecticut. He has chosen to spend time this month on the campaign trail instead with Democrats in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Illinois, Kentucky, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Maine, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Clinton's schedule has led some to speculate that he is reluctant to work against his longtime friend Lieberman, for whom he campaigned in Waterbury two weeks before the primary. Political analysts say that Clinton also recognizes Lieberman's importance to the balance of power in the divided Senate. Lieberman is running as a petitioning candidate, but has pledged to caucus with Democrats if re-elected.

I asked Jim about the phone call.

"One of his staffers called me shortly before the convention and asked if Senator Lieberman could speak to me. I was sort of honored that the Senator wanted to talk to me, so I said 'Sure thing.'"...

"I said that I'd read in the paper that he would run as an independent if he lost the primary, and Joe said, 'No Jim, I will not run as an independent. That was something a Lamont supporter goaded me into saying.'"

SEIU International President Andy Stern expressed his love for the union as he spoke.

"All of us alone are just ordinary people," he said. "We ordinary people get to do an extraordinary thing."

Candidate for U.S. Senate Ned Lamont stopped in as well to drum up enthusiasm among the union members.

"On Nov. 7, we're going to rock the vote," he said. "The eyes of the country are on little old Connecticut."